I've been a long time YES fan (first YES concert event was Close To The Edge Tour - Boston Garden). I had lost track of them after the Tormato album and finally came back to the fold in the mid- 90's. I've seen the last few tours when they came thru the Washington, D.C. area. Last year's Masterworks tour was significant for it's fan picked setlists, etc.... but I have to say this new tour was the best they've sounded IMHO in many years....

It was a beautiful night at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. The Wolf Trap Symphony opened the show with the overture then YES hit the stage at 8:05 pm. The setlist follows:

Overture
Close To The Edge
Long Distance Runaround
Don't Go
In The Presence Of
Gates Of Delirium
?/The Clap (Steve Howe - what was the name of the first bit before The Clap?)
Wonderous Stories
Perpetual Change
And You And I
Ritual
I've Seen All Good People
Starship Trooper
Roundabout

Some highlights for me were LDR, Wondrous Stories, Perpetual Change (what a pleasant surprise!) and Ritual. Heck, even the new songs sounded very good. Jon joked about the new album being recorded, mixed and finished that very day. Sadly, it was not yet for sale. I was fortunate to have first row center in the balcony so the sound was very good (audience recordings do exist). Armed with my binoculars, I watched with fascination as Chris stormed around the stage playing that bass with abandon. While Steve delicately picked out beautiful stringed riffs, Alan kept pace with a spot-on beat. Jon's vocals were in very good form this evening and the new boy on the block, Tom Breslin was very impressive adding fine keyboard fills and vocals. A fantastic evening of music that clocked in at a weighty 155 minutes. Definitely worth the money. And to think my buddy went to see Sade that night instead. What a great night of music he missed!

Jon Anderson:
Thanks so much. Great to be with you this evening. Thank you. Thank you so much. We'd like to continue with a couple new songs. We just, just finished an album later this afternoon. We got it finished. We mixed it. It's done. It's being packaged as we speak and you can go buy it tomorrow. We really hope. The album is called Magnification. The idea very simply is if you magnify everything good that's out there, then also everything within will be magnified the same. That's what it says. Just making it up! It's pretty OK. Here's a show about the idea that you shouldn't take love for granted. The song is called "Don't Go".

Jon Anderson:
Thank you so much, thank you! This next song is, uh, it just happens to be, in the course of recording things seemed to happen spontaneously as usual. Alan came, Alan White, he's over here, he would come in most days and uh work out the first few chords of Rachmaninoff's Concerto in D, the first four chords. And then he started writing this piece of music and we started singing and eventually in a couple hours, we had this song. This song is called "In the Presence Of…"

Jon Anderson:
Let's hear it for William Stromberg and the Symphony orchestra! Thank you so much. I've been to Washington many times, but I've never been to the memorial, right by … the big guy in the chair, what's that guy called? But it's just amazing to walk around there.We decided to do this sort of adventure in music (?) so we decided to do this next piece of music which relates a lot to that period of time in the mid 70s when it was so violent and chaotic. Song is called Gates of Delirium.

Jon Anderson:
Thank you so much. Thank you. It's the intensity of you listening that makes us try to play as good as we can. I'd like to leave you in the capable hands, fingers, guitar stylings of the wonderful Mr. Steve Howe.

Jon Anderson:
Steve Howe. Thank you. Of course, there was a time when I could play just like that. It was in my dreams! I wrote this song on the way to the studio one day. We were in Switzerland some 20-some-4 years ago. This is a very simple song with the idea that you wake up every morning; it's the beginning of your life if you look at it that way. Anyway, I did at the time, and I wrote this song. It's called Wonderous Stories.

Jon Anderson:
Thank you so much, thank you. Thank you so much, thank you. It's kind of amazing. You know we wrote that song 30 years ago. Just to be able to play it is amazing. We were watching CNN, Mt. Etna started to explode just a month ago, it was like the power of this Earth is just so amazing, you don't even know. So the idea of this song was we're not in control, let go, have a good time, enjoy life, don't beat yourself up.We really love doing this next song, it's very special. Gonna try and do it for you now. (?)

Jon Anderson:
Thank you so much, thank you. This next piece of music will be a dedication to my wonderful beautiful soul mate Jane who travels with me all the time. We seem to dance this beautiful love dance all the time. Love is so wonderful. And one of the great things is she just loves this next song. It's from Tales from Topographic Oceans, and it's called Ritual.

Jon Anderson:
Chris Squire, bass guitar, Chris Squire.On the drums, Mr. Alan WhiteLet's hear it for William Stromberg and the symphony orchestra tonight.Thank you all so much for coming along this evening. It's been so special. I appreciate it so much. I'd like to do a song, you know a sing-a-long. It's in the key of, that key, not that key, and (?) half way through [loud staticky sound where the guitar should be] oh it's in that key, half way through you can get up and dance, you know like you do in DC. [more static] No more of that, please no more. Smithers, fix that! In the key of [guitar strum] that key. Alan White on drums.

Jon Anderson:
Wanna hear more stuff? Introduce you to our keyboard player Tom Brislin all the way from New York. New Jersey! New Jersey! Here we go.