Mike Tiano - Notes From The Edge

Sunday, October 6, 2024 5:38 PM

Mike Tiano spoke to Tom Brislin shortly before this YesSymphonic show near Seattle. Also Tim Morse had obtained a few additional comments from Tom after the tour was over, and those are included at the end,

Brian

Friday, March 15, 2013 9:39 PM

I saw this show also! Funny when it rained, how some people ran for cover in the special guest tent! Damn! Why afraid of rain? It is the northwest! why miss some of the best band on the planet for a lil rain? I stuck it out, and it was worth it! It only lasted a few minutes...haha. The symphonic orchestra was fantastic! It blended well with Yes music! Finally saw Gates, and Ritual LIVE! :)

Kevin Hall - Rick4001CS

I saw this show and had a blast. Enjoyed the orchestra immensely!

Paul Ostby

This was an ultimate staging for this tour. As far as presentation and musicianship, Yes have again elevated themselves to virtuosity. Gates of Delirium has always been one of my favorites. It was great to hear it live again since the 1st time in 1976(?).

The venue should have been perfect, but actually ruined the concert. I was able to see past it, but I still resent it. What has happened to adults? This is an outdoor venue, and there was no smoking outside of designated areas, a set-aside dancing area 150 feet to the side of the stage, and security did not allow me to look at the stage setup after the show. The sound was horrible and way too low in volume for everyone to hear. We repeatedly went to the "sound crew" (if you could call them that) to give them feedback, but we were ignored.

It is too bad people demand this at concerts (do you demand this behaviour control?). I was treated more like an adult when I saw Yes in 1974 at 16 years old than I am now. If I wanted to listen to music where I can't smoke, the sound is poor, the volume has no dynamics, and I can only dance around where I'm supposed to, I would go to my grandmother's living room. What is with you people that seem to have to babysit? Yes, people are horrible, aren't they? If you've got nothing better to do than flex behaviour control on people at outdoor (or any venue) concerts, please by the DVD and stay at home! As far as promoters go, have security respond to security issues. I'm trying to watch the crew tear down the setup, and I've got some guy all over me to leave. I stayed for at least an hour after in 1976 (before this security guy was born). I'm also a musician and the tools of the trade are as important as the artistry. Besides, who was preventing my car from being vandalised? As if Yes concertgoers have ever presented a crowd-control problem! Too bad you all don't understand that private property means private. Keep your rules on your own own property. I will then have the choice of paying admission to live under your babysitting rules.

Avichala

I waited a couple of days to post this in order to see if my opinion of the concert would somehow modify itself. My experience seems to go rather strongly against the grain of the general opinions I’ve read here.

First of all, though, I have been a fan of YES for close to thirty years, and have seen them several times, so these criticisms don’t come easily.

I was very strongly disappointed. Perhaps my disappointment stems partly from the fact that I could only afford the “cheap” seats ($50) and not the more favorable prime seats ($90).

From where I sat, which was about 25 feet behind the reserved section, and about 60-70 feet from the stage I noticed several serious problems. First of all, the sound system was woefully inadequate. Between the songs, Mr. Anderson’s voice was barely discernible when he addressed the audience. I really had to strain to hear what he was saying. This problem carried through to the performance, during which I could hear conversations occurring ten feet away mixed in with the music. I also noticed some annoying low-end distortion, which also detracted from my appreciation of the music.

On stage, my impression was that the band was just going through the motions. I have seen this band several times and they have never seemed so disinterested as they did this evening. My binoculars revealed primarily a sense of boredom.

Close To the Edge lost some of its lightness. The final section seemed way too slow (tempo-wise) and had a ponderous quality to it. I wonder if the presence of the orchestra detracts from the drive and spontaneity of a rock band (even a very special band, as YES certainly is)? I sensed a competitive pull between the pulse of the band and that of the orchestra.

The Gates of Delirium, which I last heard in about 1975, was the piece I was most looking forward to hearing. I mostly thought it was OK but again, I couldn’t hear it very well.

I ended up leaving the concert during Perpetual Change, so I can’t comment past that. I left early, want to remember them in other ways than this concert.