I wonder if there even will be a Yes after the tour. I don't know if Howe and White have the impetus or drive to keep it going. Bands which undergo extensive personnel changes need at least one central guy to both preserve the group's sense of identity and to drive it forward, and Squire was that guy.
It's a complicated question that both fans and band members have debated since long before the possibility became an actuality. There's certainly one school of thought that envisions Yes as continuing on in some form long after any of the classic members are still a part of it.
As a practical matter, there's the fact that, prior to Squire's death, you had possibly the most peaceful lineup in the band's history, as far as everyone getting along. And this is the first time in the band's history that a member has basically handpicked their own successor.
I can definitely see Howe wanting to continue to tour the classic material, though my guess is that he'd be reluctant about producing new albums. On the other hand, I can definitely see Davison/Sherwood/Downes wanting to do new stuff together.
I'm just hoping the whole thing doesn't turn into a massive legal nightmare. One consideration is that if Howe, et al., cease using the name, there's a chance that Anderson would step in and try to claim it for some project he's working on, such as the Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin album that was apparently being worked on a couple of years back.
EDE, Thank you for sharing your insights about Yes. I was not aware that the group had considered what to do in the eventuality of Squire's death, but, from a business perspective, it makes sense that they would have a plan.
Do you suppose they might even reach out to Anderson and ask him to return?
I know very little about Jon Davison, but I was struck by the similarity of his name to Anderson's. When a band loses an iconic member, it seems they not only want someone who sounds like him but also looks like him (as Benoit David did) or who has a sound-alike name. I was privileged to interview Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden at one point, and he speculated that part of the reason he was asked to join the Airplane was because his name sounded like that of his predecessor, Alex "Skip" Spence.
It's good to hear that Davison is more than just a Jon clone and that he contributed to the "most peaceful" lineup in the band's history. If he, Downes, and Sherwood are interested in doing new material, that, too, would be a good thing.
Well, Yes is notoriously unpredictable, but all indications are that Howe and Anderson really don't get along, and Anderson, while in much better health than a few years ago, almost certainly wouldn't be up to doing a full-scale rock tour. There's been some speculation about maybe doing some events with Anderson, but I think that that might have been Squire's brainchild.
I think the ideal situation would be to have Anderson singing, but use Davison to supplement him so that he's not having to stretch his voice for a whole concert (*Ian* Anderson actually does something similar in concerts these days, with younger guy whose job is basically to sing the parts he can't sing anymore), but I don't know how you'd get the personalities to agree to it.
Davison is definitely a lot more integral to the band than David ever was. With the last album he largely coordinated everything among the members and did a lot of the writing. I wasn't all that enthusiastic about the results, but I think there's potential there.
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