Read the Local Spins interview with Alan White of the legendary prog-rock band that hits Grand Rapids’ 20 Monroe Live Friday, with other tour stops this week in Detroit and Interlochen.
On Tour Again: Prog-rock’s Yes is playing dates across the United States this summer. (Photo/Glenn Gottlieb)
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Most rock bands break up after a few years, if they make it that long.
Others stand the test of time. The Rolling Stones are still at it, and the Moody Blues just celebrated 50-plus years by being named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
#YES50: This particular version of Yes features Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye. (Photo/Glenn Gottlieb)
Horn bands Tower of Power, Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears are all still in the game, 50 years after first taking the stage.
So is Yes.
The band is celebrating 50 years of its progressive rock by taking its show on the road, with Michigan stops Thursday at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Friday at 20 Monroe Live in Grand Rapids, and Saturday at Fox Theatre in Detroit.
Steve Howe on guitar and vocals, Alan White on drums, Geoff Downes on keyboards, bassist Billy Sherwood and lead vocalist Jon Davison are being joined on this tour by original keyboard player Tony Kaye.
“We just started on the road,” said White. “The band is playing really well, we’re having fun. I’m coming up on 47 years with the band. I’m enjoying being back on the road.”
As would be expected of any group with a half-century of songs, shows, recordings, arguments and defections, there have been ups and downs, with a number of band members coming and going over the years.
In fact, the band could pretty much have named all of its recordings “Drama,” not just the 1980 album recorded after the departures of founding vocalist Jon Anderson and caped crusader Rick Wakeman.
IGNORING THE ‘OTHER’ YES TO PLAY CLASSICS FROM A ROBUST CAREER
There’s even another band touring under the Yes banner these days, featuring former members Anderson, Wakeman and Trevor Rabin.
The last time such a feud erupted it led Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe (Yes East) to release one album under that unwieldy moniker before joining with White, Rabin, Kaye and co-founder Chris Squire (Yes West) for the “Union” album and Reunion tour.
Don’t expect any such reconciliation this time around, though the warring factions made nice when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.
‘Attention to Detail’: Yes still has that ‘all these years later.’
White prefers not to address the dispute, instead concentrating on the current band and tour. “Others leave and come back. I’ve never been in any other band.”
Like fellow keyboardist Downes, Kaye has been in the band twice (Howe’s actually been in the band three times), founding the band with Anderson, Squire, guitarist Peter Banks and drummer Bill Bruford. He was booted in favor of Wakeman following “The Yes Album,” and ejoined for “90125,” staying for a dozen years.
Kaye guested on the band’s most recent Cruise to the Edge (its annual Caribbean prog-themed cruise) and when invited to do the same for this tour decided he couldn’t say no.
“Tony plays the encore numbers. It’s relevant to his past in the band,” said White.
As for the cruise itself, White said it’s a chance to get more intimate with its fans. After all, they pay thousands of dollars to get up close and personal with the likes of Steve Hackett, Soft Machine, Carl Palmer, Mike Portnoy, Focus, Ambrosia and headliners Yes.
Alan White
“We’ve done five of them now. It’s a lot of fun. They’re bands we know. We hand-pick them with the promoter. They’re all friends of ours,” White said.
While it doesn’t play any of the material from its Rabin era or indeed touch on songs from the likes of “Tormato,” “Open Your Eyes” or “Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe,” the band’s current set list is a microcosm of its discography. It ranges from the early days to its 70s heyday as well as a smattering of tracks from “Drama,” “Fly From Here,” “The Ladder” and “Heaven and Earth.”
“Each version (of the band) has its own kind of album, its own sound. It hasn’t changed as far as attention to detail,” said White. “Here we are all these years later.”
Fifty years later, to be precise. For those who were first mesmerized by the syncopated rhythms, stinging guitars and keyboard majesty of “Fragile” and “Close to the Edge,” the band still holds a special place. And like the Moodies, TOP, BS&T and those others that still do their best to entertain an audience all these years later, Yes may have slowed down but it hasn’t given up the ghost.
Tickets, $49.50-$150, for the 20 Monroe Live concert are available online at 20monroelive.com. Tickets, $44-$61, for Thursday’s Interlochen show are available at tickets.interlochen.org.
Copyright 2018, Spins on Music LLC
