Original Yes vocalist Jon Anderson sings at Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on April 15
From a press release:
It was announced today that Jon Anderson, the founding singer of prog rock band Yes, will perform with a full band at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Monday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m.
The show is part of the 1000 Hands Tour, named after his upcoming 15th studio album, “1000 Hands: Chapter One,” set for release on Sunday, March 31.
Tickets, which are $29.50, $39.50, $49.50, and $75, plus fees, go on sale this Friday, Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. and will be available at the Sundance Vacations Box Office at the Kirby Center (71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre), online at kirbycenter.org, and by phone at 570-826-1100. A Kirby Member pre-sale begins Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 10 a.m.
Jon Anderson is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable voices in progressive rock as the lead vocalist and creative force behind Yes. Anderson was the author and a major creative influence behind the groundbreaking album “Fragile,” as well as the series of epic, complex pieces such as “Awaken,” “Gates of Delirium,” and especially “Close to the Edge,” which were central to the band’s success.
Additionally, Anderson co-authored the group’s biggest hits, including “I’ve Seen All Good People,” “Roundabout,” and “Owner of a Lonely Heart.” In addition, he had great success with a series of albums he did with Vangelis and most recently released the critically acclaimed solo album “Survival and Other Stories.”
Anderson was a major creative force and band leader (describing himself as the “team captain” and “catalyst,” nicknamed “Napoleon” by his bandmates for his diminutive stature and leadership of the band) and is recognized as the main instigator of the series of epics produced by Yes at the time.
Yes released 11 critically acclaimed albums (including one live album, “Yessongs,” and one early compilation, “Yesterdays”) between 1969 and 1979, including such classic titles as “Fragile” (which contained the band’s first hit, “Roundabout”), “Close to the Edge,” “Tales from Topographic Oceans,” “Relayer,” and “Going for the One.” In 1989, Anderson and other former Yes members formed the group Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe (ABWH), augmented by bassist Tony Levin, who had played with drummer Bill Bruford in King Crimson.
After the successful first ABWH album, a series of business deals caused ABWH to reunite with the then-current members of Yes (Squire, Rabin, White, Kaye), who had been out of the public eye while searching for a new lead singer. The resulting eight-man band assumed the name Yes, and the album “Union” (1991) was assembled from various pieces of an in-progress second ABWH album as well as recordings that “Yes proper” had been working on, without Anderson.
See NEPA Scene’s photos of Jon Anderson performing with Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin in Philadelphia back in 2017 here.
Photo by Jason Riedmiller Photography/NEPA Scene
