De Waarheid - 1984-07-04

Thursday, January 20, 2022 8:37 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - De Waarheid - 1984-07-04]

Yes still sparkles after sixteen years

Last Sunday, after seven years of absence, Yes was back in Ahoy in Rotterdam. The sports palace was filled up to and including the seats behind the stage.

After two cartoons of Buggs Bunny as a warm up, the tension was palpable. Would age affect group performance? Jon Anderson, the singer, will turn 40 in October. Yes belied any allusion in that direction. "Music is not age-appropriate," said Jon Anderson after the concert.

The concert was a real pleasure for listeners, swingers and viewers. Complete with laser beams, slides and a movable light installation, Yes performed a series of songs on a beautiful 'waves' stage, from very old ones to improvisations by the group members separately. Highlights were Yours is no disgrace and Starship Trooper from The Yes Album from 1971. Chris Squire played an impressive bass part, and he co-founded Yes in 1968 with Jon Anderson and Tony Kaye.

The audience, of varying ages, really appreciated the formula of sometimes beautifully rewritten songs. And you and I yielded a many minute ovation.

Yes's music is called symphonic rock, but Indian new-wave influences can also be heard on album 90125. With the arrival of guitarist Trevor Rabin, Yes has undergone a refreshing rejuvenation.

After an hour and a half of play, the audience was treated to a performance of Roundabout. This song was a hit in the Netherlands in 1972. On the album Fragile it lasts eight minutes, the encore took almost twenty minutes.

Roeland De Bruyn

De Volkskrant - 1984-07-04

Thursday, January 20, 2022 8:23 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - De Volkskrant - 1984-07-04]

Yes stale wine in five new bags of MUSIC

Concert:Yes . Vocals: Jon Anderson (vocals), Chris Squire (bass, vocals), Trevor Rabin (guitar, vocals), Alan White (drums), Tony Kaye (keyboards). Place: Sportpaleis Ahoy' - Rotterdam.

If the state of affairs of the resurrected English supergroup Yes was indicative of the evolution of pop music over the past fifteen years, things looked bleak. But if the law of numbers were to apply, the company would still make a good turn.

In the rejuvenation that Yes went through with her reunion LP 90125, also the serial number of this fourteenth album of the group, Trevor Horn was particularly involved. This ex-Buggle was part of Yes at the time of the LP Drama. In addition to being a producer, he is above all a man of ideas who left his mark with his tricks on his own project The Art of Noise, as well as on Malcolm McLaren and the groups Propaganda and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Of the facelift of Yes, Horn mainly worked on the hit Owner of a lonely heart, in which the Glenn Millerbreaks programmed on the Fairlight computer are based on his inventiveness.

You only had to hear half of Yes's two and a half hour performance to know you hadn't missed anything about the other half. The program consisted of almost all songs from 90125, supplemented with some work from the early period around 1971/1972, such as the songs Yours is no disgrace and And you and I. It was remarkable that the sheet metal from the second half of the seventies nothing at all was performed. From a technical point of view, everything was beautifully taken care of. For the creative poverty at Yes could be a bit obscured too. Use was made of a cylindrical, sloping stage, which was regularly immersed in black light, with the drum platform in the middle, like the axis of a wagon wheel. High above, a huge light and sound installation. Furthermore, films and a laser, the poisonous green rays of which, as during Owner of a lonely heart, stabbed left and right into the hall and which sometimes, fanned out widely, cut through clouds of smoke, in other words hearts, globes, or the group name on transparent screens above the arena. projected. That the musical instruments were wireless was self-evident after all that magic.

Then something about the performers, because Yes has undergone numerous line-up changes since the group's formation in 1968. Rick Wakeman, who plays for the weatherman at Yes , was not present this time, as was Steve Howe who left for the group Asia. Tony Kaye, the very first keyboard player with Yes , drummer Alan White and the recently recruited South African Trevor Rabin, a guitarist with hard rock tendencies, who has built up some fame as a solo artist.

Jon Anderson (39), who founded Yes together with bassist Chris Squire, is back at the old nest after a solo career and work with Vangelis. Anderson, whose thin, brittle vocals carry the repertoire, indulged in esoteric posturing both in and between songs. Squire, the vain pomp, was clad in a gaudy, heavily drooping, fringed cloak.

The songs were less drawn out and less complex in structure than on the gaudy LPs Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer, full of soaring intellectual pretensions, but still anything but austere. In between solos, such as Rabin's, which consisted of only one elongated note. Squire tried his finger speed on the bass, but it led to nothing but a futile attempt to approach the cliché Amazing from an original angle.

Roger Waters recently sawed thick wood, but no effect was spared at Yes. Not in the heavy sledgehammer City of love, nor in the powerful, impressive rock of Starship trooper. Those who were sensitive to that enjoyed it. In fact, it was only nice how during this song the racks with spots of sparseness dropped from the ceiling, after which this thunderous, but deadly boring finale was concluded with the recycling of the old Roundabout. The reborn Yes is a group that has outlived itself; stale wine in five new bags.

PETER BUYS

Trouw - 1984-07-03

Thursday, January 20, 2022 8:10 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - Trouw - 1984-07-03]

Yes in sports palace Ahoy: The stars descended on earth

by Stan Rijven

ROTTERDAM - More than nine thousand fans, the maximum that Ahoy' sportpaleis can contain, said yes on Sunday evening to Yes: the returned English supergroup that dealt in symphonic rock with Genesis and Camel in the early 1970s. In other words, the pinnacle of technical prowess about which the great crowd of followers spoke with whispered awe. Symphonic rock means something like hard rock with brains. The symphonic refers to the lost solos on various instruments and above all to the quasi-detailed arrangements that together exclude any form of physical participation. This exhibitionist propagation of virtuosity, which you should only look up to, was accompanied by another ode to technology: an exorbitant circus of audio-visual can do this with laser light shows; point reached. The ovational applause that Yes received at the end should therefore have been appreciated by the technical staff. After about fifteen songs, selected from their entire oeuvre, the last judgment in the tradition of Star Wars seemed to break loose. A forest of spotlights attached by hundreds of beams descended steadily. The beams were reminiscent of cranes, described in semicircles. Clouds of smoke, flashing lasers and an animation film once again staged this apotheosis. An amalgamation of the triumph of technology that had already been demonstrated in the meantime by the two control and control rooms at the back of the room, they looked like complete studios. Part of the sensation was of course also being allowed to see figures that had grown to mythological proportions. Like singer Jon Anderson who with a thin, high-pitched voice determined the typical Yes sound. In Ahoy he acted as a motionless, sweet doll who lacks every ounce of drama. Guitarist Trevor Rabin and especially bassist Chris Squire were given limitless space for solos that hit the ground running, but once again had to represent the halo of high class. Backed by Tony Key, keyboardist from the very beginning, and drummer Alan White, they created the magic of stars descending to Earth. Indeed, the great interest in the return of such voices from the past has been going on for several years and points to a form of restoration that can also be felt in other sectors of society. David Bowie or even Joe Cocker prove that great history doesn't necessarily have to thwart further development. The Yes concert, however, made clear how necessary the punk movement has been as a course correction that brought pop music back to the roots of the black tradition: simplicity and directness in which audience and artist participate on an equal level. Let's just say Yes is derived from Yes-terday.

NRC Handelsblad - 1984-07-03

Thursday, January 20, 2022 7:56 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - NRC Handelsblad - 1984-07-03]

Yes looks outdated despite show effects

Concert: Yes. Vocals: Jon Anderson (vocals), Chris Squire (bass, vocals), Trevor Rabin (guitar, vocals), Tony Kaye (keyboards), Alan White (drums). Heard: Ahoy' Rotterdam (1-7).

By JAN VOLLAARD

As one of the inventors of symphonic rock, the English group Yes an important mark on the pop music of the first half of the seventies. At the time, their combination of fairytale lyricism and virtuoso musicianship was quite groundbreaking, but after twelve LPs the concept became as trite as the fantasy world depicted on the covers. Singer Jon Anderson left to focus on Middle of the road synthesizer music with Vangelis. The success of the supergroup Asia showed that especially in America there is still a market for pop music with symphonic tendencies, performed by technically gifted instrumentalists. The reunion of Yes and the rejuvenation treatment the group underwent is a smart commercial move in that light. South African guitarist Trevor Rabin made his appearance and brought his hard rock background with him. He made an important contribution to the LP 90125, which was released at the end of last year. The producer was Trevor Horn, who is currently celebrating triumphs with Frankie goes to Hollywood. The new injection of disco rhythm, sound effects and hard rook guitar in the vein of Michael Jackson's Beat it resulted in the worldwide hit Owner of a lonely heart. Because Yes in the overcrowded Ahoy' extensively discussed the musical past, it became a half-hearted performance. Old songs like Long distance run around and Yours is no disgrace in particular turned out to be quite outdated due to the long instrumental passages. Keyboardist Tony Kaye was given plenty of space for a semi-classical intermezzo on piano and church organ, Rabin tried in vain to rival Segovia and the obligatory bass solo by Chris Squire, dressed in multicolored rags, was not left behind. Audience expectations were also met with a spectacular show of laser light, projected

computer graphics and a fog machine. The sturdy guitar playing of the versatile Rabin and the concise numbers of 90125 provided musical highlights. When during the elongated instrumental finale of the closing song Starship Trooper the complete lighting installation descended to just above the stage, it became clear once again that the pursuit of effect played an important role in the perfectly executed show. In the risk-free set-up, Anderson's characteristic hoarse vocals also offered no surprises. He lost his claim to the title "most striking white falsetto singer in pop music" to singer Jimi Sommerville of the British trio Bronski Beat, which rocked the Amsterdam Melkweg last Friday evening. With a modest set of electronic instruments, this group showed that a visual truck box a la Yes is not always necessary for an exciting concert.

Algemeen Dagblad - 1984-07-03

Thursday, January 20, 2022 7:27 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLION - Algemeen Dagblad - 1984-07-03]

Yes on repeat

By HUUB DE GRAAFF

ROTTERDAM — The English group Yes does not know when to stop. After the musical bankruptcy of the illustrious formation in 1980, the fourth reunion between singer Jon Anderson and organist Rick Wakeman was celebrated last year.

Wakeman has since dropped out again, so that former Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye has now been brought back. So it all stays in the family. In a sold-out Ahoy' in Rotterdam, the umpteenth line-up appeared for an evening-filling program of two and a half hours non-stop new and old Yes-sounds.

The veterans Chris Squire (bass), Jon Anderson (vocals), Tony Kaye (organ/synthesizer) and Alan White (percussion) have recruited hard rock guitarist Trevor Rabin last year to give the group a more solid character.

Solid rock Aside from the fact that Yes can add nothing more to the brilliant past, the performance of the otherwise brilliant guitarist Rabin marked a change in the direction of solid rock, with bassist Chris Squire eagerly joining. Kaye's symphonic duties, sometimes supplemented by Anderson, only partially upheld the ancient Yes tradition.

Yes's core problem came to the fore this time as well. Every group member wants the largest possible (solo) share in the musical fun, so that a lot of subtleties are lost. This is one of the reasons why Yes once broke up, but now they apparently accept it from each other. The number of new songs was large and, except for Owner of a lonely heart, more or less.

Owner of a lonely heart was disappointing. Oldies like Yours is no disgrace and I've seen all good people did much better, but here too the clear, tight sound that made the group so unique in the past was missing. Let it go Even the laser beams from all corners of Ahoy' could not lift the event to the level where Yes would like to be again so much to give. Just before the encore, the group really reached an acceptable level via Starship trooper, the highlight of the concert, partly due to the light installation that revolved in all directions, and the beautiful laser projection on Tony Kaye. Things almost always go wrong when a musically stalled group reunites for whatever reason. Yes is no exception to this tradition.

Democratisch-Socialistisch Dagblad - 1984-07-02

Thursday, January 20, 2022 7:12 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - Democratisch-Socialistisch Dagblad - 1984-07-02]

Yes: unnecessary ego tripping

ROTTERDAM — The master shows himself in the limitation. These wise words by von Goethe are not for the members of Yes . The symphonic rock formation went overboard last night in a packed Ahoy' , as a result of which an initially perfect and atmospheric concert degenerated into a long-winded and ego-tripper display. Does a top musician like Chris Squire with twenty years of experience in his fingers still have to prove that he has mastered his instrument by fiddling with his bass for minutes? Certainly not during a show at full speed (thanks to good sound, great enthusiasm and a sometimes literally dazzling laser and light spectacle) in front of a sympathetic audience. In addition to the blond bassist, more or less personally responsible for the reunification of Yes, keyboardist Tony Kaye, drummer Alan White and guitarist Trevor Rabin also committed this mistake. The latter may invoke extenuating circumstances; he is new-

ling and more than ten years younger than his refined colleagues. With the arrival of this South African, who thanked the well over 9,000 fans (the number was reached with standing in the arena) in Afrikaans, Yes is more complete than ever as a concert group. With four excellent instrumentalists plus a singer with a characteristic voice in the person of Jon Anderson, the quintet has it all.

More than 50,000 of the album "90125" were sold in the Netherlands alone. This resulted in a golden pressing for Yes , copies of which were presented by WEA director Hans Tonino after the Ahoy' performance.

LOUIS DU MOULIN

Het Parool - 1984-07-02

Thursday, January 20, 2022 6:58 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - Het Parool - 1984-07-02]

Yes: sleep-inducing display Yes in Ahoy Sportpaleis Rotterdam

by JIM VAN ALPHEN

The popularity of supergroups from the 1970s persists. Recently, Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters pulled up a packed Ahoy, but last night the Yes formation went one step further, because the seats in the arena were replaced by standing places. Yes, therefore, exists again, after the group fell apart half way in '80, and a year later. It looked as though Yes, with Genesis once the leading formation in symphonic rock, had been overtaken by time. But suddenly last year the new album "90125" was released, which even featured the hit single "Owner Of A Lonely Heart". Yes may have earned its spurs in a certain period, when symphonic rock was considered progressive, now the elongated chunks of sound make a dated and so unwieldy impression that you fall asleep with good decency. Yes had a whole lot of tools in the luggage, from background projection to lasers, which beautifully conjured two hearts, especially in the song "Hearts". The hope that the futuristic-looking stage also represented a renewed musical vision quickly became bottomed out when vocalist Jon Anderson appeared with the band. Bassist Chris Squire is of course a veteran, as is drummer Alan White. The same goes for keyboardist Tony Kaye in a different way, as he was also on the first three albums of Yes at the time played along. So really new is only guitarist Trevor Rabin, who exchanged a moderately successful solo career for a place within the group. Rabin in particular showed a fine example of Spanish guitar playing as a soloist. Together, however, the gentlemen turned it into a kind of stew, which is affectionately referred to as the Yes sound by the fans. Music without spine, too long-winded and floaty like a hot air balloon. There was therefore no difference to be discovered between old works such as "And You And I", "Roundabout" and "Yours Is No Disgrace" or recent material such as "Leave It" and "Changes". in "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", which has very little to do with the rest of the repertoire in terms of atmosphere. That the group Yes So there is no such thing as a reunion, so I don't think there's anything to lose sleep over, although the fans with the banner “Thank you for coming” just before the stage thought otherwise. As far as I'm concerned, they could have put a word behind it: goodbye.

Algemeen Dagblad - 1984-06-28

Thursday, January 20, 2022 6:29 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - Algemeen Dagblad - 1984-06-30]

YES going well

DORTMUND — Together with Genesis, the English group Yes seemed to have been written off for good at the beginning of the eighties. With the recognition of New Wave music, the rise of the Blitz craze and the triumphant march of funk and disco, the pompous and elitist symphonic rock of both groups could only be used in Father's study. The kids had been on the dance floor for a long time, Genesis and Yes were denied access to the disco. "Yet," says Jon Anderson, "we never | considered discarded. Maybe our music was outdated then, because in pop movements I and trends follow each other very quickly. But written off? No, we are too many musicians for that.” The 39-year-old singer of Yes got it right last year. After Genesis, which grew into a swinging trio under the baton of Phil Collins, Yes also surprised friends and foes with the long-playing record 90125. Dance music In the largely old line-up — Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Tony Kaye, Alan White and newcomer Trevor Rabin — Yes played contemporary dance music. The single Owner of a lonely heart became a super hit that should not be missing in any nightclub. The overwhelming return was a fact. "So far the response has been excellent," said Jon Anderson of the world tour Yes brought in Germany last week and will be held tomorrow.

the Rotterdam Sportpaleis Ahoy' will have its Dutch sequel. "To be honest, that surprised me a bit, because unlike the United States, Europe is a difficult continent. Difficult in the sense of: more critical and therefore less enthusiastic outwardly. But in Scandinavia it was a real party. What enthusiasm!" In the Düsseldorf Hilton hotel, Anderson is recovering from a strenuous game of tennis at the bar, struggling with a nasty throat infection — contracted by the cold in Sweden — that makes it quite difficult for him to talk. In a luxurious BMW (VIP's Service it says on the colossus) on his way to the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Jon Anderson wants the success story of Yes as best he can- Explain new style. Fresher — When Genesis performed in the Netherlands a few years ago, Phil Collins was hailed terribly by the old supporters. He did not accept that Collins had renewed the music, including with horns. Jon Anderson, in a crackling voice: "Weird, but Yes hasn't had that at concerts so far. I think it's what matters above all is the professionalism and enthusiasm with which you present music in person. ”I also think that our music on 90125 is not fundamentally different from what we have been doing for years. Admittedly, it sounds fresher, more exciting perhaps, but it remains unmistakably – ' Yes' .” The latter is certainly true, but therein lies the success of Yes 's return . In recent years you have sounded a bit dusty to say the least. "Is that so," says Anderson, a little taken aback. "I always compare 90125 with Fragile, our LP from 1971 with which we were also at a turning point. year. We changed course, but not forcefully. What came out was Yes anno 1983. Although I must honestly say that I kept my fingers crossed when the record was released. After all, it was an exciting affair. “But our old fans were very satisfied and we got a lot of new ones. People who actually don't know what history Yes has behind it. In that respect, it was like opening a door.”

— Does the come-back of Yes mean an end to your solo activities, for example with Vangelis? “No, definitely not. The period with Vangelis was a very fruitful one, I will undoubtedly do something with him again. I am also working on the music for a cartoon, a project that will take at least two years. It is precisely working with Yes that inspires you to other activities. “I've always had the feeling that there are still so many things I'd like to tackle. Yes, for example movie. And you know what I'm interested in: gamelan music. There I discover wonderful things in rhythm, structure, melody." — Don't you, as old pop musicians, get fed up with something like a world tour. You must have seen everything already, right?

Jon Anderson: „Oh no, you learn to play nice tennis during such a tour. You meet a lot of people, nice people. I don't find it boring and tiring. At the most it will be if your work — in the evenings on stage — starts to disappoint you. And I don't have that feeling." Happy — What position does Yes take into pop music now? A lot has happened to the doll. “I think the new music, groups like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, is fantastic. That trend of cheerful, happy dance music appeals to me. But that doesn't mean you should immediately ditch the music that might not fit that trend. I like Laurie Anderson, but also Bruce Springsteen and Frank Zappa. Those are people who do so many different things.” As we drive into Dortmund, Jon Anderson asks if he can now spare his vote. A strong course of antibiotics must dispel the infection, but Anderson himself must also spare his voice. During the concert — which is held especially for television recordings — Jon Anderson manages to camouflage the discomfort nicely. Talking is still difficult, but his high, crystal-clear voice still sounds very pure in the crowd Yes sound. Incidentally, Ahoy' has something to look forward to. A gigantic light installation, a giant canvas on which slides and films are projected and the skillful use of laser make Yes 's show an impressive whole. Surprise Also musically, Yes is very well put together in real life. The fivesome even brought a special surprise to Dortmund in the last encore, I'm down (by the Beatles). None other than Jimmy Page, the virtuoso guitarist of the former group Led Zeppelin, briefly joined Yes. A surprise that greeted the audience frantically. The start of a collaboration? No one wanted to confirm that. Once again Jon Anderson: „I have now entered a period in my career where you need confidence as a musician. Trust in yourself and in your audience. I can assure you that it is a nice feeling, that shelter. “It does not mean that you are getting too old as a musician, but that you have achieved something. A point where you can work comfortably.”

Trouw - 1984-06-28

Thursday, January 20, 2022 6:17 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - 1984-06-28]

• The English group Yes, initially belonging to a distant past where nostalgia and the seventies went hand in hand, is making a remarkable comeback. The song Owner of a lonely heart brought the group high in the charts with the album. And next Sunday in Ahoy in Rotterdam.

De Telegraaf - 1984-06-23

Thursday, January 20, 2022 8:07 AM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION (of first paragraph) - De Telegraaf - 1984-06-23]

JON ANDERSON: “Yes used to be so serious. Almost antisocial!"

by JIP GOLSTEIJN

NEW YORK, Saturday "New York, New York!" Now that's what that city is called, but it's the way Jon Anderson puts it — a mixture of surprise and affection — that makes a 20,000-strong Madison Square Garden explode into a standing ovation that will last for ten minutes. A wonderful experience for someone who, like me, in the sixteen years that have passed since the formation of the group, has sparked many a discussion with the claim that rock 'n roll is definitely the wrong way merged with Yes...

WhiteSwan

I was there! I was almost 20 years old and had never really listened to YES before. My boyfriend happened to win 2 tickets to the show and took me there.
Have I ever had a pleasant surprise! Such positivity! Such radiance! Such zeal! There was this guy singing, dressed all in white, who really had something to say! Jon was simply shining. And none of it was agressive or sexist or negative! Just beautiful, positive, spiritual music. An experience I 'll never forget. The laser show, the lights, everything added to it.
In the months following, I bought all their records and simply meditated on some of the songs, listening to them over and over. YES music is one of the greatest things in my life.