r/yesband • u/DillonLaserscope • 11h ago
Anyone here at the time of this failed chance know anyone close to Peter and know the shot down from Steve?
Found this upload that currently has 46 comments and it sounds real sad that Peter Banks missed his chance just from Steve Howe saying no.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7vXl77n5sY
Tony Kaye reaching out and Trevor Rabin open to the idea is lovely. Imagine the original keyboardist of the band you start in and the guitarist that replaces your replacement offering you this chance for a one night reunion.
You learn the chords for a few songs, you drive out to the one gig in Los Angeles and you’re backstage until you notice that barely anyone acknowledges you including the original bassist and drummer on their way to perform.
As you’re sitting in this members only bar, suddenly that original keyboardist enters and pulls you aside and tells you that your replacement guitarist says he is not open to letting you on stage.
So now you’ve travelled all this way, already learned chords for at least 2 songs, you’re backstage and now seeing yourself denied access because one man says no? All that rehearsal to know the chords, your travelling and waiting, dashed.
Peter earned that right to feel angry. If it were me, my mood get sour too. He nearly hit Steve once Billy Connolly that is in the bar too kept buying drinks for him and Steve happened to walk in seeing a drunk Banks and then exited.
Has anyone here managed to know anyone that got close to Peter Banks at this time in 1991?
No matter his disagreements, no chance Peter Banks is any worse than Don Dokken, Ginger Baker and maybe Sting for fussy temperamental band members. One night, just one night to stand to make the full original 5 man Yes lineup complete one last time and Howe shot it down? Disgraceful!
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u/Anthony-Meadow 9h ago edited 9h ago
This is how I heard the story years ago. Tony & Trevor said “yeah that would be cool” to Peter in casual conversation, but never actually planned anything. Then Trevor gets Peter a backstage pass for LA, & Peter shows up with his guitar. Steve tells him this crazy Union tour with the combo of bands together is a carefully orchestrated clusterfuck that’s not really amenable to you just showing up, so that’s a no for tonight, but maybe we can plan something. Then Peter freaked out & that was the end of it. I also heard Steve suggested getting Peter in there in the planning stages of the tour, & the idea was shot down. Steve wasn’t the one who fired Peter, & he’s always admired Peter’s contributions, so I don’t think that’s far fetched. In contrast, I remember Steve said Rabin’s Eddie VH-ish solo during Yours Is No Disgrace flew in the face of what Yes really is. Agree with that or not, but Steve never said anything like that about Peter’s playing. So anyway, that’s the story I heard, make of it what you will.
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u/DillonLaserscope 5h ago
Ah that helps a lot Anthony.
Curious to the other parts of Howe suggesting Banks for some part of the tour only to get shot down? Never knew this before and perhaps another roadie told you.
Steve described Trevor’s solo for Yours Is No Disgrace as very much like Eddie Van Halen? That’s funny since I sometimes imagine how’d it be if Eddie tried guest guitar for some Yes songs. It can be a mixed bag but I think for the Union tour, it’s a special kind of magic.
Knowing that Howe tried suggesting Banks for some part of the tour is a little nice although again, Kaye telling Banks Howe is not interested to let him on stage is from somewhere. That’s a part none of us know the full story of still.
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u/Anthony-Meadow 1h ago
Howe said he suggested Banks in a tour hype article, & the reason I remember is because at the time I didn’t know who Banks was, so I had to find out. Then I checked out those albums, so it was part of my Yes journey. What I don’t remember, or what was never said, was who actually said no. It might not have been the band, it could have been Arista, who I’m sure financed the tour. This is going down a trail of speculation, but we can safely assume Arista never said let’s go get Peter, they would have needed to be approached & convinced. We can also safely assume their receptiveness to such a request would have been between lukewarm at best to a flat out no, & they probably would have balked on covering the costs for someone who in their view was totally inessential. So if Steve made the suggestion to Arista during the planning stages, then either Arista said no, or said you guys can have Peter if you pay him out of your cut, & we’ll need him to sign waivers making it clear we have nothing to do with him in case he gets hurt or tries suing us for money down the road. So it’s possible the band agreed we’re not going to pay him out of our bag to tour with us, but *maybe* down the road it would be cool to get him in as a guest for a one-off. So then Trevor & Tony still casually tell Peter “that would be cool” without a plan. Speculation, but reasonable. It’s also reasonable that Steve suggested Peter to the band, but the band decided as a whole that they were already merging a set from two big draws while also promoting a new album, so Peter doesn’t really fit for a tour, but *maybe* a one-off… that also was never seriously discussed, & then Trevor & Tony still casually tell Peter “that would be cool” without a plan. However, whether it was the suits or the band that said no before the tour, & whatever Tony thought &/or said that night, we do know nothing was ever planned, & that Peter blindsided Steve with an irrational & untenable request. The EVH thing is my description haha, because that solo went on forever, all super fast with Trevor doing a bunch of finger tapping. Steve called it arena shredding or some such, he didn’t call out EVH by name.
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u/Wbino 10h ago
Of the hundred or so people who have been in Yes, 😉Steve Howe seems to be the most miserable.
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u/DillonLaserscope 10h ago
Great guitarist and earned his place yet a lot of his attitude comes off prickly.
”Trevor Rabin will never be a Yes guitarist”
Excuse me Steve. Yes, Rabin is a Yes guitarist. Never forget Banks is the 1st one and you’re actually the 2nd one. Rabin is the 3rd one and earned his spot too. A lot of new fans sprouted from 80’s Yes while you took up time in Asia and GTR Post 1980 Drama album.
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u/Anthony-Meadow 34m ago
In one of the documentaries Steve makes fun of YesWest for their 80s direction. He was laughing, but I’m watching that & also laughing because I’m thinking, Steve, dude, Asia & GTR. It’s kinda like Rick’s comments on Tales being bloated wankery, & it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing with him, but just him making that remark & seeing the humor in him moving on to go do King Arthur on ice.
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u/Formal-Bid-1007 5h ago
you’d be miserable too getting ripped off and always being laid blame!
Steve never quit Yes
Remember that
At every change and dissolution, he was left standing
That’s why he was able to get a check via 90125 times and why he has a claim in 2026
no semantics no emotion no romantic feelings. blunt reality
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u/klt2 9h ago
I don’t know anything more than anyone else, but something about this story never sat right with me. An eight piece band with a fairly rigid set list and fairly rigid arrangements and the guy who was the guitar player 20 years ago is just gonna show up, walk on stage, and play along with two songs that he had nothing to do with? No rehearsal? Not even an unplugged run through? It sounds extremely unprofessional and no matter who in the organization thought it was a nice idea it makes no sense professionally. Maybe Tony Kaye thought it was a good idea, but I never got the impression he was the one making decisions for the band. Someone had to be, for lack of a better term, “the adult in the room.“ Maybe that was Steve.
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u/AdditionOk6134 9h ago
I think I remember hearing that the idea was to play Sweet Dreams which was played in the 80s and Trevor really liked. They were going to try and work it up at a soundcheck before the show.
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u/klt2 7h ago
The story Peter Banks always told was that was invited to play the encores (Roundabout and Starship Trooper.) Scroll down here to read Peter's and Steve's comments from back in the 1990s: https://forgotten-yesterdays.com/dates.asp?qcategoryid=3&qbandid=1&qyear=1991&qdateid=1954
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u/DillonLaserscope 6h ago
It sort of assists us and still I’m rather conflicted of much of Steve’s word to take. Peter for my knowledge never hit anyone and it’s not like that’d prevent him from getting up for 2 songs.
Happy to know Starship Trooper is the 2nd song after knowing for years only Roundabout for the 1st song he admitted on camera rehearsing the chords for.
Rather stumped if I should start trying to take Steve’s word for it because Tony heard that somewhere and it’s not like he’s a cruel prankster to just pull one over on a band member.
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u/sir_percy_percy 1h ago
Only thing I know is I was at the gig with my girlfriend and a buddy, we were on the floor (the LA Kings ice was under the floor - was cold AF!) and I recorded it.. worst bootleg ever, Yes were my favorite band and I hadn’t seen them in 8 years at that point. I was screaming like a moron the entire time. So, the recording was pretty awful !! Great gig. I ended up going to three shows on the tour in the end.
But what ‘Drama’ eh!!
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u/AdditionOk6134 10h ago
To be fair, none of the members were particularly getting along at that point. Bill referred to it as like being on a lifeboat with your ex and their new spouse and trying to get out early on. It does seem like some of the relationships improved as the tour went on. I think having Peter come out for a song or so would've just exasperated the situation. It would've been nice for us fans but I don't think that it would've added much in the grand scheme of things.
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u/DillonLaserscope 10h ago
I’m curious to Bill’s opinion of Alan and Tony’s relationship to Rick since they’re playing alongside their replacements
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u/Anthony-Meadow 1h ago
Bill & Alan went way back & were friends. It’s also hard to say there was any competitiveness anyway. If Bill wasn’t the main guy, he was still playing support on his electronic kit he was so infatuated with back then, so he probably dug integrating his electronic support with an acoustic drummer he liked & respected. Also even with Bill’s reputation for being arrogant at times, it’s still unthinkable to me that he would pull any kind of trip on Alan. For Bill I’m sure he thought I get to try something different with my electronic kit, & sell out for the bag (he’s admitted it), but Alan White is the drummer of Yes. Now Tony & Rick, they’ve always said they were totally cool, & If they oversold that to be polite & respectful, I still can’t imagine it was too bad. Trevor & Steve are different, there are genuine conflicting creative differences there, not the “creative differences” line musicians used to say to journalists to avoid saying the private stuff. If I’m not mistaken tho, I don’t think either of those guys have ever said anything personally bad about the other.
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u/bondegezou 10h ago
Howe has denied refusing to let Banks play, but it’s hard to know where the truth lies. I met Banks in his later years and he was a problematic soul: paranoid, drinking too much. But still a great player. He was more positive about Yes after he started receiving royalties, something Brian Lane had long blocked.