Flights of escalators to cross the elegant threshold of the auditorium in the heart of the EUR district of Rome, on an unusually warm, calm evening. It will be yet another key match for the Giallorossi team, perhaps a now faded attractiveness of one of the historic English progressive bands. It seems like entering a floating dream, with small groups of elderly fans slowly rising in a suffused, sepia-toned color. I help a couple with an Emilian accent to find the entrance and the ticket office, while they seem amazed: “Do they have a lot of concerts here?”. After Tony Hadley, another appointment for big names on the futuristic architecture of Fuksas, anticipated by the short exhibition curated by Roger Dean, historical illustrator of the most experimental rock. To enhance your hearing, however, you have to go up two or three flights of escalators, passing through the cloud as if to be catapulted into one of the futuristic worlds drawn on the covers of Yes albums. It's a shame for the staff in jackets who certainly don't lack in availability, but is already ready to check any amateur photos and videos like a deer. Very good provisions, but the annoying sensation of being distracted by constant warnings remains while the legendary London band takes to the stage at 9pm.
In reality, only Steve Howe remains legendary, thin as a rail, white hair and a step made uncertain by age. Having joined the group starting from the third album, “The Yes Album”, Howe is helped to take up his Gibson ES-175 to start the first set of the concert, to the tune of “The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra” by the English composer Benjamin Britten. After the sad passing of Chris Squire in 2015, Billy Sherwood is now on bass, accompanied in the rhythm section by the confirmed Jay Schellen, who took over from mentor Alan White in June 2022. Two very heavy losses for the group, back on track after the pandemic with Geoff Downes on keyboards and Jon Davison on vocals. Taking over from Benoît David in 2012 on the advice of the late Taylor Hawkins, Davison takes center stage with his flowing hair and a pair of brown leather trousers. Big smiles and a few words in broken Italian, but above all a falsetto vocal style that makes him more similar to Jon Anderson.
The first set is opened by riff pachydermic of “Machine Messiah”, immediately pressed by futuristic keyboards before the acoustic bursts and sudden tempo changes in one of the most successful suites of the album “Drama” (1980). The audience is attentive, listening without being too upset to music that reaches the brain before the bowels, while Howe draws guitar patterns guiding the engineers with one arm. Davison's sweet falsetto leads the next pop melody of the exotic “It Will Be A Good Day (The River),” before sharpening in unison with the pedal steel masterfully twisted in a blues key by Howe in “Going For The One”.
The first recovery from a more distant past – which begins to move the audience still grappling with the ancestral struggle with the dining room staff over the use of smartphones – is the airy prog-folk “I've Seen All Good People” , with Schellen's drums rising in tone after a more subdued start. Howe bounces around the stage starting the cover of “America” (Paul Simon), building dissonant architectures on the pulse of the pounding bass and the flourishes of the keyboards.
The seventies repertoire in the setlist continues with the message of love in the mellifluous “Time And A Word”, followed closely by the unusually direct “Don't Kill The Whale”, a minor hit from 1978 from the album “Tormato”. Davison announces the end of the first set with the brilliant acoustic sadness of “Turn Of The Century”, saying goodbye to the audience after about an hour of concert.
The lights come on and some dismayedly hypothesize the end of the live show, but the group obviously returns for the second part, with the usual introductions to introduce “South Side Of The Sky”. It is the first extract from the masterpiece “Fragile”, with hard-rock tones that are however slightly softened in the presence of an audience that continues not to be too upset. Has it really been too long since that legendary 1971? That Yes have now become one of those sonic brands that can afford the luxury of continuing to exist beyond the general approach and quality? In fact it follows “Cut From The Stars” from the last album “Mirror To The Sky”, composed starting from what seemed to be processing waste from the previous “The Quest”.
The second set of the concert is not as convincing as the first, especially due to the band's decision to include an extra-concentrated version of the album's grandiloquent suite “Tales From Topographic Oceans”. Howe himself talks about a short summary of about 70 minutes of music, from “The Revealing Science Of God (Dance Of The Dawn)” to “Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil)”. As if to regret certain structural excesses of progressive music and present the public with a “Prog for dummies” type manual. The group finishes the operations for the second time, leaving room for an encore which satisfies everyone. The unmistakable bass line of “Roundabout” finally shakes the audience, with the band giving in to its old glories after a niche setlist.
The finale is entrusted to the other great live classic “Starship Trooper”, opened by Davison's vocal melody and closed by the obsessive and mystical hypnosis in the magnificent instrumental coda. More convinced applause, the concert ends here. The escalators this time are towards the even calmer atmosphere in the Roman streets. Who knows if those two spectators with Emilian accents will easily find the exit, and above all: how will they have taken this strange Yes concert?
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM