Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

It was perhaps fitting that the spontaneous applause, the sound of appreciation and love, would fill the vast expanse of the Philharmonic Hall before a note was even played, before the band appeared on stage and took their customary glances and smiles out to a sea of known faces and the curious at heart. This was Liverpool’s night to say thanks to the memory of Yes own heart, its own beating machine of 45 years and the applause was enough to recognise that whilst Yes were in the building, Chris Squire was going to be missed on stage.

If you are going to honour one of the founding fathers of Progressive Rock, then honour bound you are to make it sensational and for the members of Yes in their current form, the Philharmonic Hall not only paid tribute but it stormed the senses of all present; the generous thanks of applause that first greeted the memory of the sadly passed Chris Squire, returned in kind in the form of thunderous, booming ovation.

Two albums back to back, a springboard of songs from two distinct eras and five men on stage so technically proficient that the smiles on the faces, the racing hearts seen thumping wildly under the clothes of the audience, were seemingly blessed with the thought of wizardry and guidance. As both Drama and Fragile played out in full and in sequence, the crowd, the long standing fan and the fascinated interloper were almost gripped to their seats; only being able to move and cheer as the last note of each song hit the Philharmonic Hall with vengeance and sheer unadulterated love.

It was love for the band that has kept them in the mind of the Progressive Rock fan when many others have simply fallen by Time’s wayside and as tracks such as Machine Messiah, Into the Lens, Tempus Fugit, the exhilarating Roundabout, South Side of the Sky, Long Distance Run Around and the pleasure of Time And A Word, Don’t Kill The Whale and Owner Of A Lonely Heart gave way to the memory of the passing of Time, of the importance of thanking your idols and heroes whilst there is that Time; the music swept and rose almost with majestic fervour and class.

There were those who suggested that the day for Yes had gone with the passing of the extremely talented Chris Squire, not so, the band still fulfil dreams and thoughts for their fans; it is still the sound and so with thoughts to the future held aloft it can only be said, more of the same and Yes please.

Ian D. Hall