Yes is heading back on the road for their first North American dates since 2019. The “Close To The Edge 50th Anniversary Tour” features the band’s longtime members — guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Geoff Downes — along with newer recruits frontman Jon Davison, bassist Billy Sherwood, and drummer Jay Schellen. The band will tackle the legendary 1972 set its entirety along with a selection of other classic tracks.
The tour kick off on October 7th and 8th with a pair of shows at Glenside, Pennsylvania’s Keswick Theatre and wraps on November 19th at Manhattan’s NYCB Theatre.
Before the tour gets underway, a special tribute concert for the band’s legendary drummer, dubbed, “Alan White: Celebrating His Life And Music,” will be held on October 2nd at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre. White died last May 26th at the age of 72 following a brief illness.
Steve Howe, who joined Yes in 1970 just before sessions for 1971’s The Yes Album, recalled to us the early days of the band: “We all had ambitions that was about being in a group where people could really play their ass off, and really make something that was different. I guess we wanted to be our own masters or our own creators, or something, or the other. Because we had good chemistry and were like, ‘Hey what if I did this — what if you did that?’ All the arrangements were credited to ‘Yes’ because we sat and arranged people’s songs to sound like we wanted them. We didn’t want to rush.”
JUST ANNOUNCED: Yes tour dates (subject to change):
October 7, 8 – Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
October 9 – New Brunswick, NJ – State Theatre
October 11 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
October 13 – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre
October 14 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – The Parker Playhouse
October 16 – Melbourne, FL – King Center
October 17 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
October 19 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theatre
October 20 – Houston, TX – Arena Theatre
October 21 – San Antonio, TX – The Aztec Theatre
October 23 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
October 24 – El Cajon, CA – The Magnolia
October 25 – Riverside, CA – Fox Performing Arts Center
October 27 – Wheatland, CA – Hard Rock Live
October 29 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
November 4 – Chesterfield, MO- The Factory
November 5 – Nashville, IN – Brown County Music Center
November 6 – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre
November 9 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theater
November 10 – Wabash, IN – Wabash Theater
November 11 – Gary, IN – Hard Rock Casino
November 13 – Washington, DC – Warner Theater
November 14 – Stamford, CT – The Palace
November 15 – Torrington, CT – Warner Theatre
November 17 – Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center
November 18 – Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Events Center
November 19 – Westbury, NY – NYCB Theatre