Four months ago I bought first row balcony tickets to see Jon Anderson of Yes sing at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, one of the sweetest sounding theaters in the NY/NJ/CT tristate area, on April 16, 2023.

Yes is one of those bands that has always stirred up powerful emotions for me. Their deliciously rich songs require total focus and to be completely in the “now”.  If you are an Eckhart Tolle fan like me, being in the “now” is ground zero of happiness.  Needless to say, listening to Yes has always brought me great joy.

“Close to the Edge” is the go-to Yes album and is included in my Beck’s Eight Desert Island album list (more on that later). Over the years, as I have somewhat mellowed (haha), adding Yes’ dreamy “Tales of Topographic Oceans” as a staple to set the mood on furry late nights.

So the other night when Mr. Anderson (saying that makes me think of the Matrix) performed the 21-minute “Ritual” from Tales, I was giddy. Tickled pink in fact. The gent next to me wearing a very old Yes t-short was quite surprised that I knew all the words and could “air-drum” and “air-bass” on cue. (By the way, he agreed with my assessment of the show.)

Here is a short clip from my phone that gives a nugget of the night…

At 78 years old Jon Anderson’s ability to still hit all the high notes is astonishing. I am so happy that I got one more chance to see him.  The carefully designed NJPAC was built for talented musicians like him. I would have loved to see a symphonic orchestra play along with Anderson and recreate the music.

My buddy Philly Dave told me Anderson’s band got rave reviews. Anderson’s pr machine must have done a great job, as I couldn’t disagree more. The band was not that good, especially the bass (which is a big part of Yes). Thankfully the drummer and two keyboard players were solid enough to allow the crowd to enjoy memory lane and Jon to do his things. I am sorry to be a doosch as I am sure his backing band are way more talented than most (certainly me)… but paired with Jon Anderson, the magic was not there. I’m sorry.

Things brings me a interesting topic worthy of a ramble session with music friends… Yes was much more than Jon Anderson and just can’t be replicated.

Some bands require all the original pieces to be their true self.  That’s where the magic comes in. 1+1+1=5 or something like that. I tried to explain this concept to my girlfriend on the car ride home using Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead as examples, but she is not familiar enough with their music and just kinda nodded as I blabbed on about how insanely great Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Bill Bruford all were. In fact, when I said they were all as good at their instruments as Jon Anderson was at singing. She got it… as she was so impressed with Mr. Anderson’s voice.

As I switched the radio dial on and she said, “oh I like this song”… BAM… it hit me. It was Dickey Betts singing his classic Allman Brothers Band rocker “Ramblin’ Man”.  My ramble was getting more animated as it took better shape with Dickey Betts as my poster boy of how stars don’t present their songs that well when they go off on their own.

I’ve seen the Dickey Betts Band, and they were fun, but certainly nothing like when he played that tune with the Allman Brothers. Now, kudos to the Allman Brothers Band for reinventing themselves with the addition of Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks. The Grateful Dead were never able to replace Garcia, and Page/Plant shows are NOT Led Zeppelin. More recently, Britanny Howard is not the same without the Alabama Shakes.There are more, but I’ve made my point.

Long Live YES!!