Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, and Rick Wakeman (plus Lee Pomeroy and Louis Molino III), Live at Ravinia, Highland Park, Illinois, September 7, 2018
Setlist:
Cinema
Hold On
I’ve Seen All Good People
Changes
And You and I
Rhythm of Love
Perpetual Change
Lift Me Up
I Am Waiting
Heart of the Sunrise
Awaken
Owner of a Lonely Heart (with a portion of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love)
Encore
Roundabout
Summer 2018 has been the summer of Yes. With two versions of the band touring the United States, fans have been treated to a double helping of fantastic music. I saw the official Yes in Grand Rapids a few months ago (see my review here). Seeing Yes featuring Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman was a great way to compare the two groups while getting to see a few progressive rock legends.
I had never seen Jon Anderson or Rick Wakeman (or Trevor Rabin, for that matter) live before this show. I’ve watched old live footage, but it isn’t the same. Jon Anderson is over 70, yet he sounds absolutely fantastic – maybe better than he did a decade ago. He didn’t miss any notes, and he looked like he was having the time of his life. Rick Wakeman hasn’t slowed down at all, and watching him play his eight or nine keyboards was a blast.
Yes featuring ARW had a much different vibe than the Yes show with Steve Howe and company. With that show, I expected nothing but prog played as it was presented on the albums. With ARW, I expected to hear more of the 80s cra… err music. Generally, they were true to the album recordings, but they in no way felt tied them – especially the more progressive songs. It should surprise no one to hear me say that Steve Howe is a much better and more diverse guitarist than Trevor Rabin is. Rabin is very good, but his style is much more comparable to someone like Neal Schon from Journey than it is to Steve Howe. The prog songs, which were my favorite, still sounded great.
My favorite song of the setlist was “Awaken.” The other Yes played that at the Grand Rapids show, and I really enjoyed it. I remember being amazed at how well Alan White kept up with the repetitive melody of the song that is played during the long keyboard solo. ARW did a really cool spin on that with Jon Anderson playing that part with a small hand-held harp. This brought a completely different atmosphere to the song that was very interesting and enjoyable. Wakeman’s keyboards – primarily organs – during this section were absolutely stunning. The cape only made it better.
I’m not a fan of post-Drama 80s Yes, although it is considerably better than post-Hackett Genesis. “Owner of a Lonely Heart” is definitely not the best song Yes ever composed, but the band found a cool way to make it interesting. Towards the end, Wakeman donned a keytar, and he and Rabin started walking down the aisles of the pavilion. Wakeman ended up walking six or seven feet away from me, and the two met towards the middle and decided to sit in an empty box seating area and start jamming with the fans all around. This was probably twenty feet from me, although the swarm of fans made it difficult to see. Regardless, it made an aggressively mediocre song palatable to this prog snob.
The encore of “Roundabout” obviously pleased the crowd, and Wakeman’s keyboards were especially dominant in this rendition. The band did the whole show without an intermission, and they played for two hours before leaving the stage and returning for the encore. I found that impressive, especially considering Anderson is in his seventies and sang on every song and played instruments on many others.
This show was good, but it wasn’t perfect. The light show was pretty bad, especially compared to the official Yes 50th anniversary show I saw earlier this summer. That show had a very intricate and tasteful light show that matched the music. This show had extremely bright lights shining in my eyes periodically. The sound was also pretty bad – especially the bass. Lee Pomeroy had his tech running out on stage many times throughout the show, which was a shame because Pomeroy is obviously talented. I’d have to say that Billy Sherwood makes a better replacement for Squire, though. Pomeroy’s bass wasn’t nearly dominant enough in the mix. At times, the bass from Wakeman’s organs became overpowering and reverberated in an awkward way, although that only happened twice.
The worst part of the show had to do with the ushers, however. I’ve been to many Ravinia shows, and I’ve always greatly appreciated how the ushers refused to seat people during a song. If you come late, you normally have to wait until a break between songs. However, during this show they had people wandering up and down the aisles the entire time. I couldn’t even see the stage for the entirety of the first song because of people walking down the aisles. It was like watching a concert in the middle of a train station. Obviously this did not spoil the music, but it did keep me from concentrating on the band.
So who was better… Yes or Yes featuring ARW? Well, that depends on what you’re looking for. If you think Yes isn’t Yes without Jon Anderson, then ARW would be the answer. If you like a healthy mix of 80s pop Yes mixed with 70s prog Yes with slightly new interpretations, then ARW would be the answer. If you want progressive rock Yes that sounds just like the albums, then Steve Howe’s Yes is the better bet. If you’re like me (and if you are, I highly recommend visiting a doctor to cure yourself of that) then you appreciate the fact that there are two bands out there playing this amazing music. I enjoyed both concerts, and I would love to see both bands again in the future. ARW recently said they may have new music coming out by the end of this year, so that is certainly something to look forward to.
Yes is arguably the greatest prog band ever, and to hear integral members performing the music at such a high level – regardless of what the bands call themselves – is a real pleasure. If Yes and Yes featuring ARW are playing anywhere near you in the near future, definitely grab a ticket and go. You won’t be disappointed.
Progarchy 
“Yes is arguably the greatest prog band ever”……………………….Uhhhhhh…………….Lol. I hate to disagree with You here regarding that statement Bryan……………but I’m sure I’ll have hundreds of thousands agree with me,when I say that “RUSH” has always been,and forever WILL BE………the Ultimate Prog band that ever existed!!! 😉 Now of course………..all this is mainly due to musical tastes,theories and opinions……….so I’m not whatsoever…………..discounting your statement!!! As I’m sure watching YES twice this summer,was just WAY-OUT COOL!!! PERIOD!!! Love the post!!! 🙂
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I never exactly claimed that Yes was THE greatest prog band ever… I just implied that some people could argue they are. Rush is certainly the greatest band ever. Period. What other band never made a bad album and managed to re-invent their sound for the new millennium and make 3 more outstanding albums… only Rush. With that said, Yes was one of the biggest inspirations for Rush, as Geddy and Alex both said at Yes’ HOF induction ceremony, and “Close to the Edge” is definitely one of the most brilliant songs ever composed.
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Appreciate the key insight that Trevor Rabin is basically an album-oriented rock guitarist (a la Neal Schon or Steve Lukather of Toto) who’s very good at what he does, while Steve Howe is sui generis, a one-off, thoroughly unique player. I hope ARW makes another swing through soon, so I can see them — even if I’ll probably pay twice as much as we did for Howe’s Yes. Thanks for the review!
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Howe, while excellent at what he does, sometimes seems a little limited and…well…dated. Rabin is definitely more rock oriented, but I think he’s a bit better than Neal Schon or whoever plays for Toto. I enjoy the modern vibe he brings to the Howe-era material, but I can’t blame anyone for preferring the original.
I guess I’m in the minority of Yes fans in that I like the 80s material. It’s rock oriented, like Rabin’s guitar work, but it’s still Yes. On the other hand, I have never been one to insist the bands I like play what I want or expect them to play. If I really hate something I’ll move on, but I found a lot to like in 90125. Big Generator was weaker, but hardly their worst (personally, I’d reserve that spot for Heaven & Earth). That said, I’ll admit I always find at least something about almost every Yes album.
I have a bone to pick about how you described “Owner of a Lonely Heart” as “aggressively mediocre.” That song was HUGE. It’s a staple of classic rock radio to this day, and it’s easily among the best songs they ever released – prog or not (and I would argue it IS, along with most of the rest of their 80’s material). More importantly, it stays in the set list and gets a big response.
Besides, how many kids (including me) were introduced to the music of Yes through the 90125 album? The vocals to “Leave It” alone have inspired countless prog tunes (Spock’s Beard, I’m looking at you). Making the music more accessible isn’t always a bad thing if it remains true to the band’s overall sound and vibe. It’s when a band sells out and descends into “Invisible Touch” territory you have to worry.
As to which version of Yes is better, I agree we should be grateful to have two versions of the band with so many of its best members out there touring. Both are worth seeing. I prefer the ARW version because of Jon’s vocals and Wakeman’s keyboards, but no one should pass up an opportunity to hear Howe in person, either. It would be great if they could bury whatever hatchet exists between them to tour together at least one more time, but I’ll take what I can get. They won’t be able to do it much longer.
And we agree on one more thing: Yes is definitely the best prog band of all time.
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Thanks for your comment, David. Having grown up long after the 70s and 80s, I came to prog via Rush’s 2112 when I was in sixth grade circa 2005-06. I’ve always had a much greater appreciation for the “classic” era of prog, and the changes made in the 80s will always be hard for me to accept. My review of this show is exceptionally biased, but I still enjoyed the entire concert.
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Great review, Bryan! Well done.
I would, however, also take exception to this: “Rabin is very good, but his style is much more comparable to someone like Neal Schon from Journey than it is to Steve Howe.”
First, why no love for Schon? He’s actually an exceptional and even wide-ranging guitarist; just listen to about any of his solo releases to appreciate how good he is within what might be called “jazz fusion” or even “new age fusion” (I made that up). Journey gets a lot of hate, but don’t let the schmaltzy stuff distract you from the incredible musicianship. Schon is much like Steve Morse in this wonderful regard: his solos make sense; they are well-constructed and have a narrative, something many technically-adept guitarists cannot seem to master.
As for Rabin, be sure to check out his 1989 album “Can’t Look Away”, which is, I think, something of a minor classic (I played the heck out of it for months after purchasing it). Yes, it definitely reflects that era in ways, but it has a lot of interesting stuff going on, both musically and lyrically. Rabin, in my estimation, is just as much a composer/writer as a player, which probably accounts for his career in film scoring/soundtracks.
But to really appreciate Rabin the Artist, listen to 2013’s “Jacaranda”, which is easily as adventurous and interesting as anything Steve Howe. I enjoy a lot of Howe’s solo stuff, but it’s rather “samey”; Rabin is certainly more “out there” at times (he draws on South African/worldbeat sounds quite often), and thus more interesting.
Anyhow, my .02 worth, submitted for fraternal discussion and harmonious dialogue. 😉
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Just to clarify, I’m not hating on Neal Schon. I think he’s a great guitarist for what he does (even if he was a bit of a jerk to Steve Perry in the 90s), and I like Journey. I was merely saying that Rabin’s playing is much more akin to AOR than it is to progressive rock guitarists like Howe, Hackett, or Fripp. It is a completely different style of playing that, for me, doesn’t fit all that well with the progressive side of Yes. I still think he’s a great guitarist, and he shined on the 80s stuff they played last week.
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