From the latest Grumpy Old Rick's Ramblings, it looks like the Anderson Wakeman Rabin project is seriously gearing up for activity, both an album and tour. But what is the set list of the live shows going to look like? Presumably a new album will be featured, but what else?
When Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe appeared, what they would play on tour seemed obvious from the start. Here was (most of) the band that gave us Fragile and Close to the Edge, and (apart from the opening solo sections), everything they played came from those two albums or ABWH. Moreover, given Bruford had left before the Close to the Edge tour, there was the added irony of this being the first time he had played "Close to the Edge" and "And You and I" live.
Will an Anderson Wakeman Rabin tour have any iconic moments to compare to ABWH playing "Close to the Edge"? The big difference is that Anderson, Wakeman and Rabin never recorded an album together, and they've only been on stage together on the Union tour. They either have to play YesWest songs - which Wakeman didn't originally perform on, has occasionally been rude about, and has rarely played live - or they play "classic" '70s Yes - Rabin's performances of which were often criticised in the 1980/90s.
Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin is an intriguing combination of Yesmen, a more interesting line-up than the current 'official' Yes for some. They have the potential to surprise us in all kinds of ways, but nostalgia is the driving force behind ticket sales and what kind of nostalgia does a band that never existed before offer?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Just came across this, but FYI: ABWH played 4 songs that weren't from their CD, Fragile, or CTTE: Time and a Word, Owner of a Lonely Heart, I've Seen Good People, and Starship Trooper.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I am also excited by the possibility of a Rabin/Wakeman/Anderson collaboration. As recently as last month Wakeman was still rambling about music being sent back and forth.