The CONCERT Round-up: YES at NYCB and Psychedelic Furs at Irving Plaza

It's been a couple years since I've gone to see "my bands" perform in concert. Earlier this year I saw MUSE at Madison Square Garden in NYC and I've been bitten by the bug again. 

First up...

YES @ NYCB Theater, July 31, 2013

The YES line up is now:

• Bass - Chris Squire
• Guitars - Steve Howe
• Drums - Alan White
• Keyboards - Geoff Downes
• Vocals - Jon Davison

I find it interesting that since the last time I saw YES perform (in 2009 YES toured with new singer Benoit David and Rick Wakeman's son on keys and the opening act was ASIA) they put out a new studio album with the new singer from that tour, with Geoff Downes back on keys and Trevor Horn producing. It was like a YES DRAMA reunion. I don't know what happened with Benoit but he's gone and singing now is Jon Davison. He appears to be a fairly young guy and can hit all the notes perfectly. This tour...

Three Albums

• The YES Album
• Close To The Edge
• Going For The One

In their entirity.

This seems to be a fairly common gimmick these days. A band will tour playing one of their great records, but THREE?!?! IMPOSSIBRU!

Not impossibru! We're talking about YES here! They have more GREAT albums than many bands even have albums. 

At around 8:10 PM the lights went dark and a recording of Stravinsky's FIREBIRD SUITE began to play. Near the end the band marched up on stage. The NYCB Theater in Westbury, NY is small and round and every seat is pretty good, but I managed to get the seat along the aisle that the band walked along. We were in row N which is only 13 rows from the revolving stage. They got started with the album CLOSE TO THE EDGE (1972) which they played in the same order as the record. 

1. Close to the Edge
2. And You and I
3. Siberian Khatru

Next up was Going for the One:

1. Going for the One
2. Turn of the Century
3. Parallels
4. Awaken
5. Wounderous Stories

And after a twenty minute internission, The YES Album:

1. Yours is no Disgrace
2. Starship Trooper
3. I've Seen All Good People
4. Clap
5. A venture
6. Perpetual Change

The shockingly they came out for an encore!

1. Roundabout

If they did more beyond that, I don't know. We ran out just before the end of the song because the parking lot has one tiny exit and the last time we saw a show there it took over an hour to get out.

This line-up was pretty great. Even though the bulk of the guys weren't on those albums originally (only Howe and Squire were on all three, White only ONE, and Downes wasn't on any of them) they all played the songs like they were born to do so. 

Some observations:

1. Steve Howe looks like he's 100 years old. He's small and delicate looking on stage, but he kills on the guitar like no other axe-man in the business. Anytime anyone brings up guitar gods, STEVE HOWE should always be mentioned. He can play the most intricate guitar solo and call it a riff and make it look easy. If possible, his sound is better than ever. 
2. Chris Squire looks like Danny Aiello, but plays the bass like it's no one's business. Age hasn't diminished the speed in either of his hands. 
3. Alan White is still a fun drummer, but he just doesn't seem to hit the drums as hard as he used to. He was kinda known for that. His sound seemed a bit toned down, but still very ALAN WHITE.
4. Geoff Downes was the keyboardist for the Buggles before they joined YES for the ill-fated DRAMA album. YES fans were not ready to accept anyone else as singer, and with no hint of Jon Anderson returning back in those days, Downes and Howe went on to form ASIA. Now they are both back in the YES line-up with another singer that the fans ARE ready to accept. Geoff looks like Alec Baldwin with a blond wig on, but is am amazing keyboardist.It might be a tough argument to decide if Rick Wakeman truly is the best musician to tickle the ivories in YES. 
5. Jon Davison is the new guy. His name is close to Jon Anderson, and he hits the notes perfectly. Hell, he looks like he belongs in the band from back in the 70s! His voice is great, he hits all the notes, he does the extra guitar work and percussion that a singer of YES would be expected to do. A pleasant surprise. He's a great singer who looks like he's really enjoying every minute on stage.

The show clocked in at just under three hours and we were home by 11:15! That NEVER happens in these parts. I must be getting old because I quite enjoyed it ending early. 

Spacehog and Psychedelic Furs at Irving Plaza, NYC

One of my clients happens to be the drummer of Psychedelic Furs and when he offered me VIP Passes into the show at Irving Plaza NYC on a Saturday night, how could I refuse? I'm old enough to not only remember the 80s, but to remember when these songs were NEW. So Mrs. Bax0jayz and I went to this show as well. 

Doors opened at 8:00 and we were shown our way to the VIP section. There's a second floor with an enclosed area with SEATS for the VIPs in Irving Plaza. I've been to many shows at this venue and always wondered what it's like from up there. Now I know. It's drokkin' AWESOME! We got seats not far from the stage and had a perfect view. 

SPACEHOG went on just after 9 PM. They surprised me by playing nearly a full hour set. Who knew they had material? As it turns out they recently put out their FOURTH studio album, AS IT IS ON EARTH,  recently after taking a twelve year break and were touring with the FURS in support of the album.They sounded amazing and put on a fun show. I wish I knew more about their music so I could've enjoyed the songs even more. 

Some time around 10:15 The Psychedelic Furs took to the stage. They went on to play a set that was just over an hour that included most, if not all, of their biggest hits that were easily recognizable from the 80s. Whether you care to admit it or not, Richard Butler has one of the most recognizable voices that came out of the New Wave / Post Punk period of music. Classics like Pretty in Pink and Love My Way were songs that embodied an era. You couldn't escape them during the 80s, and now the nostalgia is quite charming. Richard still has his voice perfectly raspy and sounds the same as he did 30 years ago. His brother, Tim has a great bass sound. Mars Williams kills it on the sax. Rich Good is an excellent guitarist and plays perfectly, but strangely enough, from my view he looked like comedian Whitney Cummings. Amanda Kramer knows how to tickle the 80s sound out of her keyboards very well. Paul Garisto laid down the beat and made the songs rock behind the drums. Collectively, the band transported you in a musical time machine to different period. A great job and a really fun show. They finished up somewhere around 11:40.