Prog-rock pioneers YES have announced their Close to the Edge 50th Anniversary Tour — previously known as The Album Series Tour 2022 — hitting cities across the UK and Ireland in celebration of their iconic album.

The tour was originally set to take place in 2020 in support of the outfit's 1974 LP, Relayer, but due to pandemic delays the group changed plans. Now, in addition to Relayer tracks they will be playing Close to the Edge in full, along with other songs from their extensive back catalogue.

The shows will see Steve Howe on guitar, Geoff Downes on keyboards, Billy Sherwood playing bass, Jay Schellen on percussion and the vocals of Jon Davidson. In addition to music, the show will feature a full production, high definition video wall directed by Rodger Dean, who will be joining the band with an exhibition of YES related art.

“We reached a real high, doing Close to the Edge,” commented Howe. “We valued the musicianship, the artistic ideas and the vocalising that people bring and that’s why we’re still doing it, because it’s exciting to do! Close to the Edge was voted the most-proggy album possibly ever made. It was very experimental. We had already done 10-minute epics but with Close to the Edge we just took it a stage further and I’m very pleased we were brave enough to do that.”

Formed by Jon Anderson in 1968, YES have become virtually synonymous with the prog-rock movement. Throughout the 1970s, they helped shape rock & roll history with an impressive run of albums, each more influential than the last. Close to the Edge was their third release, following The Yes Album and Fragile, and is widely considered to be one of the band's most defining projects.

In 2017, the Grammy-winning group was inducted into the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, performing 'Roundabout' from 1971's Fragile, and 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' from 1985 album 90125. Now, they are returning to their roots with a slate of tours dedicated to their most iconic works. Though this tour was shifted towards Close to the Edge, a full performance of Relayer will be featured on a future installment within The Album Tour series.

YES will be playing Vicar Street in Dublin on June 28. Tickets are priced at €55, and available here. They'll be playing The Opera House in Cork the following day, the 29th of June, with tickets available to book here.