I remember freaking out at this show and ruining the bootleg recording that my friend's friend sitting next to me was trying to make. The tape also ran out before "Awaken," which I always wanted to hear again because Kaye and Wakeman's keyboards all went out during the big 'choir' section towards the end, what my friends and I used to call the "Yesgasm" part (every Yes song has one). Rabin stepped in and started jamming (in his typical shredder mode) until the keyboards came back on, and effectively saved the day. I have always regarded Rabin's technique as somewhat anonymous-sounding, but that night he did indeed kick ass.
Mike Moroney
I went to see the UNION tour with great anticipation. I had always been a Yes fan but never saw them in concert until the 90125 tour - so I missed out on seeing Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford. My one experience with a Yes musician was seeing Steve Howe in GTR, when they played at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, which was cool - but not the same.
I went to the concert with a group of friends and subsequently got seats that were in the upper portion of the Patriot Center, which at the time was a newly built basketball area for George Mason University - and a "mini" version of the Captial Centre in Largo, MD. One friend who came along at the last moment bought one ticket right before the show started and she got a seat up front! It pissed me off!
This was the first time I saw Yes in play in the round. The stage was set in the middle of the floor. The lights went down and watching security escort the band with their flashlights to the stage so cool! Musicians that I have listened to for years were walking thru the aisles get to the round stage. It was truely amazing to watch and listen to the "old" and "new" version of Yes play together as one unit.
Yes playing in the round is absolutely the best way to enjoy the band - everyone gets to see everything!!
I have preached the talents of this band to all my friends and got some friends who never really were into Yes to go to this concert. My roomate, an avid headbanger, got tickets thru a friend who had some connection with the promoters and had really good seats but he didn't get into the music - it wasn't headbanger music - I wish I could have got his tickets and thrown him out in the parking lot!
I have bragged about Chris Squire and the way he can make an arena shake. Chris did just that. When he played certain parts of songs and hit his bass pedals, the Patriot Center actually shook! With the round stage, part of the PA was hanging around above the band and the bass bins were underneath the circular stage. The low end was unbelievable! ( I play bass - can you tell??) Watching Chris Squire changing basses with his tech, who was underneath the round stage, passing each bass thru a trap door was cool - Chris played different basses for different songs, the Rickenbacker, the funky green bass, a 5 string bass. The absolute coolest bass was his triple neck - on which he played "Awaken". I never really like that song until I saw it live.