Jon Anderson & the Band Geeks in Thousand Oaks

1 There was a standing ovation after almost every song. As previously established, my dentist turned me on to Yes. His nephew made an 8-track tape of the first album for him and we listened to it as the Dodge station wagon which needed a front end alignment trundled down I-91 from Vermont back to Connecticut. Now if you know that initial LP, there's an absolute killer version of the the Beatles' song "Every Little Thing," which had the misfortune of being on "Beatles VI" in the USA, a hodgepodge collection with a lame photo on the cover, but in the U.K. it was ensconced towards the end of "Beatles for Sale," the band's CD I've played the most, because it contains the original recording of my now favorite Beatles song. But this Yes cover, it was majestic. I immediately purchased the album, played that song for everybody I knew, even during freshman orientation the first week of college, I thought it would close everybody instantly, but it took years for the masses to catch on. After loving the debut, I saw the follow-up, "Time and a Word," in the bin at Alexander's, not evening knowing it existed, I thought the group was one and done, and I played it, but it was not quite as good as the first LP. And then came "The Yes Album." I only purchased it because I was a fan of the band. I did not expect a great leap forward, but that's what I got. The addition of virtuosos Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman lifted the band to a whole 'nother level, pushing the envelope of what came to be known as prog rock. Steve Howe was not there last night. Nor Rick Wakeman. But unlike Chris Squire, at least they're still alive. And Bill Bruford's replacement Alan White is gone too. And it's more than half a century later. Does anybody care? That's what I was thinking driving to the gig and during the first number, a full-length version of "Close to the Edge." The original Yes only had one hit, "Roundabout," and this show was from that classic era, except for a few new songs from Jon's collaboration with the Band Geeks, which fit in seamlessly and were actually quite good. Most people come to oldies shows for the hits. And depending on how many you have, that's how many tickets you can sell. Aged Boomers and Gen-X'ers do the calculation. They've got the cash and the time, is it worth spending it? I wouldn't think that many people would want to go see a band with only one hit. But they did. But were these the only ones? I mean how broad is the Yes footprint? I'm not sure. But this music was from a point in time when hits were just icing on the cake, it was about the album. With none of today's internet distractions we played them from beginning to end, over and over. And went to see these bands. But now? This is not like going to see the Journey celebration. This music is too difficult to be pure nostalgia, it demands attention. I won't quite say it's work, but if you're not involved, you don't even want to be there. And I'm asking myself why I am there. It's so weird, I'm sitting there thinking about what this music meant to me back when, but do I want to live in the past or the present? Stop in my tracks or keep pushing the envelope? Now let's be clear, it was my people who were there. Old and rumpled, with gray and white hair, some wearing t-shirts, in some cases band shirts from previous tours. This was not a night out at the Hollywood Bowl, no one was there to be seen. They came for the music, and the music only. So is this material ancient, or is it our classical music? Were the people going to the show no different from their parents going to the symphony? And marching forward... There can't even be any shows like this. First and foremost, there was no production, which the Spotify Top 50 specializes in. And the Spotify Top 50 also specializes in hedonistic, mindless hits, not much different from superhero movies. Will you really want to spend all that money to see these acts fifty years from now? It's one thing if they're part of a revue, but will you want two hours of their tunes? The people last night did. 2 So what you've got to know is the Band Geeks do an excellent job of playing the material, but they are faceless. Which is a far cry from the Yes of yore, with Wakeman in his caftans... And there still is a version of Yes plying the boards, sans any original members, but the band is lacking one thing, Jon Anderson. This is not plug and play, this doesn't work with an Ariel Pineda. It's not about suspending disbelief. Unlike with Journey and other bands with soundalike replacement singers, the music is not bigger than Jon Anderson, he is intertwined with it. Yes is beyond songs, it's creativity in the writing, the playing and the singing. You need to see Jon Anderson sing these songs. And he'll be 82 in October, and unlike so many of his peers, he still has his pipes. So... You miss the other original players, their personalities... I learned way back that you need to be weary of replacing band members, because in addition to musical cohesion, there's always some part of the audience that is attached to that seemingly secondary player. Don't forget, George had fans, not only John and Paul, never mind the quirky, lovable Ringo. And you want to see these people in the band. And that was lacking last night, and was disappointing. And to tell you the truth, even though I own and know "Close to the Edge," it was never my favorite, but here we got the full side rendition. And when it closed... People stood up clapping vociferously and... There were no video cameras, no one to impress, they were just that moved by the music. But then came "Perpetual Change"... Never mind "And You and I." And then I was completely involved, it was not pure nostalgia, it was not like so many oldies shows, this music was alive and kicking, no one on stage was going through the motions, this was as vibrant as all of the new shows out there. Once again, they're doing it without a net. Yes, there are two keyboard/synth players, but like I said, there's no production, it's purely music. Sure, Anderson claps his tambourine, and occasionally paraded around with a giant flag, but this show was not something so much that you saw, but something you heard, something you experienced. That you were involved in. And song after song, except for a couple of the new ones, generated a standing ovation. These people knew the music. They'd stand up spontaneously and thrust their arms in the air, they'd clap along and sing too. For all you knew, these people were still living in the seventies. But it's the twenty first century. 3 So if you're a Yes fan, you've got to go. Since it's only Anderson of the originals, it's actually less nostalgic, it's like Anderson has thrown off the past and been reinvigorated. And the venues are not big. There's no rip-off involved. It's like it was back in the day. But those days are long over. So what do we make of this? Sitting there for the two hour long sets it was clear that we lived through something, whose formula seems to have been lost. Yes, we can call Yes prog rock, but they sounded nothing like their contemporaries Genesis or Gentle Giant. Each of these acts was on their own hejira. And nobody was sitting there saying "let's write a single," it was never about the hit. But this music has lasted. So many of the acts from the seventies can't even sell out a club. And even if you had a couple of hits, if there were no albums to back it up, there aren't any rabid fans. But rabid fans will come out every year to see acts they're invested in, just ask the metal bands. But metal never dies. And prog rock is almost completely in the rearview mirror. 4 The apotheosis was "I've Seen All Good People." "Take a straight and stronger course To the corner of your life Make the white queen run so fast She's hasn't got time to make you a wife" Even if you don't remember every word, you remember the melody. Takes you right back to your dorm room. And they started a cappella and then the voices ascended into heaven and it was positively mesmerizing. All I could do was lean forward, rock back and forth, nod and sing along. There was joy in this music. It was the other. Not made for radio, seemingly not made for anybody but the people who made it, the band itself. And if the audience could relate... And we did. And we couldn't exactly explain why. It's just that it titillated us, was one step beyond what we'd encountered before, was anything but me-too. "'Cause it's time, it's time in time with your time, and its news Is captured for the queen to use" Don't ask me what the words mean, they're open to each person's individual interpretation. "Don't surround yourself with yourself Move on back two squares" "Your Move" goes on for minutes, it's exquisite, prettier and more enticing than music half a century younger. And then, when you're completely entranced... "I've seen all good people turn their heads each day So satisfied, I'm on my way" 5 There was no context. Other than the fact that this was music we knew and loved and wanted to hear performed. It wasn't about hype, there was no press, you had to find it yourself. Once again, the music didn't sound, still doesn't sound like anything else, and rather than being set in amber it was scrubbed clean and moving. I'm not saying this is for everybody. But it's surprising how many it is for. Those who grew up in an era when music not only drove the culture, it was a constant bastion of innovation. You'd break the shrinkwrap and drop the needle and not know exactly what you were going to experience, even if you owned every one of the act's previous albums. It's a lost formula. Forget the music, you've got to have screens, lights, distractions, the belief is the music itself is not enough, certainly not if you're playing to 1,800. But last night it was. P.S. No one got up and went to the bathroom during the show. P.P.S. There was no undercurrent of conversation whatsoever during the show, a rare event. The set list: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jon-anderson-and-the-band-geeks/2026/thousand-oaks-civic-arts-plaza-fred-kavli-theatre-thousand-oaks-ca-134841ed.html -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25