Jon did a superb job - he covers the range with ease, and has the nuances of the songs beautifully. And You And I was magnificent. We all had high expectations of this man and he didn't disappoint. This was his first concert with Yes and he looked a bit nervous at the beginning but got into his stride quickly.
There was a really good vocal blend between Jon, Chris and Steve.
Steve was awesome. The solos were great, the energy was huge, and he was able to deliver the range of sounds needed to cover the repertoire with quite an economical selection of guitars: the ES-175, the Strat, the Fender pedal-steel, the six-string acoustic for the solo spots, and a Line6 modelling guitar mounted on a stand used for the the acoustic parts such as the 12-string parts to And You And I and the 6-string acoustic in Roundabout.
Geoff did a fine job on the keyboards, but the mix was a bit rough in places so we missed a few bits. The only thing I would niggle at was that some of the synth patches were such complex sounds that that obscured what was being played, especially the faster passages.
Alan did a lovely job on the drums, but there were a few parts where the drums could have been higher in the mix.
It was great to see Chris playing the white Rickenbacker so much - I just love that Rickenbacker crunch. And with plenty of energy too. There was a bit of a problem with Chris's gear in the encore (I think he switched his sound to the tuner which muted the signal to amp after the previous song and forgot to switch it back.) But the others did a good job of maintaining a holding pattern while that got sorted out. And what a great rendition of Roundabout it was.
I was particularly glad to hear Heart of the Sunrise! I like the new album too and the band did a good mix of old and new.
Jon, Steve, Geoff, Chris, Alan: thank you so much for a wonderful concert!
Vector Arena @
- Auckland @
- Sun 1 Apr 2012 @
Favourite moment: Yours Is No Disgrace, And You And I, Heart of the Sunrise, Steve's solos, Fly From Here @