Yes – Keys to Ascension (1996/2009)
Concert in San Luis Obispo in 1996
Members: Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, Alan White
Program: Siberian Khatru, Close to the Edge, I’ve Seen All Good People, Time and a Word, And You and I, The Revealing science of God, Going for the One, Turn of the Century, America, Onward, Awaken, Roundabout, Starship Trooper
Studio: Image Entertainment ID52771SDVD
Video: 4:3 color except some extras 16:9
Audio: English DD 5.1, 2.0
No region code
Extras: Interviews, several tunes from a Philadelphia concert from the 70s
Length: 147 minutes
Rating: ****
This video sort of bridges the gap between the many poorly-videotaped concerts by bands in the 60s and 70s and the excellent videos of very recent performances in which the band members all look debauched, aged and terrible. And if you must see Yes as they looked in the 70s you can get a blurry, distant glimpse from the videos of a concert in Philadelphia in the 70s which are provided as one of the extras. Jon Anderson looks trim and sleek in his usual flowing white outfit – whatever you can see in the very poor image coverage – unlike his appearance in 1996.
The 1996 concert was the first time all the members had played together in 18 years. A movie theater venue in San Louis Obispo became available and with a little work on it, and a lot of post-production work on the video shot that night, the DVD proves a fine example of staging and video tricks, making a most enjoyable viewing and listening overall. The improvisational skills and imaginative ideas of the band are considerably ahead of many other progressive rock groups. They created so much new work for this concert that it resulted in two Keys to Ascension LPs and CDs. Rick Wakeman was always an important part of the band, but had been off on his own for years, unhappy with the “politics” – as he put it – of the group. He also didn’t want to tour with them. I feel he sounded much better with them than on his solo outings. Roundabout has always been my Yes favorite, and this version is a stirring production.
The original videotaping was rather mundane, with quite a few long shots of the band on the stage and often audience members’ heads and arms getting in the way. However, in post-production all sorts of nature (and outer space for Starship Trooper) footage was mixed into the backgrounds, along with a cornucopia of video effects – spinning, transitions, flying around, and so forth. With the visionary lyrics of the tunes and the imaginative paintings of Roger Dean, the video effects that might otherwise seem over the top fit right in and make the concert much more visually interesting. Sometimes part of the lyrics are projected around the musicians; I was actually wishing for more since Jon Anderson’s voice is not always that strong in the mix and it’s been years since I studied the lyrics (printed in nice large readable text!) on the LP sleeves.
– John Henry
