POP MUSIC REVIEW : Tandem Play From Yes Men

The current Yes tour, which unites almost everyone who’s ever been in the 23-year-old group, looks a little like one of those Doublemint commercials--there’s two of nearly everything.

Did all this potentially cluttered tandem play--two drummers, two keyboardists, two guitarists--work in the performance’s favor on Wednesday at the Forum? In a word, yes, although there were a few moments of twin guitar breaks from Steve Howe and Trevor Rabin that might have had you thinking you were at an Outlaws show for a second.

Ultimately, most of the selections lent themselves well to bombast, and the eight Yes men had clearly arranged to stay out of each other’s way while carrying off the illusion of full group force.

Performing in the round proved to be a plus, as singer Jon Anderson was relieved of the burdensome duty of being a front man, relegated to literal middleman instead. The revolving stage moved at a slightly less than dizzying pace and allowed air musicians in the sold-out crowd ample sight lines of stickmen Bill Bruford (electronic kit) and Alan White (acoustic), keyboardists Rick Wakeman and Tony Kaye, “lead” bassist Chris Squire, et al.

Howe was easily the most interesting player of the night, using the vintage 20-minute opener “Yours Is No Disgrace” as a chance to venture out with frenetic jazziness on an actual blues guitar, later taking the stage alone for an acoustic turn that included some hillbilly picking.

In contrast, ‘80s recruit Rabin played in a traditionally showy style and was allowed to take over a lot of Howe’s old trademark upper-fretboard riffs and solos, which no doubt bore their originator silly by now. Yes remains stuck in a quagmire between its progressive ‘70s past and its pop-oriented present, with only two songs included in concert from the current “Reunion” release (which is actually no reunion at all, but recorded efforts from the two mediocre Yes splinter groups, combined after the fact).

Neither Anderson’s former dippy, fairy-tale mysticism nor his and the band’s current pragmatism carry any emotional weight to speak of, leaving the emphasis on instrumental technique and heat, clearly favored on the old stuff. With the players’ skills happily undiminished on stage, theirs was no disgrace.