Well, my only commentary is that I need to record my weekly karaoke performances and post them in the web…maybe I could be in the shoes of Simon Le Bon in case DD needs some help!

Does anyone really care about this band? I saw them at the university of Illinois somewhere around 1980 and it was the worst thing I have ever seen.

Somebody needs to create a website for singers who would like to join existing bands. Like a Facebook page with you-tube video. The Velvet Revolver Page, The Led Zeppelin page, the Van Halen page, Nirvana page

I have really mixed feelings about this. Yes is my all time favorite band, so yes, somebody does still care about these guys. Their body of work is so monumantal that the music needs to live even after the band can’t do it anymore. I want to fill in for Chris Squire when he’s too old and fat to continue. This brings up an interesting situation, however. Orchestras, Big Bands and folg groups have been know to go out long after the last original member has left or died, does anyone think that rock bands are going to go this way. Already the Australian Pink Floyd is geting reviews that put the original bands’ live performances to shame and there’s countless other Tribute bands out there. Jon himself was in on this with the idea to have local amateur musicians perform onstage with the band. The School of Rock people do Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd shows with 10 year old kids performing the masterworks of the rock era. Does Rock musicx deserve this kind of respect? I think some of it does. I know there’s not going to be a Nickelback tribute band in the future, but how about the greats? And will people go see these groups with these replacements? How about a Replacements tribute band? The Replacement Replacements, anyone?

And uh, sorry about the spelling errors!

“You can’t ever really replace Jon Anderson, because he’s been such a force in the music business,” Squire said………….You have got to be kidding me! Jon Anderson (and the rest of Yes) are about as musically relevant as Hanson.

Has the smell of pathetic. I’m not sure what Jon’s illness is but really, can’t they wait? A guy from utube and no Steve Howe? Guys, can you spend your money on a budget? Sad.

Wow-this is becoming an all too familiar sad story. Jon Anderson can’t be replaced by some YouTube wannabe. And for their 40th anniversary tour no less? Embarassing!

I’ve seen Yes many times over the past few decades. The entire band is airtight and their catalog is amazing. Unfortunately too many fans (and the band itself) tends to dwell on their past success. How many more live versions of “Starship Trooper” will we have to endure before they start mining their more recent material. I’d like to see more new material and fewer
“Greatest Hits” albums.
I don’t know if you can replace Jon Anderson, but as a true “Yes” fan, I’m willing to give it a listen.

I’ve seen Yes many times over the past few decades. The entire band is airtight and their catalog is amazing. Unfortunately too many fans (and the band itself) tends to dwell on their past success. How many more live versions of “Starship Trooper” will we have to endure before they start mining their more recent material. I’d like to see more new material and fewer
“Greatest Hits” albums.
I don’t know if you can replace Jon Anderson, but as a true “Yes” fan, I’m willing to give it a listen.

Yes, Jim, there are those that still care about the band. As far as your experience goes, I saw a Yes show in 1979 that was truly unbelievable. They did things musically that no other band could do, or has ever done. Interestingly, I ran into a friend a year or two later. While talking music, the (at the time) last Yes show came up… he had been at the same show, he talked about how it sucked… “at times it was like they were playing five different solos” was his most telling remark. Obviously, he didn’t get it. The same guy, in the same conversation mentioned how wonderful Steely Dan was comparatively. Steely Dan is no a bad band, but no way they are in the same ocean as with Yes, let alone the same league.

Yes transcends their repertoire, and their personnel… Jon Anderson included. While it is sad that Mr. Anderson can’t participate, there is no way Chris Squire would proceed with this unless Mr. David is anything but outstanding at the mike. I’ll go, and I bet the show pays appropriate homage to the Yes legacy. Bet a hundred bucks… any takers?

Having seen Yes in concerts since 1972, let me tell all of you “would-be Yes wisemen” that you have not seen the real band unless you saw Wakeman, Howe, Squire, Anderson and Bruford together in their prime. All are replaceable, except for Anderson. There.

I’ve seen Yes on every tour since Close to the Edge … Drama was OK, but Anderson carries the “tone” of the band … this guy has a high tenor voice – we’ll see how he does on a tour ….

Okay, Yes (JON ANDERSON is the band…YES!!! I’m one of the oldies, and I must say that JON ANDERSON’S TALENT IS GREAT!!! The first time I saw YES was in the late 70’s with Wakeman, Howe, Squire, Anderson and Bruford. I enjoyed the show. Wakeman appeared to be a little bit much for me. The overall concert was great due to the fact I’m a true YES FAN. I had the chance to see them again in 2000. The show was awesome, Jon Anderson’s voice had us clapping until he could only thank us…I was in tears. There is NOT another person to sing for him, especially someone off YOU TUBE. I almost set myself up for excitement until I checked to find out how Jon was doing. All I can say is; anyone purchasing tickets to see this make-up group of YES is CRAZY!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait until Jon is better in 2009 for the real YES concert!!!!

Yes without Jon is like a day without sunshine.

I first saw YES in 79 at MSG in the round. I was 15 years old and to this day it was the best concert I have ever been to. I am a big YES fan (now 44 years old). I have seen them a dozen times over the years and every concert has been great. There is no other band on earth with musicians of there caliber. I always sit in amazement watching each member master their instrument. While I agree no one can replace Jon anderson, I am certainly willing to give this Benoit David a fair shot. After all he is only an understudy until Jon gets better. Why not enjoy the show for what it is. http://www.adamzcash.com

Hey everyone -lets stop worrying about Sqire, Bruford, Howe, Ollie Anderson, & this new kid, -this IS NOT YES, period.
stop fooling yourselves, are you that desperate to go to this thing!???
this is “THE 2008 IMPOSTORS TOUR”, and they are asking $150.00 per ticket-hey we are in the miodst of a recessions dudes, and you want my hard earned money, to hearsome guy from American Iol or YouTube sing Roundabout, oh please!say NO to YES, sorry Jons nt feeling well, you can be sure that he is reading these blogs. JON- with this kind of major insult, you should drop these guys forever, and strike out on your own -I seen your “Solo Act”, and you were awesome!
burn your bridges now with these guys, after all them yearsfor those bastards to treat you like this, is just way too much of an insult, -you cannot swallow your pride, be done with them, they need you, more than you need them.
For now everyone, say NO to YES!!!!

To those who think Benoit David is a “hack” or an “American Idol”, you should check him (and the band Close to the Edge) on YouTube… they are really quite impressive. As for Yes without Anderson, it’s happened before… for the excellent and muscular Drama album in 1980. Could Yes have done it had Jon still been in? If Relayer didn’t exist, I’d unequivocally say “no”. As this stands, this is by no means a permanent replacement. And as for Close to the Edge, don’t write them off either: drummer Pierre Dragon was in the ’70s prog-rock band Et Cetera (often credited as being “a Gentle Giant cover band with only original material”, or the closest any band has come to sounding like Gentle Giant while standing out). Montreal is a prog lover hotbed, much moreso than most any other place in North America. If you don’t want to see David, then skip this (omigod, amazingly huge) 26-date tour and catch them the next time around… six months later?

Though they were recorded before I was born, I’ve great admiration for the musical inventiveness that Yes displayed in their first five records. For that reason, I’ve investigated the band’s history and have learnt about the remarkable drive, determination, and sheer musical genius of the band’s chief architect and founder, Jon Anderson.

So it is very sad to learn how, as the band approached its 40th anniversary, and Jon developed health problems that prevented him form touring to celebrate that anniversary, Msrs. Squire, Howe and Allen made the decision not to wait for Jon to recover from his illness but, instead, engaged a karaoke-singing-croissant to replace him on tour – all without so much as bothering to inquire about Jon’s health, much less consult with him about their plans to tour without him!

Thus, the sheer disrespect that they have shown towards the man whose creative energy and vision has been the guiding light behind the band’s entire history, perfectly lays out the despicable manner in which Squire and Howe, in particular, put their monetary interests ahead of the band’s musical and personal integrity.

To state it more clearly, their decision to tour without Jon is motivated by sheer greed and stupidity!

Yuuuuuuuuuuuck!!!!

Though they were recorded before I was born, I’ve great admiration for the musical inventiveness that Yes displayed in their first five records. For that reason, I’ve investigated the band’s history and have learnt about the remarkable drive, determination, and sheer musical genius of the band’s chief architect and founder, Jon Anderson.

So it is very sad to learn how, as the band approached its 40th anniversary, and Jon developed health problems that prevented him form touring to celebrate that anniversary, Msrs. Squire, Howe and Allen made the decision not to wait for Jon to recover from his illness but, instead, engaged a karaoke-singing-croissant to replace him on tour – all without so much as bothering to inquire about Jon’s health, much less consult with him about their plans to tour without him!

Thus, the sheer disrespect that they have shown towards the man whose creative energy and vision has been the guiding light behind the band’s entire history, perfectly lays out the despicable manner in which Squire and Howe, in particular, put their monetary interests ahead of the band’s musical and personal integrity.

To state it more clearly, their decision to tour without Jon is motivated by sheer greed and stupidity!

Yuuuuuuuuuuuck!!!!

Hey all . . .Peace Brother Jerome here, once again, weighing in on the “YES MESS”, the culprit here is Chris Suire, -you hear me Chris?? – you couldn’t wait for Brother Jon to recover, so you put together this “YES 2008 IMPOSTORS TOUR”, well guess what? I hooked up with some other blogger here, and we are all going to boycott your concerts with Picket Signs, at the various concerts!
You got something to say to me?? I’ll be right there in the parking lot, at most of the shows, with my signs, & you cannot miss me with my long gray beard, you
jackass!!!

Jon Anderson IS Yes! God gave him
the most unique voice! Sure, the other members are important to their sound also, but Jon’s voice makes it “Yes”! One only has to listen to the end of “Hearts” on 90125 or on Jon’s
Solo album, Change We Must. If someone doesn’t agree, I suggest they do like I do when listening to the end of this song. Put your amp at the 1:00 position, just before clipping and listen to your Polk or Klipsch or similar quality loudspeakers and you’ll know what I mean! I feel bad, really bad, that Squire and the boys haven’t even discussed the decision to tour without Jon
WITH Jon!!! When I first heard about the tour, I thought for sure Jon was a part of the decision! I was surprised, though, that he would want them to tour without him knowing how much he loves and is concerned about the execution of perfection and the legacy of the band!
So, to see this – WOW! I hope that Chris at least says something about Jon and wishes him well during the concerts. Meanwhile, my thoughts and prayers go out to Jon for a speedy recovery. I’ve been to every Yes concert in my town since 1976. (The Talk Tour was the best, I think, by the way- that album is awesome! Every song is great! The only thing is they’ve never played any of those songs live after that! I would love to hear the title track live again some day only with Jon singing lead of course!) I hope and pray that the last Yes concert my wife and I saw, wasn’t the last time we were blessed to hear Jon’s voice live! His voice is a national treasure!
Get well soon, Jon!

What a bunch of losers some of you guys are. Yes doesn’t need your permission to go out and play in any configuration they want.

Seriously, get over yourselves. When you get a band together that has done what Yes has done over 40 years then you get to call the shots. Until then just grow up or go cry in your mommy’s basement. dillweeds.

I am a music critic for my College Newspaper at Rutgers, so I know what this is all about. Basically, you cannot replace he main component of a Musical Structure, without losing something in return, in this case, the “Golden Voice” of Jon Anderson, so I fear that this Musical Production on Tour, will suffer greatly, with many of the fans and YES afficionados greatly disappointed with the performance, etc.
I would suggest enjoying the performance from years gone by, by just simply listening to a YES album in the comfort of your living room, with an outstanding home stereo system, or enjoying a YES DVD from those wonderful times. I hope my commentary here is helpful to the fans

I see all types of blogs & opinions here about JON being replaced, well he CANNOT be replaced, so how dare them!!!
I also see here that some folks will be protesting at the shows, and I for one will be joining the protesters in support of Jon, I am going to make up a few thousand flyers and hand them out at many of the concerts, even if i have todrive far to many of them, I will be there with the protesters, because this whole debacle is an insult to ailing JON! Get well soon JON!!

Hey Mr.Chris Squire, I’m with Blogger Johnny Rocker, you have dissrespected JON, and me personally, you egomaniacal loser.How dare you treat your bandmate of 40 & years like that. I’m talking TO YOU CHRIS!, I know you read this Blog, to get public opinion on the “YES MESS”. It’s time for you to hang it up Squire, go into retirement, and mow the lawn, and pull out the weeds out in your backyard that you have neglected. Go join a Senior Citizen Center for Musical “Has Beens”, and take Steve Howe with you!
I hear that there will be protests at the Concerts, and I for one, will be joining them!-Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

I hear ticket sales are lousy, seems the REVOLUTION is on my friends! – people are avoiding this band for many reasons!!!

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED MY FRIENDS! we will all be meeting in the parking lot of the concerts to discuss the “YES MESS”, – look for our signs!!!

The music of mozart, beethoven…etc.. still influences and lives today. The key musicans are still alive and playing the beautiful yes music. There will be a day when all the members are gone and if Jon Anderson is right, the music of Yes will live on forever. So, if you are upset that a fill in singer is singing in jons place for now, you should be thinking about a time when no yes member will perform. But, 40 years from now, there is a possibility as you are walking with your cane and arthritis and your years are coming to an end that you will hear the sounds of yes through musicans who are empowered.

Jon Anderson is the foundation of Yes. Chris Squire is a keystone. Steve Howe is irreplaceable. Rick Wakeman is the epitome of prog-rock.
Bill Bruford AND Alan White offer the unique and mesmerizing rhythm.
Yes has toured without at least one of these members absent for years. The music is wonderful, but not Yes.
I’m broke and will not sell anything on ebay to see Mr. David and the fantastic musicians alongside. However, put Jon and Rick back in and I’d sell my car to get tickets.
’nuff said.

Jon Anderson is the foundation of Yes. Chris Squire is a keystone. Steve Howe is irreplaceable. Rick Wakeman is the epitome of prog-rock.
Bill Bruford AND Alan White offer the unique and mesmerizing rhythm.
Yes has toured without at least one of these members for years. The music is wonderful, but not Yes.
I’m broke and will not sell anything on ebay to see Mr. David and the fantastic musicians alongside. However, put Jon and Rick back in and I’d sell my car to get tickets.
’nuff said.

get real all you losers out there! -how many more times should I say it here??? -YES is done. JON needs to go SOLO. Those creepy band members all “dissed” him to the max.
This is a tough economy, save your $$, and put a few bucks aside for my new CD coming oput just befoe Christmas, entitled “Groovin On Life”, -it will blow you all away. I’m payin some dude this week, to put my posters up, all over the Hood, so yall look for it, buy the CD, and spread the word. I would like to offer JON & his Management complimentary copies -Brutha J

I’ve been a fan of Yes since 1975 and I’ve liked it all however, their stuff over the last 10 years hasn’t been all that hot so, for the bad to tour with a temp singer and do a “best of” kind of tour works for me. I saw them twice in December and loved it. The band is still tight and Benoit did a great job.

I’ve gone back and forth on this for months. On one hand, how can they go on without Jon? On the other hand, they have the right to want to play their music. I only hope that Jon returns to health and can tour again soon. I’ve seen Yes in different incarnations five times with the first being back in 1972.