Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!
Here is a mini review of the concert I saw last night.
ARW (Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman) played at the Goodyear Theater in Akron, OH.
First, a bit about the venue. I had never been to the Goodyear Theater, and had never even heard of it, prior to this concert. It is an old movie theater built in the 1920s and restored. It was originally a private theater for Goodyear employees. The cheap seats (balcony) were actually the best seats. The view of the stage and the sound were excellent. Before the show started, the guy sitting next to me said, “This will be great sound. I know. I was a soundman for 35 years.” (Retired soundman worked for many big names: Foreigner, Tracy Byrd, Toto, Kansas, Styx, and more.) The sound was the best I’ve heard since attending a concert at a similar venue in downtown Cleveland. These old theaters are terrific. Seating is great, as is sound. There were only a few empty seats scattered sporadically in the venue, so it looked to be a sellout. The capacity of the Goodyear Theater is around 1450.
Here is the set list:
"Cinema"
"Perpetual Change"
"Hold On"
"I’ve Seen All Good People"
"Lift Me Up"
"And You And I"
"Rhythm Of Love"
"Heart Of The Sunrise"
"Long Distance Runaround"
"The Fish"
"The Meeting"
"Awaken"
"Owner of A Lonely Heart"
Encore: "Roundabout"
The band was tight and appeared to be having as much fun as the audience.
Jon Anderson recently turned 72, but he looked and sounded 20 years younger. He still acts reminiscent of an elf, running around on stage. His voice was in excellent form. One unusual thing I noticed is that Jon retrieved his acoustic guitar and harp himself; he did not have a roadie bring the instruments.
I never saw Trevor Rabin, since he was not in Yes when I saw them in 1998 (Steve Howe was the guitarist). I was impressed by Trevor Rabin’s guitar playing. He did not simply copy Howe’s style on the songs that were originally recorded by Howe, but he added his own interpretations. Rabin is an excellent guitarist, and he mainly plays a Fender Strat.
The main reason I wanted to go to this concert is to see Rick Wakeman, who was not in Yes in 1998 either. Rick had 10 keyboards and played all of them at some point. The keyboards weren’t just for show. Rick Wakeman wore a trademark cape (black with silver trim). His main keyboards were a Korg Kronos, a Roland, and the two Minimoogs. Rick has not lost anything over the years. His playing is as good as ever, and he played with blistering speed using different keyboards for the left and right hands frequently. The Moogs have a terrific sound that is unique, but I now know I’ll never buy one, whether mini or huge. Rick had to do tons of adjustments on the Moogs while playing them. I thought playing a keyboard backwards was just a Keith Emerson thing, but Rick Wakeman did that as well. Rick even played the Keytar.
The bassist is Lee Pomeroy. He is just as good as the late Chris Squire and plays a Rickenbacker 4001 which Squire played. One would not be able to tell it were not Squire playing by listening but not watching.
The drummer is Lou Molino, who sounds as good as Bill Bruford and better than Alan White.
Both the bassist and drummer were given opportunities to take solos, which was nice.
The concert was very high energy and about 2 h, 20 min long. They didn’t take any breaks, but returned to the stage immediately after “Owner of a Lonely Heart” to do the encore “Roundabout”. Following the encore, a guy in the audience gave Rick an OH license plate that said “YESFAN”.
Observations noticed from watching, speaking with and listening to audience members (including overheard conversations). Popular t-shirts other than Yes were: Jean Luc Ponty, Spirit, Jethro Tull, ELP, and Rush. I expected an entirely older crowd, but there were folks my age who brought their teenaged kids to the concert, as well as University of Akron students attending the concert. The crowd was very sober and had excellent bladder control. Very few people left their seats to go to the bar or the restrooms during the concert. Most people either did not drink at all or just had one drink prior to the start of the show.
Topics of discussion I was directly involved in or overheard: 1. This is the real Yes, not the band that calls itself Yes but only has Steve Howe in it and nobody else who is known. (There is no Yes without Jon Anderson, which I’d have to agree, since Jon has a unique voice nobody else is able to copy.) 2. The venue is great. It was a first experience for many audience members. 3. Rick Wakeman is better technically than Keith Emerson was. (Of course the Rick vs Keith debate is nothing new.)
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