Ton Van Hooijdonk

I saw Yes in Groningen on April 10 for the 3th time this tour. They played in the Martini Hall in groningen. The place was not sold out, only 2/3, so there were approx. 2,000 people. The first two shows in Utrecht were really wonderful, so I just had to see them again on the second leg of the european tour.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I felt really disappointed after this show.

I got the impression during the show that "the thrill had gone". Of course all the old songs sounded good, but it was nothing special. The band looked tired and I felt there was some tension between them. Unlike the first shows I saw, there was hardly any interaction between them on stage. In fact, only Jon looked like he was having some fun. The rest of them really looked tired and bored! I stood a few feet away from Steve, but he didn't smile once during the entire concert. Chris and Jon tried to communicate with him, tabbing him on his shoulder and smiling at him, but Steve just ignored them. At the beginning he had some problems with his steel guitar, and it really seemed to annoy him. No funny faces, no dancing around, just shaking his head, as if to say "No No No". Even his solo spot didn't seem to enjoy him. He kept it very short too. A real pity, because I am really a Steve Howe fan. But Steve just wasn't into this show.

And Chris wasn't the showman he was at the earlier shows. Only he looked a bit more relaxed during his solo spot. There were no real 'highlights' during this show for me, perhaps "Siberian Khatru", a song I really like. All the other songs were good but somewhat 'flat'.

Disappointments for me were that they didn't play "From the balcony", and biggest disappointment of all, no "Reveiling Science of God". Someone called out for it, but Jon said "We don't do that song anymore". And I swear that after the encore of "Roundabout" they wanted to leave stage without playing "Starship Trooper". But we all kept shouting out "we want more", "we want more"! Then Jon walked over to Steve, as if to say, "come on Steve, let's do another one". They really did not intend to do it, because Steve's roadie had to come over to plug the guitar in again, because he was already picking up the guitars!. It was clear that Steve had to deceide whether or not they'd play another song. Who knows, perhaps he's just not feeling well. But I really got the impression they all could do with a long (well deserved) holiday, just to get a break from touring.

I'm really looking foreward to the reviews of the UK concerts, whether they still play "Reveiling Science of God" or not? Perhaps they just had an "off" day in Goningen. Well, at least I still got the memory of the 2 wonderful shows in Utrecht, (with Reveiling Science of God) and I'll just skip the memory of this one.

Martin Looman

In Groningen, From the Balcony was skipped, instead Steve played a Vivaldi part. The Revealing Science of God was also not played there. The Groningen concert was not so exciting, but this is a strictly personal impression.