Monika a Tomas

We are from Slovakia and we are great YES fan!!!!We are 25 years old.
The show was totally GREAT and WONDERFUL!!!!
Anderson was singing like a bird, Steve, Chris, and Alan
was also lovely and they are very very goog musicians!!
Some songs brings a tears in our eyes!!
But, where was Gates Of Delirium??!!
And some songs from their greatest album Going For The One!!!
Maybe next tour...
So, thank you very much YES!!!
You show us the journey of our life!!!
LET"S GO YES MAGNIFICATE!!!!!!!!!

Patrick

Just got news that Yes almost cancelled the Prague concert--2 hours before showtime; however they did go on and I am very grateful. Thank you Yes for toughing it out. Supposedly one of the band members was ill. I believe it was a combination of illness and poor train station-like concert hall with almost no heating. Thank you Yes for a great show anyway. Say a healing prayer for the ill band member. I hope he'll be OK.

Patrick

Hello Yes fans!!

I just got back from the Yes show in Prague. I hadn’t ever seen all the original members together live, so it was quite a treat. Just like coming home—I’ve been a fan since 1979.

After an orchestral intro, they started out with "Close to the Edge": Jon’s voice never changes: it was as clear and beautiful as always. The "I Get Up, I Get Down" section was wonderful, and as I had a seat way in the back of the auditorium, I decided to go up to the front, where there was a wide space on the side of stage where the sound was better and I could see and wave to Anderson, Howe, and Squire.

They then played songs from the new album and Keys to Ascension. These seemed to fit the acoustics of the auditorium best.

After a few more tunes, Anderson said something like, "I leave you in the skilled fingers, or , hands of Mr. Howe ." Howe got his steel-string acoustic and played a superb rendition of "Mood for a Day", adding rapid, Montoya-like flamenco rolls on the scale passages. He went to the mike and asked the audience to "clap your hands; it gets the circulation going." (It was sort of cold in the auditorium and it was outside!!). "The Clap" got the audience hot and they started warmin’ up more!!

Before "Ritual" and throughout the concert, Anderson emphasised love and how we are all "connected", every human on the planet. He spoke of the energy flowing between us the audience and the band. Great drum solo by White, and Squire ripped on the bass solo!! Also great performance by guest keyboardist, Tom Brislin.

Yes, they did play "Starship Trooper". Great, one of the highlights of the concert. Anderson said the band talked about it and told the audience that maybe they didn’t know this song, but they would play it anyway. They played "Roundabout" for the encore, only one encore even though the audience kept clapping for more! I waited after to spot a connection I knew to get to go backstage, but didn’t find her. I think quite a few people hung out inside and outside to see if they could get backstage. Missed it this time, maybe next tour.

The downside of the concert was the location!! Prumyslovy Palac seems like a train station (even Jon mentioned this to the audience!) and large windows line both walls, which I would assume made for poor acoustics. The orchestra was good alone, but in combination with the band, it sounded murky in that auditorium! The sound was muddy, in my opinion, unless you were right up front next the stage and speakers. I think Jon made a comment about the sound from one side. Steve seemed a bit tired and irritated, probably because it was a slightly cold in there and the sound wasn’t very clear in many songs ( The sound was nowhere near as good as that at the Drama concert back in ’81 in Los Angeles) . Howe’s guitar wasn’t loud enough in many parts. The best sound was the Hawaiian steel lap steel guitar on "And You and I" and at his regular electric on various parts of "Ritual".

Anyway, I’m glad I got to see them and Yes is still going strong in the new millennium!!

Zoltán Ludányi

Hi everyone!

I’ve just arrived back from Prague. Everything stated really badly. I could hardly get a ticket for the concert here in Budapest not to mention finding a train home that night. But in the end everything got solved. So let’s talk about the concert:

According to Jon the Industrial Palace looked like a railway station – I must agree. The sequrity guards were really friendly. They ‘let’ us take some photos; moreover, they let a man record all the show on video. (Bootleggers, start looking for it!) I really appreciated hearing solo YES songs before the show instead of a mixture of this and that.

The show started at about 20:20. I managed to find an empty(!) seat in the 4th row though my tickets were valid for the 32nd – that is what I meant when I said I had problems with getting a ticket!So the intro was as usual: "Listen to Your Heart"

"Close to the Edge"
They played really well in the whole song but the biggest experience was the 3rd movement for me since Jon sang from his very heart. It was as honest as a pray. It really grabbed my soul. And I started laughing during the 4th movement – this is the highest level of having fun for me.

"Long Distance Runaround"
I think this song is mainly for the orchestra and the wind were extremely good. Much better than in Vienna. (I think the orchestra had been sometimes a little bit underamplified in Vienna but they weren’t here.)

"Don't Go"
Yeah, it was really good as well. Someone wrote previously that the vocals are playback. I don’t think so. All he members were singing - even Alan behind the drums! – and Jon used quite a long echo.

"Prague Jam"
This was a gift for the city and the citizens. Alan started playing the piano as if he were preparing for In the Presence of while Jon started praising Prague. At first he was only speaking but slowly he changed into singing while Alan drifted into a jazzy theme. It was really kind. (And I must tell you as well: Prague is beautiful!)

"In the Presence of"
To tell the truth I couldn’t appreciate this song until this night. I found it a little bit slow and faint. I was totally wrong! They played it with total enthusiasm. And in some places Chris sang new things. (According to the album and the Vienna concert.)

Howe solo spot
It contained "Mood for a Day" and "Clap". Should I say anything about it? No. You all know him. It was perfect again. (A boy managed to make him smile by a loud cry and Steve started breathing at his fingers in the break. He told it had been cold there. I think it wasn’t in our hearts.) Steve helped much to keep the audience in rhythm by following the rhythm with his feet.

"Starship Trooper"
It was good as well. The technician forgot to take the acoustical guitar to the stage so Steve started the first notes of Disillusion on his Gibson. First it sounded weird but he found the proper setting rather quickly. It was rather Chris who dominated in Würm.

"And You and I"
The song was dedicated to Jane as usual. It was really interesting that Jon started talking about love and death before this song. And Steve opened the song with brand new sounds – I mean unknown for me though I’ve heard it 4 times live!

"Ritual"
Yeah, it was the masterpiece of the night. I can’t highlight anyone again. Even the orchestra did their best. I was looking forward to this track since I found something new in the song in Vienna. I managed to find it again! (I mean that victory theme in the bass solo.) Chris went mad during his solo part and first started playing with the audience. He hit a sound and we replied louder and louder. I think we managed to set his heart on fire. And he started playing a duet with Tom (sorry for writing Tony in my previous review.)

"I've Seen All Good People"
I saw no hand in rest during this song. I’ve never heard such a loud and united clap in my life and such a vivid audience! Everyone started dan