Arlington
Arts,
Newbury, Saturday 19th November 2011
Newbury
Weekly News, Thursday 24th
November 2011
Fragile
by
name,
but not by nature
Fragile,
at
Arlington
Arts, Snelsmore, on Saturday, November 19th
Once
a
group
of musicians make a decision to become a tribute band then
surely performing the Yes catalogue is one of the most daunting
musical challenges to be undertaken. Fragile have not only risen to
the challenge but positively relish it and indeed, thrive on it.
On
Saturday
evening,
they had to overcome a sound system full of
gremlins which were determined to disrupt proceedings and prevent the
quality of performance for which the band have gained their
reputation.
However,
these
musicians
may well be 'Fragile' by name but not by nature. They
simply got on with the job and from the opening bars of Siberian
Khatru, from the Close
to the Edge album, to the
closing Roundabout, they
showed
technical
proficiency, professionalism and, most importantly,
the sheer enjoyment of playing this music which transmitted itself to
the audience. A tremendous Heart of the Sunrise
from the Fragile
album, superbly driven along by the rhythm section of Chris Hook on
bass and Russ Wilson on drums followed, and next up was a medley from
the early albums including Sweet Dreams, The Prophet
and Every Little Thing. An
excellent Close to the Edge
finished the first set.
After
the interval, keyboard wizard Max Hunt
gave us a few of Rick Wakeman's tunes before the full band returned
with a combination of Astral Traveller, Gates of Delirium and Soon. My
favourite Yes song Yours is no Disgrace
from the Yes album
then lifted the performance to another level and was quickly followed
by a superb Owner of a Lonely Heart and
an even better Starship Trooper.
This
was
a
stellar performance by a talented group of musicians who have
put a lot of hard work into presenting this complex body of work to
this high standard. The fact that they are Yes fans themselves,
playing to Yes fans, I suspect, makes it an even more rewarding
experience for everybody involved. Vocalist Steve Carney and
guitarists Bob Illesh and Tom Dawe with the aforementioned Hook,
Wilson and Hunt combine to make this show a spectacle which no true
Yes fan could possibly resist.
Although
I'm
not
a big Yes fan, it was a great experience to revisit their
catalogue and be reminded of the impact they've made on the popular
music scene. It was also good that this was a local band in a local
venue performing an extremely complicated body of music to such a
high level. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Ken
Bowman
Facebook comments:
Fantastic
night out last night, good friends, good curry, BRILLIANT gig. If I
had the choice of seeing YES or Fragile again I would chose Fragile
without a doubt. Nov 2011
Brilliant
YES
tribute
band = Fragile. My first viewing. Well talked up by Dave
Tysoe and with good reason. Got a real feel for the
music and so in sync across the whole group. Excellent .
Excellent. Nov 2011
Fragile
play the music of Yes with amazing accuracy and authenticity. It's an
absolute delight to be at one of their concerts. Nov 2011
Really enjoyed your performance in
Newbury tonight :-) especially owner of a lonely heart! Thanks you! Nov
2011
Saw
a yes tribute band last night. What a bunch of talented musicians.
the uk yes tribute band is called 'fragile'. Nov 2011
Fantastic
Gig last night @ Arlington Arts Ctr. just outside Newbury, Berkshire.
UKs best YES tribute band "Fragile" the real deal...
Strongly recomend... If you like listening to Yes, or just
exceptional musitions, go and see them... Awesome! Nov 2011
Brilliant
night.....great show. A rich tapestry of musical genius.........WOW!
What a buzz. X Nov
2011
Old Reviews (2008 and earlier):
The Diamond, Sutton -In - Ashfield, Thursday 13 September. By Phil
'Sweet Dreams'
Another excellent
night FRAGILE never disappoint !!
Venue was small in size compared to
the Robin 2 and although the turnout was not very good, the band put on
an AWESOME show. Maybe next time they play at this venue more
advertising will be done?
The band played the favourites such as
Siberian Khatru, YIND,Perpetual Change ( Nailed IMO - AWESOME ! )
As mentioned by Fragilehowe in his
previous post, we were also treated to Sweet Dreams, and what can only
be described as a spine tingling version of Revealing Science Of God
!!!
I sat there thinking to myself " how
the bloody hell does Steve Carney remember all the words to this song "?
Anyone hoping to attend the
forthcoming shows will be in for a treat, the guys obviously put in
hours of practice to crack this difficult choice of song, after the
show everyone in the audience agreed that the guys had given a very
polished performance of RSOG.
CTTE is a favourite of the band and I
remember the time I first heard this in Crewe a few years back, they
took the roof off that night, it just gets better each time I see the
guys perform it.
Owner Of A Lonely Heart .....
FANTASTIC....PURE CLASS !!
I'm looking forward to Robin 2 next
month when I know we will all have a ball as usual.
YIND & I talked him into making
the trip to Wolverhampton to see Fragile & Steve Howe, he was quiet
happy seeing the guys last night, can't wait for his reaction to seeing
Steve Howe playing with them.
See you all @ Robin 2.
Phil.
The Diamond, Sutton -In - Ashfield,
Thursday 13 September. By Tony
Thanks for the
concert last night. Really enjoyed it! You have got 'RSoG' spot on! A
friend of mine who gave me a lift so I could get there has now seen the
other UK Yes Tribute and Fragile at 'The Diamond' and he thinks that
you are the better band of the two. For me I am more diplomatic I think
both bands have their strengths.
Robert was as
stunning as ever, he hits those notes ala Steve Howe so often!
Thanks for
the concert, I appreciate donating your time and energy to come up here.
Best wishes for the
rest of the tour.
Tony
The
Standard, Walthamstowe, Friday 28th September By Peter Bowler
It was with a certain
degree of apprehension that, accompanied by 3
friends, I made my way to the
Fragile gig at the The Standard Music Venue,
Walthamstow on Friday 28th
September 2007. The reason for my nervousness
was that my friends presence
was based upon my recommendations of the band
&, although I was not
concerned about Fragiles ability to deliver, I was
anxious that they be at the
top of their game & so live up to my
superlatives. Suffice it to
say that I needn't have worried, as my friends
unequivocal & unanimous
enthusiasm at the evening's conclusion bore ample
testimony to.
But I am getting ahead of
myself. From my perspective the evenings
entertainment could not have
got off to a better start, with the band's
entrance being preceeded by
the thrilling & rousing finale from
Stravinsky's 'Firebird
Suite', which immediately transported me back to
Wembley Arena 1973 & my
first Yes concert. In time honoured fashion, before
the final note of the
Firebird had died away, the band immediately plunged
into 'Siberian Khartu' &
the gig was up & running at full throttle. Tight
from the off, & with
Steve Carney's vocals growing in strength & confidence
when attempting the
notoriously difficult Jon Anderson upper register, the
band stormed their way
through 'Perpetual Change, 'Hideaway' & a most
accomplished rendition of the
epic 'Close To The Edge' with all its pomp &
grandeur intact. As the first
half of the set concluded, the rest of the
band members took a well
deserved break as Rob Illes & Max Hunt on lead
guitar & keyboards
respectively, paid their individual tributes to messrs
Howe & Wakeman. As
always, Rob Illes was uncannily accurate in replicating
the intricate fretwork of
Steve Howe, & Max Hunt improves with every outing
in his ability to recreate
the lightning & virtually inimitable keyboard
work of Rick Wakeman.
The second half of the set
brought us a stunning 'Revealing Science of
God', with this
extraordinarily complex piece of work being done full
justice. We were then treated
to an unexpected highlight, when the band
produced a tremendous &
energetic working of the Yes Beatles cover ' Every
Little Thing She Does'. The,
by now, highly animated audience were kept on
a high as one unexpected
crowd pleaser was followed by a banker in
'Starship Trooper', featuring
some highly impressive rhythm guitar work
from Tom Dawe. For my own
part, the driving, relentless, highly charged
conclusion to 'Starship
Trooper' could go on for hours & I would still not
tire of it. However, all good
things must come to an end & we were left to
express our appreciation
after almost 2 1/2 hours of fantastic (&
nostalgic, but what's wrong
with that?) entertainment. All that remained
was for Fragile to send the
punters home happy with an encore of the
classic 'Roundabout', &
it was time to say our goodbyes until the next
time.
In conclusion then, another
great gig from a remarkable set of musicians
who have set themselves a
near almost impossible task & yet, succeeded
gloriously on every level.
For me personally, it was tremendously
rewarding, as I have
mentioned previously, to hear my friends appreciation
& enthusiasm having
recommended the band to them. The only negative on a
tremendous evening, was the
level of noise generated by the persistant
chattering from a group of
six or so individuals, who were literally
shouting to make themselves
heard above the music. Not only was this rude,
discourteous & ignorant,
it was also pointless - why spend good money on
entertainment only to
completely ignore it, when you could go next door &
do the same thing for
nothing! That small quibble aside, a great nights
entertainment which, with
change out of a tenner, must represent some of
the best value for money in
London!
Peter Bowler
Woodford Green, Essex
The Academy, Basingstoke, Sunday 21st
October By Paul Freemantle
Hi to everyone out there, I'm
new to this group only having recently joined.
I went to my first Fragile gig
last Sunday at the Academy in Basingstoke and wow !!! I was
stunned by the performance - highlights for me were Perpetual Change,
CTTE, Siberian Khatru and of course the maestro Steve Howe's
acoustic set.
When Steve and the rest of the
guys played "Soon" together the tears were welling up in my eyes - a
truly magic moment that brought back a lot of memories of QPR, Reading
Festival 75' etc.
I've always been cynical
regarding "Tribute Bands" but after seeing Fragile I would
just like to say that I'm eternally grateful to you guys for keeping
Yes music alive and for performing it so beautifully - I consider being
at the gig last weekend a rare privilege.
Thanks also to David Watkinson
for signing my copy of "Perpetual Change" !!!
Hope to see everybody again soon.
With warm regards
return
to top of page
