Bill DeYoung - St. Pete Catalyst

Saturday, June 21, 2025 7:31 AM

Just say Yes: Catching up with Jon Anderson

June 16, 2025
By Bill DeYoung

The most distinctive singing voice in the history of progressive rock belongs, hands down, to Jon Anderson.

He was a founder of Yes, back in 1968, and the British band’s frontman and lead singer for the glory years. On The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer and all the others that mattered so much to people. He was also one of Yes’ chief songwriters.

The band has famously splintered, re-formed, splintered again and re-organized in combinations of original and new players.

Only guitarist Steve Howe remains in the version of Yes that’s currently touring. Everyone else is a ringer.

The same could almost be said about Friday’s concert of “Yes Epics and Classics” at Ruth Eckerd Hall. The musicians, led by American multi-instrumentalist Richie Castellano, are known as The Band Geeks.

The lead singer, however, is none other than Jon Anderson. If you want your Yessongs to sound like Yes, this – all these many years later – is probably the best way to hear them.

In our Zoom interview, Anderson, 80, talks about the long-ago rancor in the ranks of Yes, and his friction-free relationship with this new band.

“It was like a gift from the gods of music,” he says. “Who said ‘OK Jon, you’ve worked hard enough. Now here, take these people and get on the road.’ I said OK.

“We’re having a great tour. Everybody’s so happy, grateful, thankful, just like me. I’m so excited about everything. Life is good.”

Josh Bradley - Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Saturday, June 21, 2025 7:22 AM

Yes' Jon Anderson brings The Band Geeks, and new album 'True,' back to Clearwater

Pay the babysitter for an extra hour this Friday night.

By Josh Bradley on Wed, Jun 18, 2025

If you’ve kept up with Yes co-founder Jon Anderson at all in the last decade, you’d know that while his live shows tend to stick to the prog-rock bangers that put his band on the map, his new material is some of the freshest you’ll hear from someone in his age bracket.

The 80-year-old latest album True, made with his new repertoire The Band Geeks, sounds like he’s still at the helm of Yes, keeping the band evolving with the times rather than only channeling the band’s classic lineup era like the current lineup of the band does.

His soprano hasn’t diminished even a little bit and his current tour sees him performing 20-minute epics without even breaking a sweat, so maybe pay the babysitter for an extra hour this Friday night.

Tickets to see Jon Anderson play Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on Friday, June 20, 2025 are still available and start at $54.75.