Spencer Coghlin

Wednesday, December 20, 2023 4:07 PM

My first Yes concert! I've been waiting to see the band ever since I missed Yes featuring ARW. We were worried that this show was going to be rescheduled, as Steve Howe's hand injury canceled the two prior shows. Fortunately, there was a two day gap between those shows and this one, and it seems everything healed up nicely. Well... Sort of. This setlist was uniquely short for this tour, although I didn't realize it at the time.

Literal seconds after I snapped a stage photo from my seat, the lights dimmed and Roger Dean stepped out for his presentation. Admittedly, I was a little taken aback by the event, as were others if audience chatter was anything to go by. From the footnote on the band's advertising, I was expecting a five minute introdution before the show properly began, but Dean ended up going on for about half an hour. Was it a waste of my time? Not at all! I thought it was quite insightful, even if I had already heard several of these stories from his documentary "Views." It was nice to hear it all coming from the man himself. Even so, I was getting a little antsy by the end of it, and felt relieved that we were given an intermission afterward.

As the show began, I was relived to hear anything other than Firebird Suite as the walk-on music, because that meant Siberian Khatru would likely not be the opener. Don't get me wrong, I love Close To The Edge just as much as the next guy, but I've also heard the entire album more times than I can count. Besides, didn't they JUST do a Close To The Edge 50th Anniversary Tour? But I digress...
Instead of Khatru, the band opened with... Machine Messiah??
Well, I already knew they were going to play this song (Thanks a lot, YouTube feed...), but I never expected in a million years that it would open the set! I thought the band sounded far tighter than bootlegs and live albums from recent years led me to expect, but that's not exactly an unbiased observation. After all, they just walked out and played one of my favorite pieces of music ever, so of course I wasn't going to nitpick the quality of the band's performance in that moment.

By the end of song one, I was already having the time of my life, expectations shattered. Even so, I wasn't remotely prepared to hear the intro to It Will Be A Good Day. The Ladder, in current year?? How do I know this setlist wasn't made for ME, personally? I don't think the rest of the audience was that impressed with this pick, as the energy in the building seemed to mellow out. But, for me? I love The Ladder more than at least two family members, so I was enthralled.

Yes got the crowd back on their side pretty swiftly with I've Seen All Good People.
The person sitting directly to my right was pretty into this number, so much so that I wasn't sure if he was cheering the group on or heckling them. During Time And A Word, he pulled his hat down over his eyes. I wrongfully assumed he was being grouchy. As we all found out during Jon Davison's introduction to Turn Of The Century however, I was sitting next to Alan's son Jesse White, separated only by another member of the Yes family! I never said anything to them all evening, but maybe that's for the best.

Time And A Word, South Side Of The Sky, and Don't Kill The Whale were also pleasant surprises to me. I know the band have already put them in their setlists in recent years, but I was glad to be listening to these somewhat lesser known songs over Heart Of The Sunrise for the millionth time. Then again, I probably wouldn't have complained at all if the band played just about anything. As for Turn Of The Century, that performance was absolutely wonderful. During the instrumental section in the middle of the song, Howe gestured to an apparently overzealous crowd to shush. He did so several times throughout the show, but this is the only one I specifically recall.

As Howe was introducing the Tales From Topographic Oceans medley, I was expecting them to perform The Remembering - High The Memory in its entirety, especially when he mentioned something not being played since 1974 (I should point out that it was allegedly performed a couple times in 1976). As such, the opening chants of The Revealing Science Of God - Dance Of The Dawn had me perplexed, as did the band abruptly skipping several minutes of the song. By the second jump, I realized we were getting a condensed version of the entire concept album, and I was able to enjoy the music. It seemed to me that the side 2 section was the most complete feeling, but maybe I was just glad to be hearing The Remembering at all. At the time, I was more than content to hear the classic "Leaves Of Green" section of The Ancient - Giants Under The Sun, but the rest of the song being absent seems like a big ommission. I wasn't a fan of what they did to Ritual - Nous Sommes Du Soleil though, specifically the anticlimactic ending. At the time, we were ecstatic to be witnessing Tales in any form, but looking back, this wasn't exactly the trump card that the band were probably expecting it to be. Incidentally, I revisited Topographic Drama - Live Across America recently, and that deserves credit for presenting Tales in a less frustratingly compromised fashion. That live album holds up a lot better now that Heaven And Earth isn't the latest Yes studio album.

Speaking of, I came into this show very much looking forward to the new material. I've been listening to Mirror To The Sky constantly since release, and I really do think it holds up compared to Yes' back catalog, unlike the previous two albums. The band sounded pretty enthusiastic about bringing this album to the stage in their liner notes as well. Unfortunately, we only got Cut From The Stars at this show. Hey, at least we got that much!

I was expecting a much longer set, so when the band came back for the encore, I was genuinely confused. Not counting Roger Dean's 30 minute presentation, we got an 80 minute Yes show, plus the tired old encore of Roundabout and Starship Trooper. However, in retrospect, I think Yes made wonderful use of the time they did have on stage. The encore and All Good People were welcome as the only real crowd pleasers, and everything else felt like a special addition to the set in their own ways.
I later learned that our show specifically dropped Going For The One as the tour's set opener and a special instrumental arrangement of America. This was most likely due to Howe's hand injury, since he didn't play any pedal steel guitar at all at this show, and Going For The One heavily features the instrument. I hope I get another Yes concert down the line and a chance to witness Howe's glorious pedal steel. As for America, I can live without it. We already had one mediocre arrangement of a classic Yes performance, so I don't feel like this one would've added much.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this concert, and I'm fully on board for whatever the band has in store for us next. I was so enthusiastic about the event that I wasn't even bummed out with a Roundabout to Starship Trooper combo! I politely stood up and clapped along with everyone else, despite being midly bummed out that we weren't getting a two hour set with a good chunk of the new album like I imagined.
After the show, as the band were leaving, Billy Sherwood pointed at... Me?? I pointed toward myself in shock to confirm, and he gave me the thumbs up. Such a surreal moment, and night in general. It's hard to believe I actually got to attend a real Yes concert, after they shaped my entire musical landscape through high school. Was it a perfect Yes show, as good as the most packed arenas in the 1970s? Probably not, but this night will probably hold a special place in my heart for the rest of my life.

I would like to thank the multiple bootleggers who recorded the entire show for our future enjoyment. During the show, I was quite annoyed to see so many phones in the air, but having this defining moment of my life on tape forever is priceless. Certainly the most substantial souvenir I have from that evening, and that's saying a lot when I paid $70 for a tour programme!!!

If you really just sat through my entire review, thank you! I hope it was somewhat insightful.