Dan the Man
2017-09-30 03:35:05 UTC
I just saw the Anderson/Rabin/Wakeman combo in the Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, PA. I wasn't sure what to expect, but they played a mix of Rabin-era tunes and 70's classics.
The show kicked off with the 90125 instrumental "Cinema" which kept everyone waiting a couple of minutes longer for Jon to take the stage. Once he did, they kicked into a rousing "South Side of the Sky", followed by "Changes". Along the way, they included "Hold On" and "Rhythm of Love" from the 80's interspersed with "Perpetual Change", "And You And I", and a hypnotic turn on "Awaken", played a whole step lower in Dminor. They also squeezed in "I Am Waiting" from the Talk album which was a good opportunity to use the men's room! The band, including vibrant lefty bassist Lee Pomeroy and solid drummer Lou Molino, seemed to really be having a good time; Jon was his usual cosmic self while Rabin made sure Steve Howe wouldn't be too sorely missed. Wakeman was Wakeman, his hands working his semi-circular bank of a dozen keyboards with relish.
The final number started off like the obscure "Make It Easy" before abruptly shifting gears to "Owner of a Lonely Heart"; they jammed on this one for several minutes, Wakeman getting a keytar from a roadie and joining Trevor in an off-stage excursion that took them up to a balcony. Once they returned to the stage, still playing "Lonely", the song changed again into Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" for one verse before mutating again into "Easy" and finally finishing as "Lonely".
The crowd of a few thousand, fairly blown away, begged for an encore and got a straightforward rendition of "Roundabout".
Good times for all ... I haven't seen the "other" Yes faction, but this was the one I HAD to see, with no regrets. With so many other classic rockers dropping like flies (including Chris Squier), who knows how many more gigs these guys will do?
The show kicked off with the 90125 instrumental "Cinema" which kept everyone waiting a couple of minutes longer for Jon to take the stage. Once he did, they kicked into a rousing "South Side of the Sky", followed by "Changes". Along the way, they included "Hold On" and "Rhythm of Love" from the 80's interspersed with "Perpetual Change", "And You And I", and a hypnotic turn on "Awaken", played a whole step lower in Dminor. They also squeezed in "I Am Waiting" from the Talk album which was a good opportunity to use the men's room! The band, including vibrant lefty bassist Lee Pomeroy and solid drummer Lou Molino, seemed to really be having a good time; Jon was his usual cosmic self while Rabin made sure Steve Howe wouldn't be too sorely missed. Wakeman was Wakeman, his hands working his semi-circular bank of a dozen keyboards with relish.
The final number started off like the obscure "Make It Easy" before abruptly shifting gears to "Owner of a Lonely Heart"; they jammed on this one for several minutes, Wakeman getting a keytar from a roadie and joining Trevor in an off-stage excursion that took them up to a balcony. Once they returned to the stage, still playing "Lonely", the song changed again into Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" for one verse before mutating again into "Easy" and finally finishing as "Lonely".
The crowd of a few thousand, fairly blown away, begged for an encore and got a straightforward rendition of "Roundabout".
Good times for all ... I haven't seen the "other" Yes faction, but this was the one I HAD to see, with no regrets. With so many other classic rockers dropping like flies (including Chris Squier), who knows how many more gigs these guys will do?