In the world of classic rock, it has become increasingly more common to see a package tour – one that features two or three recognizable names sharing the stage each night – make its way across the country. One such tour, featuring classic rock heavyweights Deep Purple and Yes – recently wrapped up a three-week jaunt including a stop at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pa. on September 8.
Prior to either band taking the stage, Hannah Wicklund, an enigmatic, sultry rocker from South Carolina kicked off the evening with a 30-minute solo performance. Minus her band, The Steppin Stones, Wicklund garnered applause from the still-arriving crowd on numbers like “Versus the Villain,” “Shadow Boxes and Porcelain Faces,” and a powerful rendition of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young political anthem, “Ohio.”
Following a brief intermission, prog rock forefathers Yes quickly greeted the mid-sized crowd and launched into “Machine Messiah,” which had some fine keyboard work from long tenured member Geoff Downes. The story of Yes dates back to their formation in England in 1968. Over the last 56 years, there have been various lineups of the band, and unfortunately the 2024 version of the band features no original members. The closest fans get to the original lineup is guitarist Steve Howe, a revered name in the prog rock world, but also someone who joined Yes two years after its formation. With Howe doing a brief introduction, the band got the crowd singing along with a tight run through the 1971 hit “I’ve Seen All Good People.” Along with helping to usher in the prog rock genre, one thing most associated with Yes is the vocals of Jon Anderson, a founding member who hasn’t been a member of the ensemble touring as Yes for nearly 20 years. Sounding nearly exactly the same as Anderson, current singer Jon Davison serves the music perfectly, and adds acoustic guitar and some percussion to the band’s sound.
Check out the gallery of photos from this night here.
With only a 75 minute set, and most of their songs lasting upwards of 6 minutes, Yes were only able to fit eight songs into their set, but the numbers chosen were shining examples of the professional musicianship each band member has, including multi-instrumentalist Billy Sherwood. Sherwood’s affiliation with Yes dates back to 1994 when he played both guitar and keyboards for the band. Since the death of founding member Chris Squire in 2015, Sherwood has played bass for Yes and has flawlessly carried on the music Squire helped create. Sherwood and drummer Jay Schellen were particularly brilliant together on a rousing rendition of the spacey “Yours Is No Disgrace.”
Never really being a radio friendly band Yes tends to not be in heavy rotation on classic rock stations. However minimal their airplay is, the band still found commercial success with a few songs, including the extended “Roundabout,” which found its way into the encore of the current tour. Wrapping up their brief set with “Starship Trooper,” the band exited to loud applause with some in the audience deservingly asking why Yes wasn’t the headliner of the tour.
Perennial hard rock gods, Deep Purple, brought some loudness to Scranton as they walked out and immediately dove into the instantly recognizable sounds of the driving “Highway Star.” At 79 years old, founding front man Ian Gillan sounds surprisingly good for his age, but the signs of aging are there as Gillan’s hands were seen shaking numerous times while he was singing. Also forming in 1968, Deep Purple has seen many lineup changes throughout their tenure, but original member Ian Paice still holds down the drumming, and Gillan and bassist Roger Glover have been there since basically the beginning (1969).
Early in the set, “Into the Fire” proved to be a lively highlight, as was the ensuing guitar solo by Simon McBride. “Lazy Sod,” a number from 2024’s “=1” album meshed into an impressive keyboard solo from Don Airey. Along with being in Deep Purple since 2002, Airey has an impressive catalogue of work including many years playing with Ozzy Osbourne. As part of his solo, Airey delighted the crowd with the opening synth notes of the Osbourne classic “Mr. Crowley.”
Wrapping up the set proper, Deep Purple ran through two of its biggest hits, “Space Truckin’,” and the song that is banned from nearly every guitar shop in the world, “Smoke on the Water,” before exiting the stage for a brief encore break. As has been a staple of their live shows, the band broke into the instrumental “Green Onions” by Booker T. and the MG’s before segueing into a keyboard-heavy rendition of the crowd favorite, “Hush.” With a final nod to their early 70’s catalogue, Deep Purple left the crowd with a wonderful walk through “Black Night” before bringing the night to a close.
With a lot of their contemporaries bowing out of life on the road, it’s always a fun time seeing what remains of some of the most influential bands of our generation taking the stage time and time again. Even though Deep Purple is billing this tour as “One More Time” and hinting at retiring, the energy they still bring to the stage remains high, and if this current tour is any indication, it doesn’t look like the fans are ready to say goodbye to the band any time soon.
Check out the gallery of photos from this night here.
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