Like St. Augustine of Hippo’s friend who became inebriated by the carnage of the gladiatorial arena, all of us inside The Riviera Theatre on Tuesday night had no choice but to be swept away by the brilliance of what Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks were doing to the Yes catalog. Songs that had been a part of the progressive rock consciousness for decades were being performed with a youthful aggression that made every note pierce straight through the speaker cabinets into our chest cavities. Anderson’s voice is ageless and surrounding himself with players hungry for action appears to have peaked his own inspiration, so, while I’ve never seen the current lineup of Yes perform, I don’t see them being able to match the intensity of The Band Geeks at this point in time.
“Yours is No Disgrace” kicked things off with a bang, but it was the trifecta of “Perpetual Change,” “Close to the Edge,” and “Heart of the Sunrise” that introduced us to the musicians we were dealing with. Guitarist Andy Graziano tore into those solos so soundly that even the notoriously stoic Steve Howe would crack a smile, bassist Richie Castellano channeled Chris Squire’s tenacity to a tee, and drummer Andy Ascolese brought his own brand of controlled chaos to elevate the arrangements to another level. Toss in the contributions of Chris Clark and Andy Kipp on keyboards, and you had five superlative musicians challenging both themselves and the audience with pieces that not just anyone with a laptop can play.
Second half highlights included a mind-blowing spin through “The Gates of Delirium” and a version of “And You and I” that had enough beauty to make me well up a la Ric Flair following his 1992 Royal Rumble victory. The only song from the ’80s to make its way into the set was “Owner of Lonely Heart,” which gave Castellano the opportunity to deliver Trevor Rabin’s guitar solo in all its pitch-transposed glory and send the people home on a high. Whether it was their usual tempo or they were driven to make the final night of the tour feel different, I can’t say, but there was clearly something special in the air.
There were only 12 dates on this tour and The Riv somehow managed to snag one, so, if you were there, count your blessings.
If not, let’s hope that Jon had such a blast that he’d be willing to come back around again.
http://www.richiecastellano.com
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