 |
 |
|
| Yes - Yes Acoustic |
 Released: 2004 Label: Classic Pictures Cat. No.: DVD7090X Total Time: Approx 65:00 | |
Reviewed by: John "Bobo" Bollenberg, August 2004 For those of you who went to see Yes during their last European tour, the acoustic approach is nothing new. Although quite a surprise when the band opened in an acoustic way during the second half of their show in Antwerp (after having seen an all electric concert some days before during the open air festival at Arrow Classic Rock), it did not deliver the same impact as some of MTV's unplugged artists. Maybe it's down to the fact that we have known and loved those Yes standards for so long now, always delightfully embraced by their lush arrangements? However, stripping those unique arrangements could, of course, mean the typical Yes magic is lost, but no chance here, as every single song remains authentic and pure Yes, even if Rick only uses a piano whilst Steve has to do with acoustic guitars throughut this short set. Recorded on 26th January 2004 and simultaneously broadcast to 25 US cinemas by satellite link, this short acoustic set was mainly intended to promote the band's Yesspeak DVD, hence the TV and cinema trailers which accompany this DVD as bonus material. For sure, the choice of songs is not very easy, especially as the band kicks off with the cover "Tiger Rag." which acts here as kind of a soundcheck. In between the speed of both Wakeman and Howe, Anderson improvises to be a window cleaner singing his songs. The intro for a song like "South Side Of The Sky" gets very close to some of Rick's solo material with rippling piano improvising endlessly. It's kind of weird to see Alan playing the bongos here, whilst Steve is playing slide. An interesting combination to say the least. Again Rick's piano outro is near classical. Incredible how deep the sound of that acoustic bass from Chris gets during "Show Me" and what an incredible voice Jon still has, nicely accompanied by Steve on mandolin. There's no way one can guess which tune they're playing next when Steve starts their brand new version of "Roundabout," an approach that still sounds rather different than the jazzy rendition they performed during their 2004 European tour. If you thought they would only tackle older, well-known stuff, then you're wrong as they also handle "Time Is Time" from their Magnification release the acoustic way, with Steve sliding away on his steel guitar, blending ever so nicely with Rick's piano runs. The short set ends with a less inspiring version of "I've Seen All Good People." After having witnessed Yes in a surprising role, for me the icing on the cake comes with the special feature "Unseen footage." It's probably down to Wakeman's typical British humour that the narration of this behind the scenes footage becomes so enjoyable. With the band rehearsing at 11 am when Chris normally only gets out of bed at around 3 pm, this extra section kicks off rather early. "After working hard for about eight and a half minutes it's time for a well deserved teatime break," jokes Rick. This outrageous soccer fan even finds the possibility to sneak in the name of Manchester City when playing "Blue Moon." You have to give the guy full marks for promoting his team! It's great when you hear one of the crew ask the handful of people in the audience to "turn off your pacemakers please," just prior to going live. At 3 pm it's rehearsal time and a mere twenty seconds into this rehearsal already something goes wrong. Luckily it all goes rather smoothly one hour later as this unique Yes acoustic set is transmitted to 25 cinemas spread all over the US. Rick ends his narration with the funny caption: "Last of the summer wine meets the ageing old farts." Whilst he has also continously said that the arena days for Yes are well and truly over, asking himself if variety clubs all over England will be the next step for Yes, this "unseen footage" closes with Yes performing in a shopping mall. Surely they don't deserve this! However if you take note of the fact that next to their own material, they also played snippets of "Lady Is A Tramp," "North America - The Stripper," "Blue Moon," "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" and "Whispering," then for sure some of the band can look forward to entertaining evenings at pension homes the world over very soon! Apparently there are two different versions of this Yes Acoustic DVD available. The one sold at Woolworths in the UK also included the 75 minute version of Yesspeak, which is nowhere to be found on the copy I have. Maybe the Yesspeak bonus version was also sold during the band's UK tour a few months ago? More about Yes Acoustic: Track Listing: Tiger Rag / Long Distance Runaround / South Side Of The Sky / Show Me / Roundabout / Time Is Time / I've Seen All Good People Musicians: Contact: Website: www.yesworld.com Discography
Interviews
Articles
| |
[Review Index] [Home] [Top]  © Copyright 2003 ProgressiveWorld.net/John Bobo Bollenberg |