29 years, 7 months, and 13 days ago (as I write this review), and this day still stands out as one of the most memorable in my entire life. I was a dj and newly appointed program director for the radio station at the University of Illinois - WPGU. Thanks to the Atlantic record rep, an interview session with Steve Howe was set up to be held after the concert back in his hotel room, and I would be one of the interviewers. During the day, I was on the air as the band was riding in from the airport, and the rep told me they heard my lunchtime tribute and really appreciated it! The thought of the guys in Yes hearing me on the radio talking about them was mind-blowing. The concert itself is a bit of a blur for me, though I will never forget the extended medley that culminated in "Soon" and received a long, long, standing ovation. During the show, I was brought backstage to meet the tour manager (who I thought was Brian Lane) and I stepped into the middle of a rather heated dispute between him and a trucker. Not pleasant, but we got the details set for the interview, then went back to my floor seat for the rest of the concert. We hung around the hotel bar until Steve was ready, sitting a few booths away from Chris. I was in awe. Then Jon and Rick came through the lobby and stopped to say hello and sign my poster. Up to Steve's room we went for the interview. He was one of the most gracious, polite, interesting people I have ever met. I still get goosebumps.

Even though this show was 18 years ago I can recall it well. I was prepared for this one. It was my 2nd Yes Show and my 8th concert overall. (I was a busy guy in college; concerts and DJ'ing on the FM station. It was 'In The Round', of course. We had 2 buses go from Western IL Univ. to University Of Illinois.

There was no opening act. I didn't mind this at all. When I next saw them I think they had Bugs Bunny Cartoons on a big screen. I was much closer to the stage than I had been at the Chicago show.

This was a great Yes show. Chris Squire's bass could be felt in the soles of my feet. He was really In top form.

My date was a Southern Baptist girl who was not familiar with rock and roll until she dated me. During the entire show she was not sure about Jon Anderson's gender. She thought he was a woman. Especially when he did that little "madrigal" dance. I was so amused by this.

Rick Wakeman was in fine form. He was wearing a cape with his outfit. My date thought he was kinda silly with that. He got hit by 2 Frisbees, but did not seem to get angry about it. A Frisbee hit his keyboard. I thought he would blow his top, but he seemed to ignore it.

Steve Howe was good. He got a sound from the guitar that you don't expect.

Jon Anderson's voice was very clear. Alan White was top notch! The audience rose to their feet for "Starship Trooper" and "Roundabout".

I was so entranced (re: quiet) during parts of the show my date thought I was bored. Wrong, I was just watching them all play and was in awe of these men and their ability to sound like no one else. I don't recall the length of the show, but I'm sure it was longer than 45 min.

The place was packed. This did appear to be a sell out.

Met Jon, Chris, Rick and Alan this night at a local pub after the show...Steve was doing a local radio interview. In warm up for the show, Steve did a PERFECT rendition of Paperback Writer!!!

Jon Anderson:
Thank you, thank you, thank you very much Illinois. Are we in the state of Illinois? Are you sure? Champaign [???]. We're going to play one or two songs we recorded last year. This one called 'Future Times/Rejoice'.

Jon Anderson:
Thank you, thank you very much. The next song we're going to play for you just leaves a little room for the imagination, imagination, imagination. It's a song about the day the circus of heaven came to town.

Jon Anderson:
Thank you very much. As..uh you probably know, this is our..this is our tenth anniversary folks. Woo! Yo! Alright. Thank you. Thank you. So what we'd like to do is play one or two songs you might remember.