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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
4:28 PM 22nd April 2016
arts

Gig Preview: Yes At Sheffield City Hall And Interview: Geoff Downes

 
Yes are going back on the road again for a European tour that visits Sheffield City Hall on Tuesday 3 May. The band will performing two of their Classic albums in their entirety: Fragile from 1971 and Drama from 1980. They will also perform tracks such as Wonderous Stories and Starship Trooper. The current line up of the band is Steve Howe on guitar, Geoff Downes on Keyboards, Billy Sherwood on bass, Alan White on drums and Jon Davison on vocals.

I caught up with Geoff Downes on the eve of the tour.

Why did you all choose to perform these two albums in their entirety?
Because they are both two career breaking albums. Fragile had the classic Yes line up and it took the band to a whole new chapter. Drama was released when I had joined the band in 1980, we have always wanted to perform the album in full, it's just taken 36 years to do it.

You joined Yes straight from The Buggles, the year after Video Killed The Radio Star was a Number One single, that was a big change for you to join Yes
Yes, it was a big stepping stone but I think that when I and Trevor (Horn) joined Yes it added a technological approach to the band, they were looking for a change of direction and they became a different band in the 80's from what had gone before.

So we will not get to hear Video Killed The Radio Star?
Not on this tour as we are focusing on these two albums but we will be playing a few of the other Yes songs too. When we perform the albums in their entirety it turns back the clock and brings back memories. We have been doing it previously performing two albums. It is a two and a quarter hour show and we do each album at either side of the interval.

Do you get chance to see many gigs yourself?
I like to see some of the older acts, for example I saw Steve Hackett recently, he did a tremendous job of doing some of the older Genesis tracks along with those of his own. It was a classic era for music and a lot of those acts are still around and people still want to go and see them.

Do you still enjoy going on tour?
It is a privilege and I still enjoy it, in fact I love it as much as I always did. I still tour with Asia and Yes. I am looking forward to coming back to Sheffield, it's always a good response we get up there. I was at a Classic Rock Society event up in Rotherham recently and it was a great night. It is always a friendly and warm response.

Will you be touring again with Asia?
Of course, we are still writing and we be doing an album with John Wetton towards the end of the year. For now though it's the Yes tour that I am looking forward to. We start off in Glasgow and cover most of the UK before the tour moves on to mainland Europe. We have a great line up at the moment too, sadly we lost Chris Squire last year, he was a mainstay of the band from the beginning, but we have carried on with his blessing. We are so pleased that the fans still come to see us, it will be a great night in Sheffield I'm sure.

Yes at Sheffield City Hall on Tuesday 3 May 2016

Tickets from: www.bookingsdirect.com

Telephone: 0844 338 0000