classicyesfan

I saw both Detroit shows. Previous comments about Cobo's size are somewhat incorrect because Cobo Arena is now regarded as a very intimate old-fashioned arena where every seat has a pretty good view and there is very little leg room. Also the seats rise very high which contributes to the good view. It requires mountain goat legs to climb! Yes liked recording here - two sides of Yesshows, and some of the new "The Word is Live".

The setlist for the first show is incomplete. The band arrived late and they were still constructing the set when we arrived. It was during the "gas crisis" days and I'm sure that travel was the problem. In any case, they pared down to only the last two sides of Topographic.

But they did play "Starship Trooper" last and it well past midnight. I distinctly remember Jon yelling "You Want More?" with surprise after the audience's ovation for "Roundabout". Please add this to the setlist to jog everyone's memory.

I also remember the reviews in the Free Press the next day calling the guitar solos particularly too loud in The Ancient.

Ron Rutherford

I was at the show at Cobo Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, February 27, 1974. I don't know exactly why, but for some reason, Yes was very late that day (supposedly a truck problem of some sort). It was the first show in Detroit, and they didn't go on until well after 10:00 p.m. I remember very well that they did not perform the first two sides of the Topographic Oceans album, only sides 3 and 4 (The Ancient and Ritual). The main reason I remember this is because my friend went to the show in Detroit the next night, and we discussed the shows for DAYS after that. He saw all four Topographic sides; I didn't.

Steve Cox

I went from London, Ontario, (CANADA!), where I was a University music student, to the Detroit T.F.T.O. shows. Two main memories:

1) Having only seen shows at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, I couldn't believe the sheer SIZE of Cobo Hall. Our seats weren't great: we heard way more of the crowds around us than we could the music! (See #2)

2) It seemed to us that they had major problems with the sound system: we heard the sound, then it would disappear, re-appear, etc. Combined with the fact that they looked to us like ants seen from a distance, it was not the concert experience we had hoped for!