Alejandro Santos

I arrived to New Haven as a foreign student on Thursday night June 14 1979, with the idea to study English during the summer. The following morning I went out to explore New Haven and I detected a huge poster outside a record store that said "Yes In the Round"; Saturday June 16 at the New Haven Memorial Coliseum. I could not believe it, I had been a huge Yes fan for the previous 5 years, this was a dream coming true. I approached a police man and in broken English asked him where the New Haven Memorial Coliseum was, it turned out to be a few blocks from where I was. I bought the ticket and waited in anticipation for the concert.

Next day I must have arrived about 1 hour earlier and the Coliseum was full of euphoric people. Sure enough the stage was in the center of the arena "in the round", and it was great to see Jon, Steve, Chris, Rick and Alan, passing by very near from where I was, walking toward the circular stage. It was a fantastic show. I remember that the concert began with Siberian Khatru and I was blown away. They played the usual set list of that time but I remember that the rendition of Time and a Word had a fantastic guitar solo in the middle that sounded much better than the original version (with Peter). There were many highlights in that concert for me. I thought their version of "And You and I" was extraordinary, it was so magical. Awaken was another high point on that concert, after that, the crowd refused to sit down. By the time they finished with Roundabout I noticed that my hands and throat were hurting because I was applauding and shouting too much, too hard and too loud. It was incredible.

All in all, an unforgettable experience and an memorable concert. I even liked Alan's drumming and I am a big Bill Bruford fan. My appetite for Bruford was satisfied a couple of weeks later when he and his band played in town (at Toads Place) presenting the incredible "One Of A Kind" album. I must have been waiting all my life for that summer.