Jon Anderson

Possibly the most beautiful concert I've ever been to.

Just Jon, no band. I had no idea how this was going to work, but to be honest I didn't care because it's Jon Anderson and as far as I'm concerned he could sing the telephone directory a cappella and it would be worth hearing.

So how does it work? He accompanies himself on a guitar with a MIDI output through floor-mounted boxes that lets him be several backing instruments simultaneously. (At least, that how he describes it.) How it actually works is, it's like having Vangelis on stage with him. (This is especially noticable on State of Independence, which is a complete wall of sound, all from one guitar.)

For a couple of songs he plays piano, a few with acoustic guitar, and one encore is just an unaccompanied vocal.

The set is a mixture of old and new solo songs, a few Yes songs naturally (in very unusual arrangements), and a couple of songs from Jon and Vangelis. And in between, some nice stories and anecdotes. Oh, and some fantastic back projections.

It was very nice, very relaxed, and very worth seeing.