The big deal in the Yes camp is that Rick Wakeman, and especially Jon Anderson, are no longer a part of the group. Wakeman’s absence has been said to be because of the way his friend, and founding member and vocalist for Yes, has been treated by the remaining Yes camp. In fact, Wakeman and Anderson have released a CD and toured together outside of Yes.

More confusing is that Wakeman’s replacement in Yes is his son, Oliver Wakeman. Anderson’s replacement is a tribute singer named Beniot David that was discovered on YouTube. One can swallow a band like Journey finding a guy on YouTube but Yes? They seemed that they had more class than that. Of course, Yes has been a revolving door of members for decades, so maybe this whole thing is blown out of proportion. No, I think not. Anderson is as much Yes as anyone and whether the truth be that he was sick and the band booted him out when he was down, or that he didn’t want to do long tours anymore, no one outside the inner circle really knows. What is known is that Yes without him is a different band.

This writer has not been supportive of the band without Anderson. David does a good job but at times he just can’t go where Jon goes. He also can’t replace him as the focal point on stage for any Yes fan that has seen the band in concert with Jon, as Anderson really has that hippie Yoda meets Winnie the Pooh thing going on, meaning he is genuine and wears his heart on his sleeve like Pooh – it is not known if he loves honey or has special powers but I would like to think so on both accounts.

Back to the CD review…after not being supportive of the band, I have to admit that David does a very good job on the live stuff. The band play very well and the album is very enjoyable. I have read other reviews that bash the band a bit but I don’t know if we are hearing the same tunes as I thought “Siberian Khatru” and “I’ve Seen All Good People” started the show off excellently.

The set list is really good with “Owner of Lonely Heart,” “South Side of the Sky” and a great rendition of “And You And I” being some of the highlights. While this one has a DVD and two CDs, to be honest, it helps to listen to it before you watch it if you’re a huge Yes fan, as you realize how good David is using your audio senses first and not comparing the visual component to Jon.

Did Yes and Jon do the right thing going separate ways? No, I still do not think so. Is this a good album? Yes, very good and I enjoy it a lot. Time will tell if David can ever be anything more than a replacement clone. For now, he is doing okay at what he does and the band is playing well. I am not knocking him at all, as anyone in his shoes would have jumped at the opportunity he was given and he has done well, but I would love to see Chris Squire, Steve Howe and Alan White joined by Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman one more time. Looking at the bands’ track record, I would not bet against it happening. Until then, we have this.

By Jeb Wright