Christopher Boccalupo

Monday, October 24, 2016 7:38 AM

Great time at this show no doubt.

There is the thrill of first seeing Jon come on stage again after 12 years of not seeing him in a Yes concert setting. When he utters the first lines on Perpetual Change (altered into a more Yes westish style) the crowd oohs ah's and cheers.

There are many critcisms of this unit from those critical of Anderson (for Buisness reasons) Rabin (because of his Yeswest association) and Wakeman , (because of his alofness at times, short band tenures) and there is no doubt that this unit benefits from pure star power, which allows the band could possibly get away with many flubs, but there is no doubt that the crowd went home happy.

The engergy, the reaction of the crowd, and the sheer Joy coming from this Unit, is the life that has been sorely missing from Yes Units since 2012, (and even more so since the Loss of Chris Squire) despite playing it closer to the vest ( the combination of both would be a serious revelatory moment for fans, it's too band, because of serious shots comings of humans that this cant happen).

Pomeroy and Molino are obviously prepared and professional , Rabin has a lot of room to grow (his vocals, seriously hampered from lack of stage time) , Wakeman is there, but can integrate better into the music still.....and Jon , well he is the star seeminly looking younger and energized, he was great. If this unit stays together does new music, ..they can really build on what's there, which is much....because let's face it , this tour is really all about Jon Anderson returning to a Yes context, (with other stars) at least for the first tour.

Having said all this, it didn't matter, the people loved it, it came off beautifully in so many ways, sonically saftifying, it was YES, I have not had more fun at a Yes concert for a while. ARW has definatley reiinvigorated the whole of the Yes world.