When I was a kid, sometimes Mom would go out in the evenings and Dad would supervise our after-dinner activities, which consisted of fidgeting around while trying to complete homework assignments on the dining room table, having a “bed-time snack” and then being wrestled into pajamas and teeth-cleaning routines.
Kris and I would get pretty pumped when Mom went out, because we knew it was dance-party time. Dad’s favorite band was a progressive-rock group called Yes. He would put one of their records on the stereo in the living room, pull the speakers out from their normal position against the wall, and crank up the volume.
Kris and I were supposed to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen after dinner each night. On the nights where Yes was blasting from the speakers, we’d have a little more spring in our step. We couldn’t wait to get out into the living room where we would careen wildly from one side of the room to the next, jumping onto couches and contorting our bodies along with the psychedelic music.
As we grew up, the living room dance music changed and happened less frequently. However, we never lost our appreciation for Yes and their glorious symphonic masterpieces.
Last week, Yes was in town, and Kris, Dad and I went to see them. We went to the concert with a bit of hesitation, worrying that time and age would have put a damper on their awesomeness that would leave us feeling sad and nostalgic for the old days. Fortunately, they did not disappoint.
We managed to restrain ourselves from dancing on the furniture (unlike some other attendees), but getting to experience the old, familiar songs played live was so awesome. I looked over at my dad at one point and saw him grinning from ear to ear. It really warmed my heart in so many ways.
Part of what made the experience so cool was that their new lead singer, Jon Davison (who looks like Aragorn) has an amazing voice and to my ear at least (literally, I have one ear that works, people!) he sounded just like Jon Anderson.
The whole concert turned out to be awesome and really rekindled my appreciation for Yes. I’ve been listening to Close to the Edge on repeat for the last couple of days. I may or may not be having my own dance parties in the morning as I get ready for work.
P.S. Mom was not left out of all the dance-party nights, but they were definitely wilder in her absence. However, she got to go with Dad to Yes concerts in the 70’s and 80’s where I bet they didn’t need to use a fog-machine to create smoky effects, if you know what I mean.
Uncommon Heather 