Johnny Beacham

The beautiful, intimate setting of the Harbor Center Pavillion was a perfect compliment to the lush, emotional music that flowed out of YES that wonderful night. YES played with more passion and energy than I've seen in recent years. The symphony did an amazing job, and it was so nice to see them "digging" it too. We were sitting 12 row, which was amzing in itself, but to be able to run to the front of the stage during Roundabout was the icing on the cake. It was almost like being in a club, that intimate. I live in N.C so it was only a 2 hour drive for me. I would highly recommend this venue to anyone, and I really hope YES comes back one day. Thank you YES for giving me 27 years of music and magic!

Paul Stradley

Hello Yessymphonic fans! It's taken me a couple of days to tone down my response before posting but here goes:

1)I am very disappointed in the Tidewater Area fans or I should say the lack of them. The seating areas were half-empty. I could see the disappointment on Chris Squire's face. I hoped more would show up around 8PM. By 8:15, it was just about the same but there were a few late stragglers. Those of you who didn't come will be judged and convicted. The sentence will be a life without Yes returning to this area. I drove 4 hours to be there and took off a day of work so not to miss this. These people deserve your support. How many musicians have these artists influenced? How many?

2)The music was excellent. I don't think I really heard one real miscue. This proves the artistic professionalism of this group of beings to put on such an impressive performance to a handful of people. I believed they really appreciated the long standing ovations and the really strong vibes being sent out from the audience.

3)As the show progressed, it got even better. The band seemed to shrug off the low turnout and concentrated on giving us all they had. After the rousing acceptance of the 2 new songs (and BTW, with "In the Presence Of", AYAI is now a trilogy: AYAI, It Will Be A Good Day(The River), and IPO), they really seemed to get a boost and GoD was even better and tighter than the MW show. Steve was just incredible switching back and forth between instruments. Don't let his Granny glasses fool you...he's still the maestro and proved it every note.

4)I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Jon's voice gets better with age. Perfection. He made a cute comment about the new facility after CTTE..."Such a nice tent" (see www.harborcenter.com then go to visuals).

5)The Virginia Symphony was amazing. Not at all mixed down. Just right and very "on". The performers seemed to appreciate the complexity and outright physical requirements of the compositions. The conductor seemed "juiced" to be in the presence of these masters and worked very well with Alan White and Chris Squire in keeping things together. Even Steve seemed to communicate well with him. Overall the symphonic renditions were excellent. A few strange twists seemed inserted here and there but overall a 9 out of 10. And you And I was the standout symphonic piece in my mind. It really moved me as never before.

6)Ritual. 'Nuff said.

7)I felt a little cheated when we didn't get Starship Trooper. I don't know if was a reaction to the lack of crowd, the heat (as another poster mentioned), or a city ordinance about concert times but I wish we could have heard that one.

8)Tom(?) the keyboardist: Awesome talent to work with these guys. He was really into it and played very well. I'd like to see him expand on things more as many runs were conservative and tempered. I understand some of that was because of the symphony but this boy has tremendous talent and needs to be "released" to explore it. I hope he was included on Magnification. At certain times, he was literally pounding the hell out of those keys and jumping around and really working it.

I really enjoyed the show and I want to thank Yes, the Va. Symphony, the crew, and all the Yes fans that came out and made it a very special evening. Also I want to thank Garry, Kecia, Brad, Carly, Claire, Ma & Pa Adams for putting up with this crazed Yes fan and his wife. It was wonderful. Yes-world...it's a state of mind.