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YES Update - January 2013 to December 2013  

With the personnel remaining as Squire/Howe/White/Downes/Davison, Yes commenced their Three Album tour of America in March 2013. The setlist comprised complete performances of "The Yes Album", "Close to the Edge" and "Going For The One" with all tracks being played in the same running order as on the original albums. The reviews ranged from the effusively positive through to the "tribute band" label affixed by the critic at Rolling Stone. The most balanced view probably fell somewhere between those extremes and it was a sobering realisation that only Squire and Howe remain from the great Yes lineups that recorded two of the three albums played. It was still overtly Yes but the band chemistry is inevitably altered when the musicians are different. In some ways it was a surprising choice to so deeply mine the classic back catalog with a still fresh lineup but on the flip side, it was in line with current music industry trends and probably a commercially astute decision.

The year ended with the release of a remixed "Close to the Edge" in DVD & bluray formats (see separate review) and with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame rejecting the nomination of Yes despite backing from the Voices for Yes movement with strong bipartisan political support in Washington DC. The credibility of the Hall continues to be in serious question while it continues to deny entry to Yes and other highly accomplished bands such as Deep Purple.

Yes will start recording a new album in early 2014 followed by extensive touring in Europe, America, Canada, Japan and Australia as well as attending Cruise to the Edge 2. Jon Anderson will also sail the high seas with Progressive Nation at Sea in February, performing both solo and with Transatlantic. Rick Wakeman will undertake a large scale tour playing "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" with both band and orchestra, starting in the UK in April and extending elsewhere as dates are confirmed.