In case there are any other old Yes fans out there… Jon Anderson is currently touring in a kind of one -man Unplugged/Storytellers show. He was at the One World Theater here in Austin last night…
And he was absolutely great.
I pass this along because I never know, at this point, if my old favorite musical artists from years past still sound any good. Sometimes I’m shocked at how bad they sound, sometimes I have to make some allowances “they sound okay for guys who are pushing 70, I guess…”). But only rarely do I hear stars from the 70s (let alone 60s and 50s) who still sound as good as ever.
Jon Anderson is 67 now, but if I’d closed my eyes, I could almost have convinced myself it was still 1973.
More surprisingly, a lot of Yes songs that were very ornate and orchestral (not to mention 12 minutes long) on the original albums worked very, very well in shortened, acoustic format. “Starship Trooper,” for instance, sounded great, and Anderson actually gave it a bit of the old pompous, ornate sound with just his acoustic guitar and his voice. And whereas I’d always hated Yes’ overblown remake of Simon & Garfunkel’s “America,” he did a faithful, subdued cover last night, and did it beautifully.
He was also a LOT funnier than I ever imagined he’d be. He always seemed too earnestly New Agey and hippie-dippie to be a comedian, but he had some genuinely hilarious anecdotes (especially regarding Vangelis) I hadn’t heard before.
Anyway, if you’re an old Yes fan and read that he’s coming to your town, but just aren’t sure if he’s still worth seeing… fear no more. He sounds as good as ever.