Al Cerny

I've just had only a matter of 2 hours to absorb the show, but what a show it was! Though I dislike ticketmaster in gereral, Yes put their show on-line 2 days before it went on-sale to everyone else and I had the pleasure of scooping up 2nd row center. I went with my wife and best friend. Low and behold, just like past reviews I have read, my best friend was sitting right behind Jon Andersons wife! I (we) didnt realize this untill Jon and his wife started making eye contact and he dedicated a song to her. The set list was as before in other reviews, so, etc, etc....

For those that thought Chris Squire was wearing such outlandish and corney duds, I say blah; it didnt matter and it is a petty little argument. The guy is AWESOME! His bass litterly pushed me back 3 inches into my seat, and is always the showman. (10 out of 10) The Venue was a quaint theatre in the heart of San Diego, which held about 3,000 people. From my vantage point, there were about 2500 people in attendance, and ALL true Yes fans. As in other reviews, there were no real "jerks" in attendance from my vantage point that would get obnoctious during the softer points of the show. (Thank God!) (9.9 out of 10) Steve Howe was unbelievable, his licks litterly blew me away, and sounds as good now as he ever has----believe me when I say this.... I could go on forever, see this band with Steve! (9.8 out of 10) Jon was 'ON' every song I heard with maybe the exception of parts of HOTS, which was maybe the only low point of the show ( when I say low, it's of no real matter!) I believe that Bill Bruford would have been better in that song (of course), enough complaing about nothing! Jon was wonderfull all night (9.7 out of 10) Igor is a good addition to the band and filled most of Wakemans licks. Still, very impressed by this young man..He did come in to his own and take Wakemans licks to his own level. (8.7 out of 10) Billy Sherwood, ah, as everyone has stated before; Either make him a studio player, or give him a bigger role in the show...Barely noticed him all night (but can you blame me or anyone else from taking their eyes off Steve Howe?) Trever Rabin stuff, a bit in Starship Trooper, rythem?..Personal opinion,..goodnight! (5.8 out of 10) Alan White...Outstanding job, but there were the differences between him and Bill in the older songs. Not a real big deal, but the album critic would tell--no problems here. The man also jams for 2 3/4 hours straight--not an easy task for any drummer. (9.5 out of 10)

Show highlights:
America, AYAI, STEVE's Solos, TRSoG, ISAGP, Long Distance Runaroud,Starship Trooper----who am I kidding? The whole show was great....If I could give a two word review, this is what it would be:

SEE IT!

Scott McDaniel

San Diego Civic Center Dec 9 1997

The civic theater seemed sold out or close to it. The crowd was as wild as a San Diego crowd gets, which is pretty tame by other town's standards. The sound was crystal clear where I was sitting, but nowhere near loud enough; I could hear people chatting during the intro licks of Heart of the Sunrise (more on this later). And Squire was too low in the mix. Howes' performance was good including some actual improvising during several tunes. Jon's voice was strong and clear and he seemed to be using less echo and reverb than I remember from previous tours. This lets his throatiness come forward more; a more human sound, and very pleasing. I went to the show with an open mind on both Igor and Billy, I thought that I really had nothing to base an opinion on for either of them. Igor was excellent and several times actually interacted with members of the core group. His prominent stage position also impressed me as I didn't expect him to be included to this degree. Billy was there also.

Chris had a good time but it seemed to take a few tunes for him to wake up, again this could be because he was soooo low in the mix. And was also apparently having some monitor problems. Alan was his usal raucous self, helped along by an excellent kick and snare sound, although crash symbols were hard to discern at some points. My complaint with Alan was his new approach to the 'talks by the water' section of Starship Trooper. By fading in the snare the way he did, it left the first part empty.

They played the newly included "From the Balcony", the only time I have enjoyed this song. Though the crowd used this song to find the bathrooms. Also, during The Fish, Alan and Chris included a bit of Sound Chaser. This may have happened elsewhere but I didn't see it in any one elses' reviews. It was a very pleasant surprise.

As far as the behavior of the crowd: I watched the recent "Rude Fans" thread with some amusement, thinking to myself "Oh, come on, people. It's a rock show! Don't get so uppity, who cares if people talk or shout out song titles?" Well, now I understand. I could tell that Jon had a few raps in between songs but I couldn't hear more than on or two words at a time because some freaking barbarian was so enamoured of his own ability to whistle that he thought that he could steal the show for himself by obliterating every comment made by a band member. I'm not talking about cheering when a song is over (or even when it's just you that thinks the song is over), I'm talking about some moronic fuckstick that made me continually think "I didn't spend $73 American to listen to you whistle", I could have gone to any Pennsyltuckian state in the union to listen to third generation cousin fucks practice their hog calls. Knock it off.

That said there were only ten or fifteen of these cretins doing their best to ruin the show, so for the most part they were ineffective but for during the raps.

And for the gentleman that was front row center on the floor: As much as you enjoyed the show I'm glad you got the best seats in the house.