Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman

Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman

The Sage, Gateshead

8.11.2010

This show marked a departure from my usual musical experiences. Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, former members of prog-rock group 'Yes', reunited for an intimate evening at The Sage as part of their UK tour.

Rick Wakeman, master of the keyboards, occupied the centre of the stage. Jon Anderson, with acoustic guitar and high-register voice (his work as half of 'Jon and Vangelis' stuck in my mind more than that of 'Yes'), positioned himself stage right.

The songs were from all stages of their respective careers, with 'Yes' classics mixing freely with their most recent collaborations.

The banter between the songs highlighted their different personalities and respective outlook on life. Jon Anderson played up the spiritual side of his inspiration while Rick Wakeman specialised in bringing things down to earth with a bump, with talk of 'getting my runner beans in' and prostrate problems.

Their most recent CD, 'The Living Tree', was created by Rick Wakeman composing he tunes on his keyboards and emailing them across to Jon Anderson, who then wrote the lyrics.

I must admit I found the lyrics a little bit too obvious, a shade too much on the spiritual box-ticking side of things.

However, it was an entertaining evening. Although I was not inspired enough to pick up any of their CDs, I would probably go and see them live again if the opportunity arose.