Yes
Manchester Apollo
13th November, 2011

Sceptics in the last couple of years have argued that the good ship Yes cannot continue without helmsman Jon Anderson, but judging by the audience reaction to singer Benoid David, and the new material from the superb, Trevor Horn-produced Fly From Here, these misgivings have been put aside. The return of keyboardist Geoff Downes has also added a richness to their sound, which was sadly lacking of late. Old favourite Yours Is No Disgrace opened the set, followed by And You And I, along with Tempus Fugit from the ‘Buggles era’, and the new Life On A Film Set. There was a remarkably tight version of I’ve Seen All Good People, with David’s voice more than doing justice to Anderson’s original vocal, and after disappearing for a break, a solo Steve Howe wowed us with some fine acoustic guitar. The band then performed the ambitious Fly From Here, which sounded as polished as its studio counterpart and went down a storm. There followed a slightly understated Wondrous Stories, before Starship Trooper, with Chris Squire’s bass work as good as it’s ever been. An encore of Roundabout got the audience on their feet, singing along.