Yes’s 40th anniversary tour that was cancelled when Jon Anderson was unwell is back on again – but with a new lead singer. In a case of life imitating art imitating life they have roped in the singer of Yes tribute band Close To The Edge to be Jon’s understudy for the tour.
Much has been made that this will leave Chris Squire as the only original band member on the stage, but given Yes’s history its not as simple as that. Three original band mambers are Bill Bruford, Peter Banks and Tony Kaye. No disrespect to them, they are all fine musicians after all, but most fans would prefer seeing Alan White, Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman instead – they were in the band (on and off) for 36 of the 40 years while those original three had all gone by 1972, although Tony Kaye did keep coming back. Having a line-up of White, Squire, Howe, Wakeman (even if it is Oliver Wakeman) and Benoit David is 70% of the classic line-up, assuming Oliver Wakeman counts as half…
Its not going to be the same as having Jon in there, but I’ll try and see them if and when their world tour reaches the UK. Here is a clip of Benoit David in action with Close To The Edge. Its not too encouraging, but it won’t put me off. Look at it this way: its better than having Trevor Horn doing the vocals again.
Personally, I like Drama – the Trevor Horn album – very much. But from bootlegs, he didn’t pull off the other Yes stuff very well. Seeing Yes these days without Anderson would be like, well, seeing a Yes tribute band. I will probably pass. Blogged a bit more about it at http://isorski.blogspot.com/
I quite like Drama – but I don’t really think of it as a Yes album.
I know what you mean but there is still some pleasure from seeing (almost) the real band behind the singer. I wonder if it means the ticket prices will be scaled down as well?
o me it’s not YES unless Anderson and Squire are there….So I will pass
It is a bad day….Richard Wright (Pink Floyd) has died of cancer aged only 65. Ihope if there is a heaven he finds Sid soon.
That Benoit David guy has nailed the tone of Jon Anderson’s voice.
Have you seen this YouTube video of Anderson leading a bunch of under-18 music students in “Close To The Edge”?
I’ve seen a few clips of Benoit David and some are better than others, but the same goes for Jon. He was great on the Montreux DVD but distinctly average on the House of Blues DVD. In any case, his voice has changed over the years.
It might all be OK. Got to work better than Paul Rodgers doing Freddie Mercury 🙂
Nice clip BTW. Damn, but those kids are good though.