...it's been awhile,

so I thought I just drop in and say hi. Here is something I've done recently, maybe it will interest you.

I went to a Yes concert at the Taft Theater the day after Thanksgiving. It was a strange experience. During the concert I found myself kind of picking apart the performance and noting each of the musician's stage presence, as I had never seen them live before or seen concert footage but have read much about them. There were a couple musical hiccups (gear not working, time stretched and almost lost between a couple of players, etc) that surprised me considering the longevity of their career as a band, their proven musicianship and professionalism. Another interesting twist in events was that the career long singer, Jon Anderson, was ill and couldn't do the tour, so they had hired (with Jon's begrudged blessing) one Beniot David, a Canadian singer for a Yes cover band, Close to the Edge. I was interested in seeing how well he would do, since Jon's voice is so distinctive and unique. The rest of the band were Yes Alum with the exception of the keyboardist was the son of Rick Wakeman, Oliver Wakeman.

What I find strange was that I had very mixed emotions about the performance while there, yet after the concert, the more I thought about it and the more time passed, the more I realized how much I enjoyed it. I think seeing so many Rush concerts in the past, that I had only that to really compare it to. I love Rush and always have, but the approach of these two "prog-rock" bands are very different from each other. Rush is thorough to the point of being anal about each show being as consistently precise and the last. I'm confident they ALWAYS give every show their all, but the shows are so close the album, it's almost as if your listening to the album with you in front of them. It seems their performances are just too safe. Few are the times you see their personality come through and usually only between songs when Geddy is speaking to the audience, and some "antics" of Alex's. Now Yes seems to have really kept the "openness" and risk present in their shows, including new material and more room for improvisation. I didn't get the feeling that all risk was avoided and every effect's backup backed up. Perhaps Yes would prefer it less risky, but I would also venture to say that Yes' music has a bit more complexity (odd meters, cross- and polyrhythms) that Rush's music certainly hasn't had a lot of in the last two decades, thus leading to more risk in performance.

I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with David Benoit. Small of stature, like Jon Anderson, he was note perfect and entertaining, if not a bit embarassing, to watch. His knowledge of the repertoire was evident, though he did mention in an interview that initially he didn't even like Yes' music before joining the cover band he fronts. He just had the right range and vocal sound. He now has a deep appreciation for all of their music, he says. I said embarassing for the all white, including shoes, outfit with vest of yellow/gold for the first half and black vest that made him look like some stormtrooper in the second half...strangely funny. His movements/theatrics to the music were kind of silly, but each person moves to the music in their own way, so I won't hold that against him. He announced prior to the ballad Onward, off of the widely panned album "Tormato", that he had requested of the band that they perform that ballad on the tour. At first listen it seemed kind of lame, but with some good, catchy melodies in places. On several listens on Rhapsody since the concert, it's become one of my favorite of their tracks! It's really beautiful and I've thought of how I might try to work up an istrumental version of it of steel pan or some currently non-existent percussion ensemble. (Ah my dreams of performing keep rearing their head...)

Since the concert I've been hard pressed to listen to anything but Yes. I've discovered some real gems in their back catalog and read some interesting interviews, articles and reviews. It's kind of a return to my roots in that I was more or less raised on Prog rock, in a way. Not many of my friends are fans so I thought I'd write the longest blog ever posted here on Taintball to annoy those people further.