Steve Howe BY MARK DOLEJS Speak to me of summer Winters, longer than time can remember The setting up of other roads To travel on i...
Speak to me of summer
Winters, longer than time can remember
The setting up of other roads
To travel on in old accustomed ways
I first heard these lyrics back in 1975. I was 10 years old and I had just bought my first record album, called Heavy Metal. It was a collection of 24 songs by various artists, one of which was Yes and their song “Starship Trooper.”
On Thursday night, Yes brought their Fragile 2025 Tour to the Carolina Theatre of Durham for a sold-out show.
“Starship Trooper” was the last song of the night, during the encore. It is such a fan favorite and the song brings back so many memories for me.
The night started with “Siberian Khatru,” followed by three songs of their 1978 album, Tormato, “On the Silent Wings of Freedom,” “Onward,” and “Madrigal.”
Over the years, band members have come and gone. Yes was formed in 1968, and Steve Howe joined the band in 1970 as guitarist. He is by far the most recognizable member that is still touring. He is a master of both his acoustic and electric guitars.
Other current members are Geoff Downes on keyboards, Jon Davison on vocals, Jay Schellen on drums, and Billy Sherwood on bass.
This tour is a showcase for their 1971 album, Fragile. After playing a first set of both familiar hits and gems from other albums, they took a brief intermission. When they returned to the stage, they played all of the songs from Fragile, in order from beginning to end.
“Mood for a Day” is an instrumental that shows off both Sherwood’s skills on the bass and Howe’s expertise on guitar. “Long Distance Runaround” really let Davison shine on vocals. He sang as if he had been singing the song much longer than the 13 years he has been with the band.
Other than the familiar hits and songs that Yes is known for, my favorites of the night were the three songs off Tormato. This album was released shortly after I started following the band. I played this album over and over, listening in my headphones while doing homework in high school.
My only real complaint of the night was the first song they chose to play during the encore. They did a cover of the Beatles “The Word.” With their quite extensive catalogue of work, they definitely could have skipped the cover and played another of their wonderful songs.
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- MARK DOLEJS
Photography is an avenue that
Mark Dolejs uses to learn about the people and places that cross his path. After more than 30 years as a photojournalist, Mark enjoys concert, macro, and roadside photography. Follow Mark on Instagram at @solidrockpix.
Read Mark's posts here.
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