Mark Steven

Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White may lack the incomporable tightness and edge of their heyday (who among us does not?), but they continue to pour heart and soul into their epic compositions. If *nothing* else, one stands and applauds sporting an unselfconscious grin in full Lifetime Appreciation Mode.

Oliver Wakeman was, if underused, efficient and well integrated.

Benoit David, however, a glorified lounge singer with range but bereft of rock and roll soul, spent the evening swaying and prancing incongruously ... think Stevie Nicks with a pebble in her shoe. He found the right notes more often than not, but left at least this lifelong Yes devotee cold.

That unfortunate sideshow aside, if you are old or just fortunate enough to "know" Yes, you will likely not leave disappointed. The band still provide enough goosebump moments over the course of an evening to more than make up for the inexorable deterioration in individual technical skills, vocal range, stamina and collective tightness that even legends cannot shield from Father Time. And the DC crowd, bless its collective heart, showed nothing but love and a palpable affection for one of the great acts of the modern rock era.

No, it is not Yes circa 1975. But if the question is "are they still worth my hard-earned entertainment dollar?" the answer is a resounding Yes.

Michael H

The show was excellent, and the Warner Theater looked about 95% full. Benoit has really begun to settle in with the band. His sense of pitch and confidence is much improved, which is very encouraging for the future of Yes. I keep wondering when Jon's going to kick Benoit out so he can continue with the band.

Anyway, the really luminous moments included the highly-reverbed instrumentals in the middle of "And You And I" and "Machine Messiah" was played to perfection. Howe just continues to amaze me by his level of focus at his age. He's like a finely-aged Scotch.

Three cheers for the sound crew who did such a wonderful job with instrumental balances. From my vantage point, I sometimes could not hear the vocals, but at least the harmony of David/Howe/Squire was well-blended in general.

I'm sorry, but Oliver Wakeman is just so aloof in my opinion. He is not a very good ensemble player, and just doesn't listen well around him, and feel the rhythm, upbeats, and sound phasing adequately. Sometimes he rushes his solo breaks, which is something his father didn't do when he was Oliver's age.

And yes, like the reveiwer above, I was disappointed that they skipped "Starship Trooper." Bummer! But, in any case, it was a great show, and a wonderful evening.

C

NO STARSHIP TROOPERS!!! They walked off at the end and a few people stayed, expecting another encore, but it didn't happen!!! I was enraged that they would cut such a song out of the setlist.