In all but name...
Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks – Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 28th September 2026
Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks – Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 28th September 2026
It’s been a long wait this side of the pond for the return of Jon Anderson to the stage in full YES mode, courtesy of his collaboration with The Band Geeks.
Hooking up with the extremely talented ensemble (who made an on-line name for themselves playing rock, pop and prog classics (with an emphasis on YES) on YouTube), Jon Anderson has found a way to perform 70s focussed YESmusic with a collective who, hard truth be told, play YES better than the band who are now, in a twist of musical irony, the official tribute to themselves; a shadow of what was, without the voice and architect of their greatest creative successes to lead them.
Touring North America since 2023 and having released True in 2024 (the best YES album in all but name since Magnification), Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks – Richie Castellano (bass backing vocals), Andy Ascolese (drums), Christopher Clark (keys), Phil Castellano (keys, guitars, backing vocals) and, for these dates, Angus Clark (guitars, backing vocals) – hit UK shores in September for a run of highly anticipated shows, including The Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.
Following the 'Firebird Suite' intro, the all-time prog and YES classic 'Close To The Edge' rolled back the years and rolled out the tears (and this reviewer and long-standing fan was far from the only one).
Close your eyes and it could have been YES in their heyday prime and the 'I Get Up, I Get Down' sequence, where Jon Anderson vocally rises to hit that final, sonorous "get down!" note was worth the admission fee on its own (cue aforementioned cheek wetness).
Hooking up with the extremely talented ensemble (who made an on-line name for themselves playing rock, pop and prog classics (with an emphasis on YES) on YouTube), Jon Anderson has found a way to perform 70s focussed YESmusic with a collective who, hard truth be told, play YES better than the band who are now, in a twist of musical irony, the official tribute to themselves; a shadow of what was, without the voice and architect of their greatest creative successes to lead them.
Touring North America since 2023 and having released True in 2024 (the best YES album in all but name since Magnification), Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks – Richie Castellano (bass backing vocals), Andy Ascolese (drums), Christopher Clark (keys), Phil Castellano (keys, guitars, backing vocals) and, for these dates, Angus Clark (guitars, backing vocals) – hit UK shores in September for a run of highly anticipated shows, including The Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.
Following the 'Firebird Suite' intro, the all-time prog and YES classic 'Close To The Edge' rolled back the years and rolled out the tears (and this reviewer and long-standing fan was far from the only one).
Close your eyes and it could have been YES in their heyday prime and the 'I Get Up, I Get Down' sequence, where Jon Anderson vocally rises to hit that final, sonorous "get down!" note was worth the admission fee on its own (cue aforementioned cheek wetness).
A shifting, twenty-minute suite of epic proportions, Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks handled 'CTTE' with both aplomb and reverence, leading to the first of many standing ovations.
Additionally, the two and three-part backing vocals and counter-point harmonies were spot on and perfectly blended.
That beautifully balanced vocal exchanges were, in part, down to Richie Castellano, who is also the band’s music director (and an integral member of Blue Öyster Cult these last 22 years).
Bouncing around the stage like an energised bass-bunny, Richie Castellano’s subtle nods, looks and cues to the rest of the band kept each song performance as on-point as those multi-layered vocal parts.
At one month short of 82 years old, Jon Anderson is still in fantastic voice; one that is deceptively powerful in the upper register – when he lifts to those highs, he isn’t singing from the throat (he has never sung falsetto), he's singing from the diaphragm; in fact it’s probably from the boots up or, as Anderson himself believes, channelling from somewhere else entirely.
However he does now use a floor teleprompter monitor, although that's primarily for the newer Band Geeks numbers, with just the occasional glance during the classic YES songs that have been part of his lyrical fabric for five decades and more.
Additionally, the two and three-part backing vocals and counter-point harmonies were spot on and perfectly blended.
That beautifully balanced vocal exchanges were, in part, down to Richie Castellano, who is also the band’s music director (and an integral member of Blue Öyster Cult these last 22 years).
Bouncing around the stage like an energised bass-bunny, Richie Castellano’s subtle nods, looks and cues to the rest of the band kept each song performance as on-point as those multi-layered vocal parts.
At one month short of 82 years old, Jon Anderson is still in fantastic voice; one that is deceptively powerful in the upper register – when he lifts to those highs, he isn’t singing from the throat (he has never sung falsetto), he's singing from the diaphragm; in fact it’s probably from the boots up or, as Anderson himself believes, channelling from somewhere else entirely.
However he does now use a floor teleprompter monitor, although that's primarily for the newer Band Geeks numbers, with just the occasional glance during the classic YES songs that have been part of his lyrical fabric for five decades and more.
Yes, there were a couple of miscues (such as arriving a tad late to the mic, so lost in the musical dance was he), but under the watchful eye and ear of Richie Castellano, and a ridiculously accomplished band, such miscues were safely and quickly navigated.
'Perpetual Change,' which followed, was delivered with no less gravitas and grandeur before the first of two True numbers, 'Counties And Countries,' made its not insignificant mark.
A longform, fully YES-ified song about homecoming and search for inner and universal peace (underlined by Jon Anderson’s first swing of a large Peace flag), 'Counties And Countries' was a perfect fit for the classic YES set,
The YES masterpiece 'And You And I' needs no introduction to prog rock fans but while it's a showcase for the voice of Jon Anderson, it also highlighted the six-string skillset of Angus Clark (you’re not part of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra if you don’t have some serious chops).
'Giving Is Living,' a new song that will feature on the next studio album, was a skippy prog-pop number that wouldn’t have been out of place on either The Ladder or Magnification.
While a treat to hear new material, it was the classics the audience had come to hear, such as the beautifully emotive 'Soon,' which closed out the first set in evocative fashion.
Angus Clark’s final Howe-sounding slide moments, which were in unified harmony with Jon Anderson’s ethereal vocal outro, bordered on the spiritual (the plane on which the singer spends a lot of his time).
'Perpetual Change,' which followed, was delivered with no less gravitas and grandeur before the first of two True numbers, 'Counties And Countries,' made its not insignificant mark.
A longform, fully YES-ified song about homecoming and search for inner and universal peace (underlined by Jon Anderson’s first swing of a large Peace flag), 'Counties And Countries' was a perfect fit for the classic YES set,
The YES masterpiece 'And You And I' needs no introduction to prog rock fans but while it's a showcase for the voice of Jon Anderson, it also highlighted the six-string skillset of Angus Clark (you’re not part of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra if you don’t have some serious chops).
'Giving Is Living,' a new song that will feature on the next studio album, was a skippy prog-pop number that wouldn’t have been out of place on either The Ladder or Magnification.
While a treat to hear new material, it was the classics the audience had come to hear, such as the beautifully emotive 'Soon,' which closed out the first set in evocative fashion.
Angus Clark’s final Howe-sounding slide moments, which were in unified harmony with Jon Anderson’s ethereal vocal outro, bordered on the spiritual (the plane on which the singer spends a lot of his time).
Set Two opened with what is, for many, the pinnacle of YESmusic, 'Awaken,' a masterfully arranged near twenty-minute piece that can be as atmospheric and delicate as it is sweeping and powerful when it rises to the full band occasion. A true highlight.
'I’ve Seen All Good People' allowed for the obligatory crowd singalong (and another swing of the Peace Flag) before 'Once Upon a Dream,' the sixteen-minute magnum opus of True (and a piece that gives the superb three-part 'Endless Dream' from Talk a serious run for its money), stood tall as a 'True' highlight.
The delicate 'Leaves of Green,' where Angus Clark deftly and delightfully accompanied Jon Anderson on finger-picked acoustic guitar, set up a robust 'Starship Trooper,' where the heavily extended 'Würm' outro allowed each band member to flex his instrumentation muscle (special mention here to Richie Castellano for giving it the full Squire on the Rickenbacker).
'Starship Trooper' also made for the perfect closer, albeit everyone knew a rocking 'Roundabout' would not be far behind it as the "one last song" encore (complete with Jon Anderson and his wife Jane dancing the closing night away).
With The Band Geeks Jon Anderson has, as he recently confirmed "got the Yes that I wanted." As have the rest of us.
An exceptional concert by an exceptional band, fronted by the seemingly ageless Starship Trooper of progressive rock.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Photo Credits: Mark Watterson (first three images); Paul Foy (full band photo, Jon & Jane Anderson photo)
'I’ve Seen All Good People' allowed for the obligatory crowd singalong (and another swing of the Peace Flag) before 'Once Upon a Dream,' the sixteen-minute magnum opus of True (and a piece that gives the superb three-part 'Endless Dream' from Talk a serious run for its money), stood tall as a 'True' highlight.
The delicate 'Leaves of Green,' where Angus Clark deftly and delightfully accompanied Jon Anderson on finger-picked acoustic guitar, set up a robust 'Starship Trooper,' where the heavily extended 'Würm' outro allowed each band member to flex his instrumentation muscle (special mention here to Richie Castellano for giving it the full Squire on the Rickenbacker).
'Starship Trooper' also made for the perfect closer, albeit everyone knew a rocking 'Roundabout' would not be far behind it as the "one last song" encore (complete with Jon Anderson and his wife Jane dancing the closing night away).
With The Band Geeks Jon Anderson has, as he recently confirmed "got the Yes that I wanted." As have the rest of us.
An exceptional concert by an exceptional band, fronted by the seemingly ageless Starship Trooper of progressive rock.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Photo Credits: Mark Watterson (first three images); Paul Foy (full band photo, Jon & Jane Anderson photo)