De Volkskrant - 1974-04-19

Tuesday, January 18, 2022 9:27 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - De Volkskrant - 1974-04-19]

Deafening concert by Yes

THE English pop group on Wednesday evening, Yes pulled out all the stops in the Rotterdam Ahoyhal for a deafening concert, which was attended by approximately seven thousand people. The group, which has changed composition many times since its inception, and from the original line-up only has bass guitarist Chris Squire and vocalist Jon Anderson in its ranks, now joined the stage with solo guitarist Steve Howe, organist Rick Wakeman and Alan White. under the very pretentious sounds of a large symphony orchestra, but immediately after this bombast they went straight into it. heavy rock. often near the hearing limit and often rumbling in the stomach, was echoed in songs such as "You And I" and "Close to the Edge," long pieces in which soloistic delights—Howe's frantic guitar playing. Squire's booming bass or Wakeman's haunted organ work — Anderson's dense grouping and thin singing interrupted. Then the group showed what it is currently working on. In three pieces of their latest LP, Tale from the topographic Ocean, these also very long pieces are considerably more pretentious. Life and death, the great questions for every human being, were drawn out broadly in text and music, and the musicians lost themselves in solos in which they were often repeated and which seemed to be based more on outward show than on inner passion. However, the group came back strongly in The Ritual, also from the last LP. Acoustically, but also electrically amplified, they drove their performance to a climax through violent drumming by the entire group. The concert rightly had to end with an encore. In the very short support act, Kazimir Lux was allowed to warm up the thousands, after which it took too long for Yes finally took office.

R.G.

Algemeen Dagblad - 1974-04-18

Tuesday, January 18, 2022 9:13 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - Algemeen Dagblad - 1974-04-18]

Pop group Yes: art and flying work

by FRED VAN WIJNEN

ROTTERDAM - Nearly five thousand (!) fans of the English pop group Yes were presented with an unprecedented musical spectacle last night in the Rotterdam Sportpaleis Ahoy'. Thanks to a colossal light battery, the usually gray and cold-looking concrete palace was transformed into a space that could compete with an old-fashioned nightclub in terms of atmosphere. On the stage, colorful prehistoric animal sculptures were set up above and behind the group's instruments. A lavishly sorted drum battery was housed in a dome-shaped music tent that resembled a giant frog's head. That the English five-piece band knows how to perform theater was evident from the grotesque attendance, flooded by blaring symphony tones. Dressed in long cloak-like robes, which concealed medieval costumes, they allowed themselves to be applauded like true princes.

Yes, all art and flying work. The swift guitarist Steve Howe juggled on as many as six uneven electric guitars and the keyboard player Rick Wakeman in glitter gold was short on pianos, synthesizers, an electronic harpsichord and a mellotron. However, it must unfortunately be said that these performances, balancing on the edge of pure exhibitionism, were musically disappointing. Again and again the pattern of rapidly alternating, impressionistic stanzas returned without arriving at a real harmonic unity.

Martin Hoekstra

This was my first experiance with Yes, I was made a fan for ever by the sound of Rick Wakeman's mellotrons. A thing to remember is that Rick appeared with a broken leg.