When I heard that YES were performing "Gates of Delirium" on their current tour, I was pretty excited, but a bit worried at the same time. First of all, although Alan White has a small role to play in this new live version, only one original member of the "Relayer" album is in this line-up, Mr. Steve Howe. And while he still plays like a true master, it's not really the same as it was all of those years ago, in 1974. And understandably so.
Still, I was quite intrigued to hear this new version. And for the most part, I have to say that it wasn't all that bad. At least, not as bad as it could have been. Geoff Downes, who has been in the band for some time now (and was even keysman for the "Drama" album, way back in 1980) is a skilled keyboardist, and he performs phenomenally as always. Billy Sherwood, while no Chris Squire, does a great job with Chris' parts. Jon Davison was right up to snuff with the vocals. He sounds great as usual. He's no Jon Anderson, but then again, who is?! Drummer Jay Schellen does a damn good job with Alan's parts. And at the side of the drumset, looking like some kind of pissed off gargoyle, sits Alan White, a mere shell of the drummer that he once was. It's sad seeing him at his mini drum throne, trying to play these parts that we all know he can no longer perform. Seeing this, I'm kind of glad that Rush retired when they did. I would rather Rush never perform again, than see Neil attempting to play something that was once so effortless to him, so poorly.
The big instrumental break, about halfway through the 24 minute song was what I was really waiting for. I wanted to know if these musicians could pull this off, remembering that the combined age on stage is something around twelve-million years old. I was pleased to see that they tore through it very nicely. It wasn't quite as good as it was in the 70's, but very enjoyable.
Jon comes back onstage with an acoustic guitar to perform "Soon", the closing section of the song, and this part gave me goosebumps. It was fantastic. Steve sounds great here, and Jon is singing with the same passion that Anderson once delivered. Even Alan looks like he's woken up a little, back behind the main kit where he once sat so proudly (of course, the drums aren't overly important for this section of the song).
Overall, while the year in which YES should have retired has long since come and gone, at least they're out there having fun, and doing their best to put forth a pleasing performance. They may miss the bar that they had once set so high by a decent margin, but for the age of the majority of the musicians being what it is, they can still play. And as long as they are having fun, and people enjoy hearing it, then I think there is still a place for YES to play.
Still, I was quite intrigued to hear this new version. And for the most part, I have to say that it wasn't all that bad. At least, not as bad as it could have been. Geoff Downes, who has been in the band for some time now (and was even keysman for the "Drama" album, way back in 1980) is a skilled keyboardist, and he performs phenomenally as always. Billy Sherwood, while no Chris Squire, does a great job with Chris' parts. Jon Davison was right up to snuff with the vocals. He sounds great as usual. He's no Jon Anderson, but then again, who is?! Drummer Jay Schellen does a damn good job with Alan's parts. And at the side of the drumset, looking like some kind of pissed off gargoyle, sits Alan White, a mere shell of the drummer that he once was. It's sad seeing him at his mini drum throne, trying to play these parts that we all know he can no longer perform. Seeing this, I'm kind of glad that Rush retired when they did. I would rather Rush never perform again, than see Neil attempting to play something that was once so effortless to him, so poorly.
The big instrumental break, about halfway through the 24 minute song was what I was really waiting for. I wanted to know if these musicians could pull this off, remembering that the combined age on stage is something around twelve-million years old. I was pleased to see that they tore through it very nicely. It wasn't quite as good as it was in the 70's, but very enjoyable.
Jon comes back onstage with an acoustic guitar to perform "Soon", the closing section of the song, and this part gave me goosebumps. It was fantastic. Steve sounds great here, and Jon is singing with the same passion that Anderson once delivered. Even Alan looks like he's woken up a little, back behind the main kit where he once sat so proudly (of course, the drums aren't overly important for this section of the song).
Overall, while the year in which YES should have retired has long since come and gone, at least they're out there having fun, and doing their best to put forth a pleasing performance. They may miss the bar that they had once set so high by a decent margin, but for the age of the majority of the musicians being what it is, they can still play. And as long as they are having fun, and people enjoy hearing it, then I think there is still a place for YES to play.
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