Peter Frampton and Yes
Saw Peter Frampton and Yes live at Mohegan Sun on Wednesday.
The contrast between the acts is the difference, in my eyes, or ears, between rock-n-roll and playing a lot of notes. Don’t get me wrong… Steve Howe is an agonizingly competent guitarist, and the rest of the Yes gang certainly knows what they’re doing… but… there’s a certain something lacking from the Yes performance… not sure quite what to call it.. but, I suppose one might describe the shortfall in the Yes performance in terms of the Frampton performance.
I would describe the best Frampton performances as “soaring melancholy”. There’s a goose-bump-raising quality to Frampton that’s harder to come by in, say, Yes. Frampton’s chord changes and melodies are… vulnerably … hopeful… but sad… but vital….
…whereas Yes delivered a lot of notes, and not a great deal of heart.
This was my second Frampton show, and my first in almost thirteen years. His band is tight, competent and, most importantly, playfully soulful.
Yes, on the other hand, hit the notes like they’ve been playing them forty years.
Next time, I’ll see Frampton and pass on Yes.