TORONTO - Yes guitarist Steve Howe says fans shouldn't feel too bad for ousted singer Jon Anderson, and is warning audiences against "musical terrorism" during the band's 40th anniversary tour with new Canadian vocalist Benoit David.
Howe said he hopes fans won't give David a hard time in Anderson's absence, and cautioned them against heckling.
He called hecklers "idiots" and said it makes no sense to show up to a concert if you can't enjoy it.
"They're basically disruptive people who pay their money and then go spoil it for everybody, it's almost like musical terrorism," Howe said in a telephone interview from Montreal.
The U.K. band's plans for a world tour were halted in June when Anderson was diagnosed with acute respiratory failure and was told he couldn't work for at least half a year without further endangering his health. Dates in 25 cities were cancelled.
But a month ago the band announced that David - who had been singing in a Montreal-based Yes tribute band - would be the new lead vocalist and that the tour was back on track.
Anderson subsequently posted a statement on his website saying that he was "disappointed and disrespected" and hadn't even had a personal conversation with his bandmates about being replaced. The statement has since been taken down.
Howe said the band was sympathetic to Anderson's condition but decided their fans couldn't wait any longer, particularly since tour plans had previously been delayed for years due to the singer's solo pursuits.
"Jon put an announcement out and said, 'Oh, it's not really Yes, they've not been kind to me,' and that's nonsense," Howe said, adding that the band still hopes that Anderson can hit the road again in 2009 for the European leg of the tour.
"We've been kind to him, we've been considerate, we've not let him down, but he started up a movement to boycott the tour. But it's not working, we're getting great ticket sales, people want to come and see us."
Howe said "it's going to be a really big yawn if there are (hecklers), and we will attempt to silence them, because it's not fair."
"You're not allowed to go to the London Philharmonic Orchestra and shout out, 'Get the other violinist, we don't like this violinist,"' Howe said. "You pay your money and you go and see your show - you don't go to disrupt the show."
"You've got a lot of happy people and then you've got some crass person who thinks he's got the God-given right to spoil it for everybody else."
Yes is scheduled to launch its tour at Hamilton Place Theatre on Nov. 4 and play Toronto's Massey Hall the following night. Cancelled shows in Quebec City and Vancouver have not yet been rescheduled.
