In just two hours, The Classic Tales of Yes Tour will tell you the story of a band with a career spanning nearly 6 decades.
Yes are a band with music spanning multiple decades. From their self-titled record in 1969, Yes have had countless lineup changes and tragedies but this hasn’t stopped them being able to create 23 studio albums full of tracks loved by an international fanbase. Across two sets with no support act, the quintet stunned the Glasgow audience with their mesmerising and melodic performance.
Entering Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall and walking into the foyer, I was instantly met with colour and vibrancy. This was in the form of artist Roger Dean’s artwork constructing a gallery worth of intrigue. Roger is behind the artwork for several of Yes’ most-loved albums. When I spoke to Yes bassist Billy Sherwood in a recent interview, we agreed that album artwork can make or break your experience listening to it. This extended into the foyer of this stunning venue. It was such a brilliant introduction into what would turn out to be an unforgettable night of artistry.
Set 1
Taking to the stage to the sound of cheers and clapping, keyboardist Geoff Downes, drummer Jay Schellen, bassist Billy Sherwood and guitarist Steve Howe waved to admiring fans. They took their places on stage and the cheers only grew louder when lead vocalist Jon Davison joined. Opening with 1980 track ‘Machine Messiah‘, it was impossible not to get drawn into their set. It was difficult to know where to look, but wherever your eyes landed, there was wonder and encapsulating entertainment to follow.
Looking at Schellen, he was mouthing the words along to himself and his infectious smile never left his face. When he wasn’t playing intricate piano and keyboard melodies, Downes was glancing around the venue in awe at people singing along and simply enjoying their set. Sherwood‘s passion for playing was evident, effortlessly playing detailed bass riffs while vocally harmonising with Davison in different pitches. Davison himself was a sight to see, and hear, with incredible control of his voice and even matching vocals on songs written and recorded before he was born. Howe’s impressive musical history and talent ignited my interest as soon as he started playing. Switching instruments and guitars and quickly adapting a different style of playing was so amazing to watch.
They swiftly followed this incredible opening track with ‘It Will Be a Good Day (The River)‘ from 1999 album “The Ladder“. Later on in the first set they performed ‘I’ve Seen All Good People‘. These are two of my favourite songs and it was surreal to hear them live. Additionally, they threw in their version of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘America‘, a completely re-imagined composition of the original 1968 tune. That’s the thing with Yes, they could take any song and make it something you’ve never heard before. They ended their first set with 1978 track ‘Don’t Kill the Whale‘ and ‘Turn of the Century‘ from 1977 album “Going for the One“, the title track also included in this set.
Touching on tragedies suffered by Yes, Steve Howe gave a poignant posthumous thanks to David Foster. Foster was a pre-bandmate of former Yes vocalist Jon Anderson. He co-wrote a couple of Yes’ biggest tunes like ‘Time and a Word‘, the song they played after the heartfelt message. The progressive and genre-combining style of the 1970 track is quintessentially Yes, and one I really enjoyed hearing live.
Set 2
After a short interval, the audience took their seats once again and waited in anticipation for Yes to return to the stage. An increased level of cheering and applaud erupted, demonstrating how eager fans were to carry on what was already an incredible night of music. In full, they played ‘South Side of the Sky‘ and ‘Cut from the Stars‘. The first of these is from 1971 album “Fragile“, a very popular album among Yes fans, with the latter taken from 2023 album, “Mirror To The Sky“.
The final part of their main performance was done as a medley. This consisted of the four tracks from the 1973 record “Tales from Topographic Oceans“. This included ‘The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)‘, ‘The Remembering (High the Memory)‘, ‘The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun)‘ and ‘Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil)‘. In our interview, Billy mentioned that this was one of his favourite albums of theirs, and actually watching it come alive before you is something else entirely.
This gig truly encapsulated everything that Yes stand for. The heavenly harmonies from Howe, Sherwood and Davison and fundamental foundations from Schellen and Downes created an astronomical atmosphere that you cannot find elsewhere. Channelling their space and otherworldly record artwork, Yes presented such a celestial show that I would attend again instantly.
Overall
This show from Yes is one I will not forget, nor will anyone who witnessed such wonder. With a lot of songs that are much longer than the average, I did personally expect songs to see songs being unnecessarily dragged out. However, every song and the interludes were totally different. It definitely didn’t feel like one big song being played for two hours.
If you like long interludes and powerful performing then Yes are a band you have to see. While the interludes and instrumental portions were rather lengthy, it was the furthest thing from boring. Watching each bandmate pour emotion and passion into their playing throughout these moments was enthralling.
