Yes is out on the road on a U.S. summer tour with opening act Procol Harum. As on their previous stateside outing, a 2011 co-headlining trek with Styx, the prog-rock legends are promoting their latest album, last year’s Fly from Here. However, there’s a big change this time around, as Benoit David, the lead vocalist featured on Fly from Here, has been replaced by Glass Hammer singer Jon Davison.
Davison joined the group earlier this year after vocal problems sidelined David. Speaking recently with ABC News Radio, Yes bassist Chris Squire sang the praises of his band’s new singer.
“He’s been a Yes fan all his life,” notes Squire. “He knows, I think, all the material from all the various eras and decades of Yes and…he’s up for the job. [He's] doing a great job.”
Asked how Davison came to into the Yes fold, Squire credits Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins for putting the singer on his radar several years ago.
“[Taylor] said to me, ‘I know this guy who’d be a perfect stand-in for [original Yes frontman] Jon Anderson should anything ever happen,” explains Squire. “And it went in one ear and kind of went into the back of my memory, I guess. But, when Benoit departed…at the end of last year, [Davison's] name came up and we got in touch with him.”
Squire says fans coming out to the new shows will be seeing a slightly different set than the one Yes was playing in 2011. In addition to performing “certain songs that people always want to hear,” he reports that the band has been tackling a 25-minute suite from Fly from Here, and also has been revisiting a couple of older gems.
“We’ve added ‘Awaken,’ from [1977's] Going for the One album, as a new piece we haven’t done for a while,” he points out. “Also, we’re doing our version of Paul Simon‘s ‘America,’ and people seem to really like that.”
Yes’ current tour is scheduled through an August 31 show in Mexico City, Mexico. After that, two of the band members — guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Geoff Downes — will busy themselves with a trek celebrating the 30th anniversary of the prog-rock supergroup Asia.
As for Yes, Squire and drummer Alan White tell ABC News Radio they hope the band will record a new album with Davison next year.
“[Davison is] capable of it and, he’s got song ideas,” maintains White. “Yeah, [it] looks like he’ll be a great addition to the creative process moving forward.”
Adds Squire, “He’s a writer as well, unlike Benoit…So, that’s gonna be a bonus.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
