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Review: Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble, Bristol Beacon
Things we never expected to see, part 94: Mollie (daughter of Steve) Marriott belting out Yes classics on the stage of the Hall Formerly Known as Colston. Many of these songs were recorded while her dad was still fronting Humble Pie, long before she was born.
Wisely, she doesn’t attempt to emulate Jon Anderson’s flat Lancashire vowels as she delivers his, ahem, idiosyncratic lyrics, but these songs are sturdy enough to withstand many different interpretations (exhibit A: Trevor Horn). Anyone who ever wondered what a first generation English prog band would sound like fronted by a raunchy rock’n’soul singer will find the answer right here.
is needed now More than ever
Rick Wakeman explains that his intention with his current nine-piece English Rock Ensemble was to honour the spirit of Yes in tonight’s fairly brief first set, which opens with Roundabout. That’s followed by what he describes as the Yes Suite – a cut’n’shut collection of three songs from different eras of the their career: The Meeting from the ABWH album; Wonderous Stories, that unlikely 1977 hit (Rick recalls that after this crawled up the chart to number seven, Yes were invited to appear on Top of the Pops, whereupon it disappeared altogether the following week); and audience favourite South Side of the Sky from Fragile.
It’s a wise idea to avoid the obvious choices and the Ensemble prove more than equal to the challenge, with Lee Pomeroy (the only musician ever to play in both Caravan and Take That) clearly living every bass player’s Chris Squire dream on his Rickenbacker, while Dave Colquhoun has probably the trickiest role in taking on Steve Howe’s distinctive acoustic and electric guitar parts.
Drummer Adam Falkner is so powerful he’s surrounded by a prophylactic acoustic shield. Also proving hugely impressive are the BVs – a close harmony trio of backing singers, who provide a scintillating intro to The Meeting. Rick himself is as dextrous as ever, occupying centre stage resplendent in his trademark capes (he gets a Madonna-esque costume change at half time) and surrounded by a huge bank of keyboards, augmented by his son Adam on additional keyboards and occasional guitar.
“After I joined Yes in 1971, when I was eleven . . . eleven stone, that is,” quips the portly prog titan as he introduces the set closing And You and I by recalling early discussions about what kind of prog band they wanted to be, eventually deciding upon symphonic prog – this being their first attempt to live up to that billing.
After a 20 minute break to give Rick’s aging bladder some respite, it’s time for the meat of the programme: a full performance of Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Justly regarded as one of the greatest of all concept albums, this was originally recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra and English Chamber Choir a little more than half a century ago.
Journey also topped the UK album chart in an era when prog successfully penetrated the mainstream, which must have helped keep the young Adam Wakeman in nappies. The vinyl format meant that Rick was limited to just 40 minutes, but at the insistence of his mate Jon Lord he returned to the centre of the Earth in 2012 to reinstate all the music that was cut, and it’s this hour-long version that the overjoyed Bristol audience gets tonight.
Obviously, there’s no orchestra or choir here, but the BVs do sterling work in emulating the latter while Mollie Marriott tackles both lead vocal roles originally taken by Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford-Hopkins. As a consequence, the whole performance feels more dynamic than that original recording. Those moments of high drama, such as The Battle, really stand out against the booming pre-recorded narration. The whole hour flies by and there’s naturally a standing ovation at the end.
After being called back to the stage, Rick explains that there’s no obvious encore to follow Journey “because they go in and then they come out again”. So it’s back to classic Yes for an extended Starship Trooper, featuring a bass solo, guitar solo and father/son keytar face-off.
Better yet, Rick announces that the same Ensemble is coming back next October to do King Arthur (presumably without the ice). So much for all that talk of retirement.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: March 2024
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