I had a very enjoyable evening yesterday at the concert with Jon and the Paul Green School of Rock kids.
It was a long evening as well!! Three and a half hours, with a 15 minutes Intermission.
The evening started with a set with from the School of Rock kids by themselves, playing some Rolling Stones and Frank Zappa songs. Now in all honesty, the first three songs where like watching a very average coverband, which had me fearing the rest of the evening, but after those three songs, the kids really hit their stride and played great. Highlights were the Zappa song "Slave" and a song that was introduced by Paul Green. It was from a band from Chile, Fulang, which he gotten to know at the end of the 80s when he was in Chile. It was a protest band, protesting again the Pinochet regime, but because protest lyrics could get you in jail and tortured, their songs were without lyrics. The song played was "Suite Recoleta" and it was very impressive. Very progressive and the singer, who was basically scatting and using her voice as an instrument was very, very good, actually completely blew us away. Later in the evening she got a "solo" during the Würm section of "Starship Trooper " and knocked our socks off again.
Then after a short break, the first set with Jon started with a little bit of Heart of the Sunrise segueing into Yours is No Disgrace. It was the start of wonderful and vibrant set of Yes classics, very well performed by the kids with some twists and turns in the arrangements of the songs. And Jon? Well, what a voice the man still has!! Nothing short of amazing. Still so clear and yet powerful and he didn't miss a note. What occurred to me also is how rhythmically good he still is, his timing impeccable.
Of course it wouldn't be Jon without some goofs. Like introducing two girls on acoustic guitar who were going to play "this wonderful song from Steve Howe" and then having to ask one of the girls the title of the song, because he had forgotten it........turned out to be "Mood For a Day"...😁 or starting Starship Trooper when Let's Dance was to be played first and when someone got his attention saying "Oh, Fuck!" full into the microphone, which the kids on the stage found hilarious.
But what really shone through was how much he loved performing with these young kids, that their energy has a positive effect on him and vice versa how much these kids respect him. And how much his heart is still into performing these Yes songs. The love he has for this music was palatable.
Despite feeling there are some good songs on Mirror To The Sky and respecting Jon Davison for what he does and how he does it, I'm more and more enclined to side with the portion of the fanbase who would rather have Anderson back fronting Yes. And it's not nostalgia that brings me to feel this way, but it is because of how Jon is performing in the here and now; with such passion for the songs he helped create and his voice and himself being in such great shape. It's a treat then to hear the original voice perform these songs.
All in all a great and very worthwhile evening. Impressed with both Jon as well as the School of Rock kids.
Setlist:
The School of Rock kids:
- Miss You (Rolling Stones)
- Doreen (Frank Zappa)
- Honky Tonk Women (Rolling Stones)
- Outside Now( Frank Zappa)
- Slave (Frank Zappa)
- You Didn't Try (Frank Zappa)
- Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones)
- Suite Recoleta (Fulano)
Jon Anderson and The School of Rock kids:
- Yours is No Disgrace (preceeded by a snippet of Heart of the Sunrise)
- I've Seen All Good People
- Kashmir (Led Zeppelin) segueing into....
- Don't Kill the Whale
- Lose Yourself (Eminem, which Jon announced as one of his favourite songs ever) segueing into....
- State of Independence
- Southside of the Sky
- Fly Away (Lenny Kravitz) segueing into....
- Long Distance Runaround
- Owner of a Lonely Heart
- Perpetual Change (slightly abbreviated)
School Of Rock kids:
- Mood For a Day
- Leave It
Intermission
Jon Anderson and the School of Rock kids:
- Close to the Edge
- And You And I
- Siberian Kathru
- Let’s Dance (David Bowie) segueing into....
- Starship Trooper
- Roundabout (ending with the same snippet of Heart of the Sunrise that started the first set with Jon)
Note; the covers were not the full songs, often just a first verse and chorus then segueing into the Yes song following it.
Note 2: There's a reason why both with Yes as well as with Jon Starship Trooper and Roundabout are played as finale; it brings the house down each and every time!!
It was a long evening as well!! Three and a half hours, with a 15 minutes Intermission.
The evening started with a set with from the School of Rock kids by themselves, playing some Rolling Stones and Frank Zappa songs. Now in all honesty, the first three songs where like watching a very average coverband, which had me fearing the rest of the evening, but after those three songs, the kids really hit their stride and played great. Highlights were the Zappa song "Slave" and a song that was introduced by Paul Green. It was from a band from Chile, Fulang, which he gotten to know at the end of the 80s when he was in Chile. It was a protest band, protesting again the Pinochet regime, but because protest lyrics could get you in jail and tortured, their songs were without lyrics. The song played was "Suite Recoleta" and it was very impressive. Very progressive and the singer, who was basically scatting and using her voice as an instrument was very, very good, actually completely blew us away. Later in the evening she got a "solo" during the Würm section of "Starship Trooper " and knocked our socks off again.
Then after a short break, the first set with Jon started with a little bit of Heart of the Sunrise segueing into Yours is No Disgrace. It was the start of wonderful and vibrant set of Yes classics, very well performed by the kids with some twists and turns in the arrangements of the songs. And Jon? Well, what a voice the man still has!! Nothing short of amazing. Still so clear and yet powerful and he didn't miss a note. What occurred to me also is how rhythmically good he still is, his timing impeccable.
Of course it wouldn't be Jon without some goofs. Like introducing two girls on acoustic guitar who were going to play "this wonderful song from Steve Howe" and then having to ask one of the girls the title of the song, because he had forgotten it........turned out to be "Mood For a Day"...😁 or starting Starship Trooper when Let's Dance was to be played first and when someone got his attention saying "Oh, Fuck!" full into the microphone, which the kids on the stage found hilarious.
But what really shone through was how much he loved performing with these young kids, that their energy has a positive effect on him and vice versa how much these kids respect him. And how much his heart is still into performing these Yes songs. The love he has for this music was palatable.
Despite feeling there are some good songs on Mirror To The Sky and respecting Jon Davison for what he does and how he does it, I'm more and more enclined to side with the portion of the fanbase who would rather have Anderson back fronting Yes. And it's not nostalgia that brings me to feel this way, but it is because of how Jon is performing in the here and now; with such passion for the songs he helped create and his voice and himself being in such great shape. It's a treat then to hear the original voice perform these songs.
All in all a great and very worthwhile evening. Impressed with both Jon as well as the School of Rock kids.
Setlist:
The School of Rock kids:
- Miss You (Rolling Stones)
- Doreen (Frank Zappa)
- Honky Tonk Women (Rolling Stones)
- Outside Now( Frank Zappa)
- Slave (Frank Zappa)
- You Didn't Try (Frank Zappa)
- Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones)
- Suite Recoleta (Fulano)
Jon Anderson and The School of Rock kids:
- Yours is No Disgrace (preceeded by a snippet of Heart of the Sunrise)
- I've Seen All Good People
- Kashmir (Led Zeppelin) segueing into....
- Don't Kill the Whale
- Lose Yourself (Eminem, which Jon announced as one of his favourite songs ever) segueing into....
- State of Independence
- Southside of the Sky
- Fly Away (Lenny Kravitz) segueing into....
- Long Distance Runaround
- Owner of a Lonely Heart
- Perpetual Change (slightly abbreviated)
School Of Rock kids:
- Mood For a Day
- Leave It
Intermission
Jon Anderson and the School of Rock kids:
- Close to the Edge
- And You And I
- Siberian Kathru
- Let’s Dance (David Bowie) segueing into....
- Starship Trooper
- Roundabout (ending with the same snippet of Heart of the Sunrise that started the first set with Jon)
Note; the covers were not the full songs, often just a first verse and chorus then segueing into the Yes song following it.
Note 2: There's a reason why both with Yes as well as with Jon Starship Trooper and Roundabout are played as finale; it brings the house down each and every time!!
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