It has been five years since I last saw Yes, my favourite band as longtime Biff Bam Pop readers are certainly aware. In that time, the group has released two studio albums, lost their beloved drummer Alan White, and embarked upon tours that didn’t bring them close enough to my home of Toronto to see. Finally, after a multi-year break thanks to both the pandemic and tour routing, I finally enjoyed my first Yesshow since 2019.
Truth be told, this wasn’t exactly how I’d hoped to be reunited with the band. While they usually are headliners, this summer they’re on the road with Deep Purple, acting as special guests. This meant Yes would be playing a far shorter show than usual, and without some of the deeper, less standard songs that have appeared in their sets over the last few years. No “On The Silent Wings of Freedom,” no “It Will Be A Good Day,” and the Tales From Topographic Oceans medley the band performed earlier this year on their spring run would also be missing. As a die-hard, I couldn’t help but feel a little let down knowing what I wouldn’t be hearing.
However, when the band hit Toronto’s Budweiser Stage Sunday night and kicked into “Machine Messiah,” the opening track to 1980’s Drama album, thoughts of missing set list songs were quickly forgotten. I hadn’t heard this particular song since 2008, when Chris Squire, Alan White, and Steve Howe, along with Benoit David and Oliver Wakeman brought it back to life for the first time in nearly three decades. In 2024, Howe is the soul survivor of that line-up, but this version of Yes, featuring keyboardist Geoff Downes, singer Jon Davison, bassist Billy Sherwood, and drummer Jay Schellen, immediately rocked “Machine Messiah” in a way that set about the tone for their set. Yes could have chosen any number of songs to open their night, but this track is one of the more aggressive in their catalogue and it worked, especially playing to the hard rock loving Deep Purple crowd that were filling the seats.
The Yes faithful were definitely in attendance, though, and as someone that hasn’t missed a Toronto Yesshow in 30 years, I can safety attest to the fact that this was one of the best Toronto crowds the band has performed in front of. Reactions to “I’ve Seen All Good People,” “Yours is No Disgrace” and “Siberian Khatru” were loud, as was the appreciation for Steve Howe’s solo guitar piece, “Clap.”
As a longtime hardcore fan, I definitely think about the band a little more throughly than one who just is happy for a night out, and doesn’t study the minutia of how the musicians deliver solos differently from tour to tour, but for me, that’s one of the aspects of the Yes live experience I enjoy. Jon Davison continues to be the right singer for this version of Yes, easily performing those classic vocal lines while also reaching for and finding other, otherworldly notes. Watching powerhouse drummer Jay Schellen put his own mark on various drum fills previously played by Alan White is very cool to my ears; Jay never disrespects the late, great White and I’m sure Alan would have appreciated Jay’s approach to Yesmusic. The same goes for Billy Sherwood, who is coming up on ten years as the band’s bassist, and in fact was the only member who was also there back in 1994 at Toronto’s Kingswood Music Theatre when I attended my first Yesshow. Billy continues to be his own musician on stage, though his subtle nods to The Fish, such as pointing upwards during the vocal breakdown at the end of “Roundabout,” a standard Squire live move, was heartwarming and much appreciated. Meanwhile, keyboardist Geoff Downes, a master musician who could knock off piano flourishes like that former member with the cape, seems more than content to support the band with his playing rather than calling attention to himself. He honours the work of Tony Kaye and Rick Wakeman, while also shining on a track like “Machine Messiah,” the only song in the set that he originally created in-studio.
Which brings us to Steve Howe, the band’s de facto leader and the only remaining member of its classic ‘70s line-up. At 77 years old, Howe remains a wonder of guitar playing, his fingers nimble as ever as he delivers solo after solo on his classic Gibson; he even wheeled around his pedal steel during “Going For The One.” What was clearly evident during last night’s show was just how happy Howe was to be playing. I caught more than a few smiles from him during the set, something that I don’t ever recall seeing during the band’s 1997-2004 runs. This version of Yes is clearly focused on camaraderie and actually being a band; I firmly believe they’re not in it strictly for the pay cheques, but that these five men genuinely enjoy playing music together. That joy translated on stage, and in turn, Yes was rewarded with an appreciative audience.
I came for Yes and stayed for Deep Purple, another longstanding classic rock band, one whom I’d only ever seen play three songs at Live 8. Amazingly, four out of the five members (Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Don Airey, and Ian Gillan) are all in their late 70s, and still manage to rock as hard as any band I’ve seen (new guitarist Simon McBride is the youngster at 45.) While I appreciated seeing these legends on stage, it’s no shock to say I would have preferred to have Yes be the headliner. Still, there’s no denying the power of Deep Purple classics like “Highway Star,” “Lazy,” “Hush,” and the crowd-pleasing “Smoke on the Water.”
Five years was too long a wait to see my favourite band on stage, but it was well worth it. With another new album in the works, it’s become abundantly clear that there’s a lot of life left in Yes, and I can’t wait to hear what comes next.
