YES featuring ARW at Kauffman Center in Kansas City, MO on September 5, 2017
As the thrilling 2017 pop series winds down, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts hosted its final electric music concert of the year inside of Muriel Kauffman Theatre on September 5 with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band YES featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin & Rick Wakeman. Anderson, YES co-founder and original lead singer, along with classic members Rabin and Wakeman, were previously performing together as ARW, but changed their name and launched a 30-date North American tour upon their recent induction. Even after nearly four decades, the English progressive rockers are seemingly still light years ahead of their time.
Perhaps time is of the best elements associated with their sound. Time not only because their sound is so far ahead of it, but because they seem to force time into standing still. Their sound is so forward-looking and evokes so much emotion and mood change that it seemingly produces an altered state of consciousness where time simply has no meaning. Anderson’s enduring alto tenor voice plus Rabin and his pure intensity on the guitar and Wakeman with his righteous synthesizer compilation taking it to the max. Out on the landmark excursion with them are bass guitarist Lee Pomeroy and drummer Lou Molino who gathered a splendor of attention of their very own. Each song in the set was like an extended mix, though some naturally, with an amalgam of instrumentals that fully controlled the room. Thirteen songs filled every ounce of two hours, nearly every one of them constituting a standing ovation and reintroduction of the band members.
Anderson hopped on the the acoustic guitar, yet electrified the crowd with a sensational performance of “Rhythm of Love,” which also saw Rabin lift the audience off the ground with an absolute impeccable solo. That tune strolled straight into the much more mellow “I Am Waiting” in what felt like the big culminating moment of the evening—the encore in and of itself—but there was still much more yet to transpire. The band combined everything from a harp to kettle drums to an organ sound before blasting fans and sweeping them away with the chart-topping “Owner of a Lonely Heart.” The crowd roared, never simmering or quieting for one solitaire second, as it drove the band back out on stage to cap off the night with “Roundabout,” their breakthrough hit.
Endless astounding sounds streamed from the stage, but the band’s joy and gratitude flowed right along with it all. There was a much heartfelt appreciation from the band members for the ability to perform their catalog of songs for so many years and with the everlasting adoration by their followers. Such a plethora of staple songs that they could share on tour and several hits that were yet left on the table. A circumstance which only further serves to leave Kansas Citians clamoring for a hopeful return.
YES featuring ARW Setlist | “Cinema,” “Perpetual Change,” “Hold On,” South Side of the Sky,” “And You and I,” “Lift Me Up,” “Rhythm of Love,” “I Am Waiting,” “Heart on the Sunrise,” “Awaken” and “Owner of a Lonely Heart”; Encore – “Roundabout”
