Toni Marchante - Metal Symphony

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 4:41 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATE from original Spanish to English]:

YES – May 2, 2024 – La Riviera Room (Madrid)

Long bridge in Madrid for those who took May 3 as a holiday or took it as a vacation. And combining five days off allows the exodus from the capital. This factor clearly played against the attendance for this concert, since many preferred to leave Madrid, given the option of enjoying this legendary band.

Text and Photos: Toni Marchante

If we talk about the golden era of symphonic rock of the 70s, Yes is a must-mention and one of the basic pillars. That is why the La Riviera room presented an influx of young people over 50 years old, fundamentally, contemporaries even of Mr. Steve Howe, who at 77 years old, continues to amaze with his peculiar and spectacular way of playing the guitar.

The first thing that caught your attention as soon as you entered La Riviera was that a part of the venue was reserved to display some of the work of world-renowned artist and designer Roger Dean, whose impressive art of otherworldly landscapes has graced classic album covers and posters, especially highlighting the works of Yes, Asia, Uriah Heep, Greenslade, Gentle Giant, Focus, Osibisa, etc. . His work also illustrates Yes' latest album “Mirror to the Sky”. Roger Dean's covers have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide.

Yes appeared in Madrid with their “The Classic Tales of Yes” tour, now in Europe, after having toured the United States. An opportunity to be able to touch the current reality of the band and to be able to celebrate, within their show, the 50th anniversary of their album “Tales from Topographic Oceans” last year, which we talked about a few days ago here , in addition to teaching us something of his latest work “Mirror to the sky”.

Great legends have passed through the formation of this band. From the remembered Alan White or Chris Squire, the only component that lasted in the two stages of the band until his death, to other eminences such as Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Patrick Moraz, Bill Bruford, Trevor Horn, etc...

The current line-up that visited us tonight was Steve Howe on guitars and vocals, Geoff Downes on keyboards. Jon Davison on vocals and acoustic guitar, Billy Sherwood on bass and vocals and Jay Schellen on drums.

Although Howe represents the most genuine spirit of Yes, being the one who now leads the group, Downes has been in this formation since 2011, in addition to his presence in that "Drama" of 1980. What has an impressive merit is that Steve Howe At 77 years old and Downes at 71 years old, continue on top of the stage giving everything.

Since his entry in 2012, Jon Davison has had the difficult task of replacing the great Jon Anderson, due to his characteristic timbre of voice. And he does it with dignity, but Jon Anderson's shadow in Yes is very long and Jon does the job, with the in order not to distort what has almost always been one of the hallmarks of this combo.

Billy Sherwood covers the historic work of Chris Squire, and look how difficult that work is, but the American, being of a different style, gave quite an exhibition in handling the bass; He even provided vocal support as a second voice on many occasions. Jay Schellen doesn't need an introduction either, his presence in 90s hard rock bands like Hurricane or Unruly Child endorses him, in addition to being a regular collaborator with Sherwood. These last two came from the hand of Geoff Downes because they came to play with him in the band Asia.

Designing a Yes set list that pleases everyone is an impossible task. His career is so extensive, with such great works, that it becomes a utopian objective. For that night they divided their performance into two sets, the first one with great hits and the second focused on promoting their new album with a single song and paying tribute to “Tales from Topographic Oceans” (1973), sneaking a song into the opening of that set. In the end they gave us an encore with two jewels.

The lights went out while the intro “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra” played, the musicians leaving, greeting the stage and beginning the concert with “Machine Messiah”. And with Geoff Downes on stage, something from the album “Drama” (1980) had to drop. The public received them with fervor and from the first moment we detected that we were going to enjoy good sound.

The layout on the stage was clear, in the background Geoff Downes surrounded by keyboards on all sides on the left, Jay Schellen's beautiful drums on the right with the attack trident in front, with Steve Howe on the left, Billy Sherwood on the right and Jon Davison in the center with percussion tools within reach. This also explained the positioning of the public, leaning more towards the left side, to see the evolution of Howe and Downes and not miss any details, without in any way detracting from the rest of the group that reached a high altitude.

Like the opening song, with Billy Sherwood present, it was not strange that a song from the album “The Ladder” (1999) was included in the set, choosing “It Will Be a Good Day (The River)” for the occasion. , a cut close to pop, where a moment of tranquility was perceived after the big start.

The band wanted to take the pulse again with “Going for the one”, from the album of the same name. For his performance, Steve Howe sat in front of his table steel guitar, sounding quite genuine and rocking. But it was on the next one, “I've Seen All Good People” from that “The Yes album” (1971), where the audience became much more animated, applauding and enthusiastically chanting its classic chorus “I've seen all good people.” “turn their heads every day, so satisfied I'm on my way.”

Steve Howe announced to us the performance of a version of the song “America” by Simon & Garfunkel, which sounded great and went very well within the set. However, many of us thought that if they had made a version, it would have been better if they had played a song from Asia, four of the five members having played in that band, but that was not the case. Then he played “Time and a Word” from the album of the same name (1970), which also sounded endearing.

The audience received with enthusiasm the next thing to be played, “Don't Kill the Whale”, the only vestige of the album “Tormato” (1978) that gave prominence to each of the musicians in their particular facets, in a cut that gives opportunities for the show. The first set concluded with the subtle performance of “Turn of the Century” from the album “Going for the One” (1977), in which Steve Howe and Jon Davison were left alone on stage, the rest joining in little by little as they were. the topic demanded. The synchronization of voice and guitar is beautiful, a song that drew applause from the audience at several specific moments.

After a break of about 20 minutes, the second set began, opening with “South Side of the Sky” from the album “Fragile” (1971) that once again encouraged the unconditional fans, immediately returning to the high level of a concert that did not It declined at no time. Not even in the next cut “Cut From the Stars”, perhaps the most unknown because it is from their new album “Mirror to the sky” (2023) and which left a much better impression live than when listened to in the studio.

From here the band focused on “Tales of the topographic Oceans”, as Steve Howe told us, forming a suite extracted from the four cuts that make up this work. The double album was concentrated in twenty minutes of high quality, where they knew how to keep the attention of those present in a hypnotic way. Starting of course with ”The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)” with spectacular symphonic landscapes thanks to the keyboards of Geoff Downes. Fragments of “The Remembering (High the Memory)” followed and in “The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun)” we experienced another of the most emotional moments of the night, when in the final part Steve Howe on acoustic guitar gave his all. an exhibition of technique and art, accompanied only by Jon Davison on vocals. The final part was for a summarized “Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)”.

The encore brought us an essential piece that should never be missed, “Roundabout” from the album “Fragile” was the most celebrated song of the night, with a totally dedicated audience that enjoyed it intensely. To end the night “Starship Trooper” from “The Yes album”, with that final part that Steve Howe likes so much and where he leaves a mark of his great class.

There was no presence of great emblematic albums such as “Close to the edge” or “Relayer” to give an example, but time is limited and the prominence was very focused on the album being honored.

A night where Yes showed that it is still alive, that both Chris Squire and Alan White are sure to enjoy from beyond, that Yes continues to proclaim what they created. Yes is a group where age does not matter when there is enthusiasm and dedication; that limitations are overcome with perseverance and experience. Those of us privileged who filled half the room lived a magical night, lucky to have opted for Yes instead of other leisure options, it was undoubtedly a masterful choice.

Toni Marchante

Set list:

Set 1

1.Machine Messiah
2.It Will Be a Good Day (The River)
3.Going for the One
4.I've Seen All Good People
5.America (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
6.Time and a Word
7.Don' t Kill the Whale
8.Turn of the Century

Set 2

1.South Side of the Sky
2.Cut From the Stars
3.Tales of the topographic Oceans Suite:
The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn) / The Remembering (High the Memory) / The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun) / Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)
Encore:
1.Roundabout
2.Starship Trooper