Jon Anderson - vocals, acoustic guitar; Bill Bruford - drums; Steve Howe - guitar, vocals; Rick Wakeman - keyboards; Jeff Berlin - bass; Julian Colbeck - keyboards, vocals; Milton McDonald - guitar, vocals
In its 40-year history, Yes is one of those bands that never changed but has always been changing. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe was one permutation of the band in this history, originally intended by Jon Anderson to a reunion of the classic 1972 lineup. However, co-owning the Yes name with original bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White made using the name an impossibility. After releasing a self-titled album, ABWH hit the road, billing their show as "An Evening of Yes Music Plus," which caused some legal squabbling over whether they could use "Yes" in a promotional capacity. These differences were eventually settled though and members of both ABWH and Yes released the aptly named Union album in 1991.
This particular show, recorded by the King Biscuit Flower Hour and eventually released as An Evening of Yes Music Plus, was captured during the tour in support of ABWH's only release. They were performing with King Crimson/Peter Gabriel's bassist, Tony Levin, but for this particular concert Levin was absent due to illness and Jeff Berlin, who had played previously with Bill Bruford stepped in on short notice.
The show starts with Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman performing solo medleys (tracks 2, 3 and 4, respectively), followed by "Long Distance Runaround," which giv es Bruford a chance for a drum/percussion solo at the end. Once everyone is settled in, the band runs through a series of their best-known radio hits from their 1970s catalog, including "And You And I," "Close To The Edge," "Heart Of The Sunrise," "Long Distance Runaround" and of course, "Roundabout." The rest of the material is made up of songs from the ABHW sole studio album on Arista Records, among them "Birthright," "Themes," "Brother Of Mine," and "The Order Of The Universe."
The group was planning a 40th Anniversary tour this year, but Anderson had a respiratory aliment that forced him to stop touring. The group instead found a young Anderson sound-alike in a Yes-clone band in Montreal, and has carried on without him.