Photo: The upcoming Yes tour will mark the 30th anniversary of their first album's release.
SonicNet Music News reports: Progressive-rock legends Yes will launch their first U.S. tour in two years in October to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their eponymous debut album. Four of the band's core players will participate.
Singer Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire — two founding members of the group — will be joined by longtime guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White for the tour. The outing will kick off at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Oct. 15 — 30 years to the day after the release of the group's first album, Yes.
The 25-date trek also is in support of The Ladder (Sept. 28), the final project recorded by producer Bruce Fairbairn (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi) before his death in May.
Also playing in the band during the tour will be guitarist Billy Sherwood and keyboardist Igor Koroshev.
"We are very excited to return to North America in support of our new album," Anderson said in a statement. "Fans should expect to hear some of our classics as well as the new material."
Yes are best known for such intricate, elaborately arranged songs as "Roundabout," "Seen All Good People" and their '80s hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (RealAudio excerpt). The group formed in 1967 in London and has released more than a dozen albums with 10 different lineups.
Yes U.S. Tour Dates:
Oct. 15; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; House of Blues
Oct. 16; Atlanta, Ga.; The Tabernacle
Oct. 18-19; Tampa, Fla.; TPAC
Oct. 21; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Sunrise Musical Theatre
Oct. 22; Orlando, Fla.; House of Blues
Oct. 23; Jacksonville, Fla.; Florida Theatre
Oct. 25; Houston, Texas; Aerial Theatre
Oct. 26; Austin, Texas; Backyard
Oct. 29; Phoenix, Ariz.; Union Hall
Oct. 30; Anaheim, Calif.; Sun Theatre
Oct. 31; Las Vegas, Nev.; House of Blues
Nov. 2-4; Los Angeles, Calif.; House of Blues
Nov. 6-7; San Francisco, Calif.; Warfield Theatre
Nov. 9; Seattle, Wash.; Paramount Theatre
Nov. 12; Minneapolis, Minn.; Orpheum Theatre
Nov. 13; Milwaukee, Wis.; Auditorium Theatre
Nov. 15-17; Chicago, Ill.; The Riviera
Nov. 18; Indianapolis, Ind.;
Nov. 19; Cincinnati, Ohio; Taft Theatre
Nov. 20; Summons Bay, Mich.; Royal Oak Theatre
Nov. 22; New York City
Nov. 24; Boston, Mass
Nov. 26; New Brunswick
These dates are subject to changes, and it is highly likely that more dates will be added. For the most current information, check out Yesworld or the Progressive Maze websites.
Jon is playing with Stormbringer this Monday night at an NFL Alumni dinner/party in Clearwater. They have signed albums etc... for a silent auction. Tickets are $100 at the Bellview Biltmore. See ya there.
Here's the website address for the drive to get YES into the Hall Of Fame! http://www.minddrive.net
Let's get YES in there folks!
Found this on amy regarding the concert performed by Jon and Alan last weekend:
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Clearwater review?
From Kay Sahagian [kay_sahagian@systemone.com]
They played an abbreviated set. The event was a benefit for the
Angelus, a home in St. Petersburg for kids with cerebral palsy who can't take care of themselves. It was managed in tandem with the NFL (National Football League) Alumni Association. There's a golf tournament today, too, with Anderson and White scheduled to be there, but I don't know if they are playing (music or golf). The NFL players (saw former Raider Ben Davidson, others included Jimmy Giles, Ted Hendricks) were kind of security/clean-up/gate workers.
Jon Anderson and Alan White followed a set by Pat Travers. They came on at about 9:30 and played until a bit after 10. The venue is a park on the water in Clearwater, so people were sitting out on the grass but there was a fenced-in area with some seats, not that many. The seats were primarily for VIPs, Angelus supporters, etc. There was an area in front of the stage cleared for the kids in their wheelchairs and their helpers. Before the Pat Travers set, they let people come sit and fill in the seating area, so by the time Anderson and White came on stage, there was a decent (200-300?) sized crowd in the seats and on the grass outside the seats. A&W played with a guitarist, a bassist, a keyboardist, a singer, and a percussionist, but none were
introduced, except as a "special bunch of guys" by Jon, who wore a big white "NFL Alumni" t-shirt and a white scarf with what looked like abstract art on it (Alan White wore shorts and a Hawaiian shirt).
The set list was:
Long Distance Runaround
drum solo leading into
Owner of a Lonely Heart
Lighting Strikes
Roundabout (short version: no "along the drifting clouds..")
Your Move/I've Seen All Good People
The band members seemed to be from more of a straight-ahead rock
background, and thus the arrangements were a little interesting,
somewhat cliched. The guitarist had an open shirt and gold chains and played with extravagant gestures. Roundabout and Owner were the most well-recieved songs. Jon introduced Lighting Strikes saying he had never played it on stage before, and needed notes to remember the lyrics. I hadn't heard any of the downloads, but it was exactly like people here have described it - Africany, Latiny, Teakbois re-write. I don't know if it 'grooved' but the crowd seemed to like it, and were bopping along to it, and applauded strongly when they finished it. On
the other hand, I can describe what it was like, can say that I
enjoyed it (though it was a bit bottom-heavy, I thought, maybe a
function of the rockin' accompanying band) but I couldn't recall a single note of it after the event was over.
After the main set, musicians from some of the other acts came on
stage for an encore of "Gimmie Some Lovin'". Jeff Berlin was warmly introduced by Jon as "Irving Berlin who wrote White Christmas" and thus he could do "anything he wanted on stage". Jon called up the NFL Alumni on stage to sing backing vocals. He sounded a bit horse while introducing the song, but once it started he kicked in, using his "I'm Down" rock'n'roll voice, and he was impressive, singing with authority. Both Anderson and White seemed to really enjoy themsleves, maybe because it wasn't "Yes" at an "official" concert they could let loose a bit. The crowd certainly appeared to be having a great time too. A&W made no mention of any upcoming plans except for Jon's saying the Ladder was coming out when introducing Lightning Strikes.
I didn't stay after the show ended to talk to A&W to ask about any set lists for the upcoming tour, perhaps someone who did can fill in.
Spent the day (Saturday) watching Jon Anderson and Alan White reherse with Stormbringer at a billards hall in Clearwater, FL.
The place was open with about 10 people playing pool. In the back, there was a stage and small dance floor. My girlfriend, brothers and I arrived and took seats at the edge of the dance floor, center stage. There was NO ONE ELSE WATCHING the band warm up. Anderson and White arrived about 10 minutes after we did. Though they caused a bit of a stir in the place, there was still, at the most, 15 people watching at any moment. It was like a private concert.
They did Owner, Long Distance Runaround, Roundabout, All Good People, and Lightening Strikes.
Anderson's singing is OUTSTANDING. The band sounded really good and LS sounds great live.
After playing for about 90 minutes, Jon walked to the bar, got a beer and came back and sat next to me.
My girlfriend and him talked a bit about Ireland and The Promise Ring. Jon said he hasn't played Dublin since the day before the Moon Walk in 69. He said he and the band were meant to play in Cork, but hit every pub on the way and ended up missing the show. He was so nice to talk with. My girlfriend was astounded. He just sat and chatted with us.
He told us that in Las Vegas, years ago, he discovered there really was a God. He was really stressed out in his hotel room when he was visited by angels. He said they walked right through the walls. He started to freak out, but the angels calmed him down.
He then floored us by saying that was the inspiration for Soon. "Soon oh Soon the Light." One day, we will come to the light and discover God. "Pass Within and Soothe This Endless Night." This was the calming effect the angels had on him.
Needless to say, we sat there transfixed.
He was also discussing his relationship with his kids. He told us about two weeks ago he had a healing time with his kids since, as he said, he's spent more time, "with Alan White" than his kids. They pointed that out to him and he said it never occured to him, but they were right.
He was really interesting on this. He said children choose their parents and they are sent to teach you about your self. It was very interesting. He said how much he loved his parents and his daughter Jade is working on a very "heavy" album now.
There was a lot more, but that should give you an idea of how I spent my Saturday. Jon and Alan were super nice and friendly. They seemed like they are enjoying themselves here in Florida.
Tommorrow we see them play as part of the Clearwater Music Festival. There is a party afterwards at the hotel and then Monday night is an NFL Alumni dinner / party with a private show by Anderson, White and Stormbringer as back ups.
Great day to the say the least. We're in Yes heaven right now in Florida.
Hope you enjoyed the story. I'll give an update tommorrow.
At long last Igor's brilliant new CD, "Piano Works" is available... and, you can order it RIGHT NOW over the Internet!
Point your browser at Igor's new home on the web: http://www.khoroshev.com ...where you'll find samples from "Piano Works", online ordering details, Igor's Art Gallery, and MUCH more.
"khoroshev.com" is a joint effort between Notes From the Edge and Yeshoo!, combining Igor's two prior web sites. So please browse around the site and take in Igor's many artistic creations... and order your copy of the amazing "Piano Works" today!
By the way - the first 1,000 copies of "Piano Works" will be autographed by Igor himself, so DON'T WAIT!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Visit Yeshoo! - Your Guide to YES on the Internet
http://www.yeshoo.com
TCG: What about the new Yes album?
SH: It is a pretty good representation of what we did. Quite often you go to make a record and it come out completely different then [sic] what you had hoped. The album sounds pretty fresh and we go places on it. We weren't trying to go for one particular style. Some of it is kind of new. We've got and Aftican suite on it. It's very different. The colorful things is [sic] the album has two nine-and-a-half minute pieces.
There are times when we're quite simple and straight ahead. Bruce did a hell of a lot for us.
TCG: As a Yes fan, I think I still have a bit of a problem with a second guitar playhing in the band. How is that working out?
SH: Firstly, I think we went into the record understanding where we were much better and there wasn't going to be any squabbles and things got into perspective. As Bruce always said, a lot happens in the mix, some things have their time and some thing sdon't have their time. There was a nice balance, really. I was very happy with the way Billy kept in an area which gave me the lead guitar and acoustic guitar and any other rhythm stuff I wanted to do as well because at times I'm not playing lead, I'm
supporting Jon. I'm mostly the guy on the left and Billy is on the right and that gies us quite a lot of clarity . There is a reasonably logical feeling in the album which Bruce wanted to create by not doing a lot of overdubbing of parts. For the most part, a lot of the guitar is played live with the band. I think it is quite a mature record that is a lot of fun.
The latest Artist Shop newsletter is out and you'll find it in its entirety at http://www.artist-shop.com/news.htm. Meanwhile, here are some excerpts that Yes fans may find interesting.
On our import pre-order page
http://www.artist-shop.com/catalog/imports/preorder.htm you'll find this!
YES-LADDER + (2CD)
Japanese edition of the legendary prog rock group's 1999 outing with a bonus 5" CD single limited to the initial pressing only.
Although I've seen rumors on the net that the bonus disc has live tracks from recent performances in Japan, I haven't got confirmation from my import distributor on that yet.