By Chyrisse Tabone, Rock At Night Tampa
Venue: Capitol Theatre, Clearwater, Florida-May 8, 2019
Rock at Night has been covering Jon Anderson gigs the last few years, including Anderson-Ponty Band, Anderson-Stolt Project, and Anderson Rabin Wakeman (ARW). You can find an interview with Anderson HERE. Since Jon Anderson continues to do solo projects outside of Yes, including many collaborations with friends, it is no wonder that his latest release 1,000 Hands features many contributions from pals like Ian Anderson, Jean-Luc Ponty, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Steve Morse, and Rick Derringer. Anderson shows no sign of stopping, and continues to tour constantly, and evolve as a musician and artist.
Jon Anderson’s 1,000 Hands tour stopped at Capitol Theatre, Clearwater, Florida, which is one of the last stops on the first leg of the tour. Anderson will pick up with the tour again at the end of July, starting in Staten Island.
Without any warm-up band and starting at an early 7:30 p.m., Anderson and his eight-piece band hit the ground running with “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, a perfect song for jump-starting the evening. The multi-instrumental band, which included two drums kits, a horn section, an occasional flute, and even a ukulele, sounded superb in the venue. As the concert progressed, beautiful lighted screens with psychedelic graphics or splotches of color, shone on the rear wall, adding to the aura of the musical experience.
Anderson then moved into “Yours Is No Disgrace”, which certainly satisfied old Yes fans. The first set moved into “Ramalama”, which is from 1,000 Hands, which featured Anderson’s near perfect voice (in light of his “coming down with a cold”, as he told the audience). Honestly, the man doesn’t age and his voice is as good as in the 1970s.
Anderson played a re-imagined version of “Yours Is No Disgrace” (which may have disjointed Prog fans) with a Caribbean lilt—and I loved it! The island theme, along with graphics of sandy beaches and palm trees, segued into the uplifting “Makes Me Happy”. I really enjoyed seeing Anderson experiment with music, which he is known to do (look at the immensely popular album 90125).
More music ensued until an intermission, which made way for more Yes classics as well as the current 1000 Hands. Overall, the concert had a fresh feel as familiar music was re-imagined and new music had more of a pop or lighter feel.
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEOS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HekdjPayAvk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JqYFP5UUp8
FUTURE TOUR STOPS
May 08 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theate
May 11 – Biloxi, MS – Beau Rivage Theatre
May 12 – Arlington, TX – Kaaboo Texas at AT&T Stadium
Jul 26 – Staten Island, NY – St. George Theatre
Jul 29 – Ocean City, NJ – Ocean City Music Pier
Aug 08 – Detroit, MI – Rocking on the River
Aug 29 – Pasadena, CA – The Rose
Aug 30 – Ojai, CA – The Libbey Bowl
Sep 01 – Montclair, CA – The Canyon
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I grew up in a household full of rock music, studied journalism in college, and then became a scientist.Although my science career has served me well, music has always played a major role in my life. I grew up reading "Creem" magazine; I play several musical instruments as a "hobby";and it seems a camera has always been in my hand. Now, I am combining what I love the most--music and photography--serving as editor of Rock At Night. I travel between the US and UK seeking my dream! My motto: life is short...no regrets. Chyrisse
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