Rumor control: Broadway bound?

With thanks to Paul Vaughan for the heads-up.

According to this tidbit from a new interview with Jon posted today on the Metal Express Radio website, apparently Trevor has composed music for a Broadway production at some point in the recent past.

At what point did you start working with Rick and Trevor again?
It was a few years back and it was such a great feeling to be playing together after so long. We had the best time together and it feels good to be doing it again. Trevor has been doing music for a Broadway show as well as film soundtracks and I've been working on an album called 1000 Hands that I started 28 years ago and Rick has always been busy with his thing so getting us all together took some time but here we are and it`s sounding great.

Whether this is actually true or not, it's certainly an interesting thing to contemplate!  Hopefully we might find out more about it, although long-time readers will recall we never did receive confirmation of Jon's assertion that Trevor was composing a piece for classical pianist Lang Lang.

The full interview can be read here:
https://www.metalexpressradio.com/jon-anderson-on-50-years-of-yes/ 

hell of an axe

Spotted on Instagram: many thanks to the stratgallery account for giving me a shoutout in this post, which chronicles some aspects of Trevor's beloved Strat.  The details and images are from my 2012 entry "The legend of TrevRa and other anecdotes."

Trevor Rabin carved his initials into the body at the lower end many years ago. Trevor noted that his son Ryan's name is on the guitar as well (there is a Ryan sticker on the scratch plate, which was added circa 1988, I like how he placed it so he could read it whenever he played the guitar): The Ryan sticker when it was (relatively) new, from 1992. ...which is known to fans, of course, and so I asked for the story behind it and he replied, "I found this dynamite sticker and he's my dynamite boy!" (Best.  Dad.  EVER!) The Ryan sticker is a bit faded by time now but still legible. But what I wanted to ask about was this, on the upper part of the body: I stated that I had just noticed it thanks to being able to examine a hi-res version of the photo and asked what it was.  Trevor explained it was a pin - a lapel pin, I'm assuming - from Chrysalis used to promote Trevor Rabin (the 1979 international release of his first solo album). I also asked and he noted it was broken because not all of his name is there now. Source: rabinesque.blogspot.fr #fenderstratocaster#fender#stratocaster#strat#trevorrabin#yes#yesband#90124#trevorrabinstratocaster#trevorrabinstrat

A post shared by Strat Gallery (@stratgallery) on May 25, 2018 at 5:29pm PDT

Rehearsals: culinary report

Drawing ever closer to the new touring cycle, as usual Wakey has food on the brain...

Just a few more days of rehearsal before we head off for the first show in Poland next week. Truth is we are ready now. Rehearsals have gone brilliantly. We're just tweaking now. which is not a euphemism for what comes after eating my leek soup.

— Rick Wakeman (@GrumpyOldRick) May 22, 2018

I'm taking Jon, Trev, Louie and Iain for fish and chips tonight ....except I can't have any.  Instead I'll have a rice cake and try and convince myself that it's haddock , chips and mushy peas.

— Rick Wakeman (@GrumpyOldRick) May 24, 2018

Time-travel Tuesday: the new(er) guys

Spotted on Instagram: this photo - from the article "The Yes Generation" in the January 1988 edition of Music Technology magazine - was courtesy of the first of such publications to feature Trevor and Tony as cover subjects.

Caption this...... (hopefully no apologies to Tony & Trevor will be necessary lol)

A post shared by Yes Pic of the Day (@yespicoftheday) on May 21, 2018 at 2:33pm PDT

Interestingly there appear to be two versions of the cover:

Rehearsals, week one

As we know, Wakey is a habitual Tweeter (like many stand-up comedians he uses it as a medium for telling jokes) and so within this first week he provided brief updates regarding ARW rehearsals for the upcoming touring cycles.

A great first day rehearsal with Jon and Trev. .....Jon singing beautifully and as well as ever and Trev playing brilliantly as always....I threw in a few wrong notes just to make it interesting,

— Rick Wakeman (@GrumpyOldRick) May 15, 2018

More rehearsing today . Sounding really good . We're all happy bunnies .

— Rick Wakeman (@GrumpyOldRick) May 16, 2018

thanks so much to everybody who sent good wishes for my birthday yesterday. We had a great birthday ARW/YES rehearsal with Jon, Trevor, Iain and Louie & afterwards I was extremely naughty and ate a slice of birthday cake.

— Rick Wakeman (@GrumpyOldRick) May 19, 2018

back to rehearsals today with Jon, Trevor, Louie & Iain. Some really nice changes to the set we did in the UK last year including a fabulous new piece. I have made a new set list...oh bugger...it's that word "list" again !

— Rick Wakeman (@GrumpyOldRick) May 21, 2018

This last tweet promises something very interesting - Rick(y) don't lose that list!

upcoming singles from Manchester Apollo performance

(With thanks to Yesfans member Olorin for the heads-up.)

Posted yesterday on music industry insider website MusicTAP is apparent advance information regarding the ARW release of their March 2017 O2 Apollo Manchester concert.  I had been keeping an eye on Eagle Rock Entertainment's social media accounts for breaking news, but MusicTAP has been known to provide scoops of upcoming releases for its' readership.

And finally, just so you’re aware of the upcoming release, there will be a Live At the Apollo set from Yes with Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman. The show is from their 2017 O2 Apollo (Manchester) show. Two DD singles will be released, “Roundabout” (August 24), and two DD versions of “Rhythm of Love” (August 17). The two DD versions of “Rhythm of Love will issue as standard MP3 and an HD (48kHz/24-bit) version. It will issue via Eagle Rock.

DD in this case refers to digital distribution/direct download.  So if accurate these releases will coincide with the kickoff of this year's North American tour.

This artwork was also posted, although it's not clear if it will serve as the official packaging.

Fangirl Friday: ears up!

Spotted on Instagram: this vintage gem posted on the rockrabbitt_ account - when you love a band so much they become a decorating scheme...yeah, I've been there!

So I found one of Trevor’s post Rabbitt pre Yes solo CD’s at Half Priced Books and needless to say I almost cried -@emmaschiller . . . #rabbitt #fans #trevorrabin #duncanfaure #neilcloud #ronnierobot

A post shared by @ rockrabbitt_ on May 17, 2018 at 6:17pm PDT

This date in Yesstory: one part of a great and varied legacy

One of the more interesting events which the YesWest lineup took part in was It's Only Rock n'Roll, a concert celebrating Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary which was held at Madison Square Garden on May 14, 1988, about a month after the end of the Japanese leg of The BIG Tour.  It was the last performance of this particular lineup until the Talk tour kicked off in June 1994.

The massive show, featuring over two dozen artists from the Atlantic roster past and present, was broadcast on radio and TV, and the band's song selection drew from both the Classic era and their current oeuvre.  A DVD of the HBO broadcast version was released later in the year.  However, out of the five songs the band performed only two were included on the DVD set.

With thanks to The Groovy Archives tumblr account - this backstage photo from the event has a very interesting caption which possibly reveals what Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe wanted to name themselves originally.

As I've noted in a previous entry, this performance contains a moment of truly Epic Bromance during "Hold On," which was part of Chris and Trevor's routine for the song, but with a bit of a twist.

"I've Seen All Good People"

"Hold On"

"Owner of a Lonely Heart"

"Roundabout"

Off to join the circus...or something...the boys say "Good Night!"

all smiles

Here's Our Trev recently spotted somewhere in Los Angeles, hanging out with a fellow guitar hero, as you do...I'm seriously digging Trevor's choice of footwear!

Media Watch: yes to Yes (plural)

Another in the seemingly neverending series of articles regarding the rivalry between Yes and Yes Featuring has been published today on the Financial Times website, which appears to contain recent quotes from Jon and Steve and Trevor.

https://www.ft.com/content/4822acba-543b-11e8-b3ee-41e0209208ec

gearing up

Today saw the posting of Rick's Grumpy Old Rick's Ramblings for May and was primarily dedicated to the creation of his upcoming release A Piano Odyssey, but there was also this update to tide us over till next month...

On Saturday 12th...the ARW crew start to load the equipment in for rehearsals and I will start checking my stuff out on the 12th and 13th. Rehearsals start in earnest on the 14th and carry on right the way through the month until the equipment leaves for Poland and our first concert.

With about three weeks of rehearsals, here's hoping for some interesting staging/setlist changes!

new interview with Lee

I had originally spotted mention of this interview on Friday but the link appeared to be broken, so I'm very happy it's back up now.  Music Radar had posted a great in-depth interview with Mr. Poms back in 2014 and this new one, from one of the writers for Bass Guitar magazine. is also very comprehensive in terms of the scope of Lee's career as well as technical discussion, and as always enhanced by his great sense of humor.

And this quote is just classic!
"If you slice me in two, I’m prog all the way through.”

https://www.musicradar.com/news/lee-pomeroy-to-play-these-songs-with-jon-anderson-and-trevor-rabin-is-a-dream-come-true