Mark McCarron-Fraser

I saw Yes at the Concord Pavilion on July 13th, and at Shoreline Amphitheater on July 15th. Surprisingly the shows were very different. They played "Roundabout" before "Hold On" for the encore on Wednesday, and the reverse Friday. (BTW, they did cut "The eagle" section from "Roundabout" both nights.) Tony took a longer piano solo before the start of "Changes" on Friday than Wednesday. On Friday, Trevor played only a little of the piano solo at the beginning of "Endless Dream" and then Tony took over. Although Trevor did play the piano bit at the start of the second section.

On Wednesday Trevor made a couple of mistakes during the piano bit at the beginning of "Endless Dream". This could be the reason that Tony played it on Friday.

Someone observed that no one took any extended solos in the earlier shows. While there were no really long solos - as in "Starship Trooper" - Tony took a lengthy solo at the end of "Owner of a Lonely Heart" on Wednesday. On Friday Tony, Trevor, and Chris traded parts back and forth in the same place. Also, "Endless Dream" was at least three to four minutes longer Friday than Saturday. Trevor took a longer guitar solo and Tony had a longer keyboard part. (Not actually a solo, just a fair stretch of cool keyboard stuff.) Still, no one dominated too much.

On Friday, at the end of the break between sets Tony played for at least the last two minutes. I didn't notice this on Wednesday as I was getting a beer. (Fool.) Did anyone else notice Tony at this point?

Also, the intro music to both halves of the set is a mutated version of Stravinsky's "Firebird". Anyone else catch this?

There were several differences in the solos that Trevor, Tony, and Chris played between the Wednesday and Friday shows. (A friend reports that they did different things on Thursday in Sacramento.) I conclude one of two things. First that our heroes actually improvise during their solos. (As opposed to playing set solos.) Or second, that they are still working out the set. Also, I noticed that Tony played more stuff Friday than Wednesday, and he was hot Wednesday. I'm guessing that either Tony or other members of the band want a more group approach, rather than the Trevor Rabin show, as some of you have complained.

It is possible that the later shows are substantially different from the earlier shows. For me Tony stole the show on Wednesday. On Friday it was more of an even mix of Tony, Trevor, and Chris. (Jon seemed rather subdued at both shows. I assume that his back is still hurting. He did his bouncing only once.) Also, having seen "Endless Dream" twice now, I'm ready to say that, IMHO, it's their best tune since "Awaken" and is every bit as good as "And You And I", "Starship Trooper", "Yours is No Disgrace", "Heart of the Sunrise" etc. (Not as good as "Gates" or "Tales" though.)

PS: Dave Markfield said that he'd rather the new band didn't play any of the older material as they butcher it. Frankly, I think the revamped version of "And You And I" was great. And I don't want them to try to do the old songs the way the "other guys" did. That would be stupid.