Yes Tour on Hold Until February 24

In a development that is reminiscent of last year’s Van Halen tour, where the group was forced to take a break from their tour due to a medical issue that guitarist Eddie Van Halen had to deal with, classic rockers Yes, have announced that their current tour is on hold until February 24th.

The reason given for the hold is being described as “unspecified medical reasons.” There were no further details provided, leaving fans wondering which member of the group is dealing with health problems.

A bit of irony is rearing its head in this instance, since the original tour that the group had planned was cancelled last year when frontman Jon Anderson was too sick to participate. Anderson reportedly suffered from serious respiratory problems and was advised by doctors to rest.

The other members of the group later decided to tour without Anderson and appoint and “understudy” to fill in for Anderson. The group chose Benoit David who is a member of a Yes tribute band in the Montreal area.

Anderson was initially quite disappointed with the groups decision to tour without him, and made his feelings known via his personal website. Since then, it has been said that the group has managed to patch things up with Anderson and still insists he is part of the group and they are anxious to see him make a full recovery and re-join them.

Still, one has to wonder of Anderson is saying to himself that the group should have waited for his recovery and perhaps their current medical issues would have been dealt with before the tour and the current halt to the tour would have been avoided.

For now, which member of the current tour line-up is suffering with medical problems remains a mystery, but perhaps more information will be forthcoming – especially if the group is forced to cancel more dates beyond the announced date of February 24th.

I guess these things can be expected more when a group of aging rockers hit the road for a tour – which can be quite demanding and physically draining. Not many of us have the stamina that we once had in our younger days, and there’s no reason to think that the veterans of Yes are any different.