I talked to Jon about the incident. He kept in touch with the offender

Great show. Another in a number of other great shows at the Arena. Yes in the Round was awsome. I remember the dude who grabbed Jon Anderson as the stage was turning toward where we sat. Before he was out of sight (as the stage turned away from us) they had the dude subdued. Weird. Great show, though. Can't believe it was nearly 40 years ago. Getting old sucks. The memories of youth, fueled by Yes, and several other things.

In the late 70s, I had gone to many great concerts. However, at the young age of 16, on the evening of April 11, 1979, at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh Pa, this may have been my most memorable show!

I have been a performing keyboardist now for 30 years, and I still can recall the intensity of being just a few rows back on the floor.... And patiently waiting for keyboardist Rick Wakeman to slowly revolve and appear in front of me! Wanted to watch his fingers move! He was like a God to me! A memory of a lifetime!

Don
Pgh, Pa

In the late 70s, I had gone to many great concerts. However, at the young age of 16, on the evening of April 11, 1979, at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh Pa, this may have been my most memorable show!

I have been a performing keyboardist now for 30 years, and I still can recall the intensity of being just a few rows back on the floor.... And patiently waiting for keyboardist Rick Wakeman to slowly revolve and appear in front of me! Wanted to watch his fingers move! He was like a God to me! A memory of a lifetime!

Don
Pgh, Pa

this was the show in the round and the show where jon was grabbed,however the roof was opened in 1977,not this show.i remember steve put his guitar done hastily and not gently,as a guitarist i remember this.i seem to remember wdve radio saying after the show when john was grabbed they were going to go into perpetual change and i don't recall them playing it.could jon been grabbed during the fish?this incident is mentioned in the book.it was a great show anyway.

This was the second concert I'd ever seen, ELP being the first in 1977. The 'Igloo' was packed and we were way, way up in the nosebleed section. I had been feeling feverish and nauseous before the show, and was 97% sure I was going to tell my friends I could not go, but my friend Tom convinced me to go, and amazingly, my mother and father allowed me to. Tom was about 3 years older than me, and his friends brought along a little 'something, something' that he promised would ease my stomach-ache considerably. I was skeptical, and assured him I was feeling too bad for any joint to help my stomach. I did take a few tokes, and to my amazement, my stomachache went away! Behind us, (I'll never forget this), the back row was passing around the largest joint I to this day have ever seen, about the width and length of 4 cigars wrapped together from ened to end. The resulting smoke had the entire section inhaling, and having a wonderful time. I found this amusing, as I never thought of Yes as a band that people would need to take drugs of any kind to listen to! Not like Black Sabbath or Pink Floyd or Lynyrd Skynryd or someone. Anyway, though the performers were ant-size, the music was loud and clear in the rafters. I do remember the guy jumping up on the stage and bear-hugging Jon Anderson in the middle of 'Awaken' (yes, it was 'Awaken'), and thinking, 'God no! There aren't any violent people going to Yes shows!?!'. The arena lights blazed on in about 2 seconds, and all performers disappeared instantly. Though it looked like the guy was just hugging Jon, we didn't know whether he was stabbed, or strangled, or what. 'In The Round', indeed!! As the others have written, after a few minutes of complete audience bafflement and fear that the band might scrap the rest of the show altogether, suddenly the lights went off, the brilliant light show resumed and the band indeed came right back in on the very bar they left off on! And somehow, 'Awaken' picked up it's hypnotic beauty and ascended to it's spiritually uplifting climax, as if nothing had happened. Never seen anything like it since. But, my God, what a show, and an impenetrable memory that will last a life time. I'd never seen a bassist with such prominence in a band, both musically and visually. Squire managed to be as much of a star as Anderson, Wakeman and Howe! So cool to watch. And Anderson's vocals were much stronger and more moving live in concert than on record. Who else could play a harp onstage and not be considered a pansy or fruitcake? Not that there's anything wrong with that! I know I couldn't get away with it! And Wakeman lived up to everything I'd ever heard about him, with the Wive's of Henry VIII
solo. A Supergroup for sure! Glad they're still sorta around!
And I consider all of you Yes fans my brothers. Rock on!

I could be wrong, but I could swear the band played "Ritual" as the 2nd song, right after "Siberian Khatru". So "Heart of the Sunrise" would have been the 3rd song played......like I said, I could be wrong.

Anybody else remember this?

Yes in the round! It was the first time I had ever seen a concert in the round. It still ranks as one of the best shows I've seen. I was 15 and with some buddies from school. Jon Anderson had that microphone that hung from above. It was pretty cool. I remember the guy running on stage and grabbing Jon. My friend passed out at this one. He missed a classic.

Okay---I've been corrected! It was at THIS show (not the '77 Pittsburgh show) where the guy grabbed Jon on-stage. Well, time does funny things to the memory, no? But of course it was this tour, as it was the "in the round" stage set. Duh! Great, great show! (Right up there with my other '70s favorite, Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden.) I was 15, I took my girlfriend, and my dad the mild-mannered psychiatrist came through by talking some well-connected Pittsburgh big-wig into giving us front-row seats. Glorious! The playing was flawless. Wakeman was my god at the time (Six Wives, Tormato and Yessongs rarely left my turntable that year), but it was Howe's absolute sonic finesse on that April nite that blew me away and stays with me most vividly to this day. And the stage went round-and-round. Slowly. Actually, that sort of annoyed me, as I recall! Still, a bold, Yes-worthy concert idea.

Actually, the song during which Anderson was "embraced" was Awaken, not Circus of Heaven. One of the greatest concerts I have ever seen, by the way.

This show was a treasure for me, my first of five Yesshows. I also remember the drunk tackling Jon in a loving embrace. Although angry at the interruption, Jon's steady, calming voice could still be heard over the P.A. system, "please let go". our family was amazed to hear the song, (Circus Of Heaven as I remember it) picked back up at the very bar it had stopped . Word from the local radio D.J.s had it that the guy who jumped the stage had been treated with kindness, and was escorted to the backstage area to meet with the band after the show . It was a wonderful show.

As for my 23 years as a Yes fan, I can tell you that I've been there for the good and bad. Some of the best memories are from camping out for concert tickets and enjoying Yes up close. For those who are interested, I'd like to share some of the especially good and the especially bad memories:

Vivid memories of the Civic Arena's roof retracting and laser beams zooming out into space! Especially bad memories of some dufus in Pittsburg jumping Jon during Awaken as the lights went out. We bolted (as if we were security) to the stage and saw Chris nearly stick his Rickenbacker up that dufus' (well you know).