Artists | Issues | CD Reviews | Interviews | Concert Reviews | DVD/Video Reviews | Book Reviews | Who We Are | Staff | Home
 

Yes

Live in Milwaukee-November 15th, 1997

Review by Gary Hill

For me, this Yes tour was the best that I have ever seen. I should explain that statement by saying that, although I have been an avid Yes fan since 1975, I did not get the opportunity to see them until the 90125 tour. Therefore, I did miss many of what diehard Yes fans consider to be their best outings.
The entire band was in fine form, playing with precision and enthusiasm. Keyboardist, Ivan "Igor" Khoroshev (who is not officially a member of the band) did a wonderful job, adding fresh sounds and arrangements, while evoking much the same sense of virtuosity as Rick Wakeman. Highlights of the show for me included Siberian Khatru, Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (etc.), and And You And I. Khatru was especially magical since it was the first tour that I had seen Yes do this song (my favorite of their repertoire). Weak points of the show were the two new songs, and Billy Sherwood. Open Your Eyes and Children of Light were both considerably stronger on their respective albums than they were live, but perhaps with work they will be good live songs. Billy Sherwood really did not seem to contribute much to the show. In fact, the majority of the time he just seemed to be standing around with nothing to do. Honestly he was much busier on the Talk tour, and he was just a sideman then. It really made me wonder why he is a full-fledged member of the band while Khoroshev is just a hired hand. In general though the show was the magical experience of sound (both virtuosity and emotion) and vision that has come to be expected of Yes.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: The Early Years Volume 6 at garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-The-Early-Years.
You'll find concert pics of this artist in the Music Street Journal members area.
 
Return to the
Yes Artist Page
Return to the
Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe Artist Page
Artists Directory
 
Google

   Creative Commons License
   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

    © 2024 Music Street Journal                                                                           Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com