YES - in concert

[Pablo]

I went and saw YES last night at the Snoqualmie Casino (outdoors) with Procol Harem. Procol Harem played a decent opening act. The guitarist is pretty good. I was quite impressed.

Then a break and YES came out.

Here are the current members:

The new singer sounds all as good as Jon Anderson in his prime.

Alan White lives down the road from me (Bellevue/Newcastle) and supports local music.

Steve Howe looks about 980 years old and is spry as Gandolf. Dude can rock. Wow. Plus he did some very nice solo instrumental work.

Geoff Downes did fine on keyboard.

And of course Chris Squire was awesome on bass. Changes guitars often and plays a three neck bass. That man is huge.

They started with "Yours Is No Disgrace", the crowd was a bit of a mix, I think a chunk (~25%) of them never heard such a awesome song before, the rest were geezers, some quite dignified, some were obvious 1976 HS grad year guys who liked YES, ELP, Pink Floyd and the sort. Some of us grew up. Needless to say some of the crowd were fairly stunned and then just crazy applause and jumping.

They played some of my favs, and a five piece suite from the newest 2011 album, it sounded quite good. "Wondrous Stories" sounded really, really good. Paul Simon's "America" was a crowd pleaser. ALAS, the show ended and no "Roundabout". The crowd was still yelling so of course they did it as an encore. Rocked the HOUSE. I drove the 20 minutes home all smiles. Off today.

 

[tribocessive]

as a huge fan of progressive rock, i enjoyed your concert review; i once saw yes as anderson, bruford, wakeman and howe and they were tremendous; maybe now i will get over my amsoil bigotry and become a customer of yours; 0W20, 5W20, or 0W30, appropriate formula; i admit they make good oil; however, is this shaklee or is this motor oil? all the best.

 

[buster]

Nice! One of my favorite bands of all time. Close to the Edge and Fragile are my two favorites. I am a big Bruford fan.

 

[Pablo]

I almost forgot, I last saw Yes in 1977.

 

[tribocessive]

close to the edge, wow; one of my favs south side of the sky.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

My Fav progressive rock band then down the list a a bit is Kansas and The FiXx. Never seen them live, though Jon A. did an acoustic gig singing locally (playing with ??) last year. I have enjoyed the Live at the House of Blues DVD more times than my wife would like and "Yours is no Disgrace" is on my top ten tunes lists across all bands and genre (incl BACH BWV1048 brand 3 mvmt iii allegro). Awesome!

 

[JOD]

well, I guess this explains why they weren't playing at the Olympic closing ceremonies last night...

As a guitar player, I was always a big Steve Howe fan as a kid. Glad to see he's still out rockin'.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: JOD
well, I guess this explains why they weren't playing at the Olympic closing ceremonies last night...

As a guitar player, I was always a big Steve Howe fan as a kid. Glad to see he's still out rockin'.


Procol Harem joked that why they are here, BECAUSE the Olympics are in London!

"Heart of The Sunrise" was good as well.

 

[UNC017]

I've always been a huge fan of Yes and most of its various members, but I always thought Jon Anderson was by far (FAR far far!) the weakest link. I don't think I've ever heard a *live* version of 'And You And I' where he managed to hit the 'coins and crosses' verse on key... Which is probably why 'Drama' with Trevor Horn on vocals is one of my favorite Yes albums. Chris Squire is my all-time favorite bassist, or at least is in a really close tie with Geddy Lee of Rush. Both drummers that have played in Yes (Bill Bruford and Alan White) are on my all-time greats list too.

Steve Howe and Geoff Downes must have nuclear reactors for energy- they've also got a new 30th anniversary Asia album ('XXX') out with John Wetton and Carl Palmer, so they're basically in two bands at once. The 2000's reunion of Asia has now recorded more albums than they did in the 1980s, and they sound better too. Unlike the way Geddy Lee's voice has suffered with time, I think Wetton's has gotten better. Although I think its pretty funny to see a colletion of 60-something year old guys (and Howe married for ~40 years!) singing 'Face on the Bridge' to a cute young actress in the video

http://www.originalasia.com/

For anyone who likes these guys (in Yes or in Asia) I really recommend the last 3 Asia albums- "Phoenix," "Omega," and "XXX." The last Yes studio album ('Fly From Here' with Benoit David on vocals) is good too.

 

[UNC017]

My Fav progressive rock band then down the list a a bit is Kansas and The FiXx./quote]

I'm a diehard prog-rocker. Probably because I studied classical piano as a kid. Anyway, my prog rock band list goes something like:

Yes
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Genesis
Kansas

all 4 pretty much in a 4-way tie, and then in no particular order:

Marillion
UK (anyone even remember them?)
Asia
Gentle Giant
Uriah Heep
and, I'm ashamed to admit, Styx (just the songs Dennis DeYoung did NOT write...)

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I've always been a huge fan of Yes and most of its various members, but I always thought Jon Anderson was by far (FAR far far!) the weakest link. I don't think I've ever heard a *live* version of 'And You And I' where he managed to hit the 'coins and crosses' verse on key... Which is probably why 'Drama' with Trevor Horn on vocals is one of my favorite Yes albums. Chris Squire is my all-time favorite bassist, or at least is in a really close tie with Geddy Lee of Rush. Both drummers that have played in Yes (Bill Bruford and Alan White) are on my all-time greats list too.

Steve Howe and Geoff Downes must have nuclear reactors for energy- they've also got a new 30th anniversary Asia album ('XXX') out with John Wetton and Carl Palmer, so they're basically in two bands at once. The 2000's reunion of Asia has now recorded more albums than they did in the 1980s, and they sound better too. Unlike the way Geddy Lee's voice has suffered with time, I think Wetton's has gotten better. Although I think its pretty funny to see a colletion of 60-something year old guys (and Howe married for ~40 years!) singing 'Face on the Bridge' to a cute young actress in the video

http://www.originalasia.com/

For anyone who likes these guys (in Yes or in Asia) I really recommend the last 3 Asia albums- "Phoenix," "Omega," and "XXX." The last Yes studio album ('Fly From Here' with Benoit David on vocals) is good too.


Good stuff - they were are quite lively Squire was REALLY lively. The bass riffs he played amaze me to this day. Time to whip the CD's out. The lady next to me kept telling me - she never saw YES before and only heard a song or two in passing, but "she knows good musicians and YES are real musicians"

Some of the old bands are just that. Old and dead. This was 100% my fear and shame on me for not listening to "Fly From Here".

 

[ottotheclown]

And lets hear it for the Snoqualmie, who were responsible for giving that opportunity to hear it all!!!! Nice area of the nation especially this time of year!!

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
And lets hear it for the Snoqualmie, who were responsible for giving that opportunity to hear it all!!!! Nice area of the nation especially this time of year!!


You know the place? http://snocasino.com/

The bands said they love the PNW. It was about 85°F mid day, but the concert started at around 6PM and it was probably 78°F or so.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
And lets hear it for the Snoqualmie, who were responsible for giving that opportunity to hear it all!!!! Nice area of the nation especially this time of year!!


You know the place? http://snocasino.com/

The bands said they love the PNW. It was about 85°F mid day, but the concert started at around 6PM and it was probably 78°F or so.


I remember on one of the Yes concert/interview DVD's, the interview with Alan White took place while bobbing in his boat on Lake Union. ;-) I think there's at least something of a local connection there.

 

[Pablo]

True, he lives a stones throw from me. They grumbled about winter though.

Yours Is No Disgrace
I've Seen All Good People
Roundabout
Heart of the Sunrise
America
Wonderous Stories
Tempus Fugit (I swear they rocked this one out of the house)
The new songs

trying to think of the other songs they played.

 

[UNC017]

Always liked their version of 'America.' And of course being one of the 3 people on earth who likes 'Drama', 'Tempus Fugit' is a favorite.

 

[Turk]

Glad you made it out, Pablo.

I saw Led Zeppelin in 1976 at the St. Paul Civic Center. What a Pot & Drug fest, but the music was great.

 

[Pablo]

I didn't smell any skunkweed. Just a lot of drunk chicks.

 

[Warstud]

One of my fave's..

 

[ottotheclown]

Yes know it pretty well. Drove west alot making sure I did not travel through the pass after mid Oct. Love the area still cannot get over the pitched roofs re. snow piling up. Stayed in Bellevue when working Seattle. I envy you but I will keep it a secret as you guys always asked me to do.Especially when in Calif.

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
And lets hear it for the Snoqualmie, who were responsible for giving that opportunity to hear it all!!!! Nice area of the nation especially this time of year!!


You know the place? http://snocasino.com/

The bands said they love the PNW. It was about 85°F mid day, but the concert started at around 6PM and it was probably 78°F or so.