Several various updates (Yes, NEARfest Records)

YES:

This has been circulating some, but for the benefit of anyone who may not yet have seen it, the following was published by Billboard:

Even as it prepares for its 40th anniversary tour this summer, Yes is working on new material, frontman Jon Anderson has revealed to Billboard.

Anderson says the progressive rock heroes are preparing four new songs of the "opus" variety -- lengthy, multi-movement compositions along the lines of Close to the Edge and Tales From Topographic Oceans.

"They're very, very different," Anderson says. "It'll be interesting when we perform them, because we know that we want to try and perform them in a unique fashion."

But Anderson adds that he's not sure those songs will wind up comprising Yes' first set of new material since 2001's Magnification. "Putting together an album really isn't logical anymore," he notes. "Putting together a large piece of music or something that is really a jump in a musical direction takes a lot of commitment from everybody.... But maybe during the tour we will discuss making some new music."

Anderson says he'd also be amenable to some sort of reunion of the Yes lineup that made the group's triple-platinum 1983 smash 90125 as well as 1987's Big Generator and 1994's Talk. He and Trevor Rabin, the guitarist and co-producer in that incarnation of the band, have been in discussions about "maybe touring some of that '80s-period music, because it was very special." But Anderson says he and Rabin aren't necessarily thinking about resurrecting that version of Yes as a recording entity. "I wouldn't do it, like, Yes," Anderson explains. "I'd do it like me and Trevor aspiring to be the two of us making music and see what we come up with.

The Yes anniversary tour kicks off July 12 at the Festival d'ete de Quebec in Quebec City.



NEARfest Records:

Chad Hutchinson posted the following at ProgressiveEars regarding future releases:

2006 (DVD) is next on the plan, but time permits too much being done at that moment. I'll have plenty of time in my "retirement" to focus on it.

A 2007 DVD is a different animal as neither headliner allowed recording of any kind. We're not sure of the wide-spread appeal of a product from '07 without Magma and Hawkwind on it. Another option though, is to do a combo '06-'07 DVD. We'll see. It depends on the response from '06 bands for the most part, especially Mr. (Keith) Emerson.

2008 is in progress. In theory, I think they'll all agree to it. Recording agreements for both audio and video will be sent out in the next week or so.

My focus, NFR-wise, right now is to get the live PRR (Pure Reason Revolution) CD designed and manufactured in time for NFX. Gonna be tight!

Yes in 2008? Speculation

While I generally do not like to deal in speculation, there's enough stuff flying around to make this worthy of note here. Much of this information has been compiled on Henry Pott's Yes (Where are They Now) page, located HERE.

Some snippets:

Yes to re-group with a world tour
Yes have new management and are in negotiations around a North American tour this summer, coinciding with their 40th anniversary.

Who will be in the band?
The band will include Anderson, Squire, Howe and White, but it appears that they will be without Rick Wakeman. Reports suggest that Oliver Wakeman, Rick's eldest son, will plays keys instead. The key point of contention seems to have been the length of the tour. Chatting with fans after a solo show in early Nov, Wakeman confirmed he had been in discussions with the others about touring in 2008 and that he wants to do a tour, but that they could not agree on what form the tour should take. He explained that he is limiting himself to 25 shows a year, but that the others want to do a tour of over 100 dates. He was quoted as saying, "They're mad—Jon's voice would never stand up to it." Wakeman has semi-retired from touring.

New music
New music is also planned: in a late 2007 interview, Squire said:

"The thing about Yes is we've always challenged ourselves to do different things, bring different things out, approach music differently, and stretch the boundaries of our capabilities under the banner of it being Yes. Next time when we're in the studio, which might be in a years' time or something like that, I'm sure we'll look at certain ways of doing things in a different fashion. Some things will work, some won't - but we'll give it a go."

Set list
In a Nov 2007 Notes from the Edge interview, asked what he saw as the major goal for Yes in 2008, Squire said, "Well, it would just be nice to playing to people again and that stuff. Hope everyone has a good time, enjoys it. As far as an actual set list, we haven't really discussed that yet."

There's loads more information on the site linked above which goes into some greater depth on the whole evolving situation.