reCap :: YES :: 2016.08.12
Yes, YES brought it to The Capitol Theatre. We started with a touching tribute to Chris Squire, the Yes bass player who passed away last year from leukemia. There were images of Squire throughout the years showing that Squire is with us in spirit, and he also wanted Yes to continue on. He chose his replacement, Billy Sherwood, and for good reason. Sherwood brought Squire’s sound as well as his own talent to the forefront.
With all the rotating musicians in this band throughout the years, I was impressed with the vocals of Davison, and the harmonies between Davison, Sherwood and Howe. With such big shoes to fill, they actually just about got away with it.
The first half of the show was a full rendition of the “Drama” album, and opened with “Machine Messiah.” This set the pace as we went into “Does It Really Happen,” where Sherwood absolutely killed the intro. After every song, the crowd gave a standing ovation. We loved it, and it seemed that those on the stage also were also loving it too.
We jumped out of our seats for the first set encore, “I’ve Seen All Good People,” and “Siberian Khatru.” This was a great set up for the next set.
After the 20 minute set break, we were treated to the beautiful “And You and I,” from the well known “Closer to the Edge” album before we went into the more obscure album of “Tales From Topographic Oceans.”
I watched most of the audience in full bliss with their treat of the 20 minute “The Revealing Science of God.” The stage then went empty except for Steve Howe, on acoustic guitar for “Leaves of Green,” and then Sherwood and Davison came out for vocals and harmonies. It was a silent moment in the large venue, and again, ended in a standing ovation.
Ending the TFTO selections was “Ritual” before a slight break and the final two songs were “Roundabout” and “Starship Trooper,” which got the audience up, dancing and clapping for a rousing end to quite a nice evening at The Capitol Theatre. Overall I was impressed with the harmonies, the tightness of the band, the nod to Squire in Sherwood and the ability to kick it with some very technically tough songs that are 30-40 years old. It was a great show indeed.