Ludvic

What a night ! Two of my favorite bands playing one after the other felt kindof unreal...
The thing is, I felt like half of the audience was there to see DT and the other half to see Yes. There were about 30 people who had come to see them both...

Dream Theater were, as always, very tight in their performance : not missing a single note/chord/etc... although they lacked interaction with the crowd (especially the 40+ years old Yes fans who could afford tickets in the first rows).
Here's the DT setlist (all songs with a * are part of the 42-minute epic "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence) :
1. Intro (beginning to Overture) *
2. About To Crash *
3. Learning To Live
4. Trial Of Tears
5. Stream Of Consciousness
6. The Spirit Carries On
7. Solitary Shell *
8. About To Crash (Reprise) *
9. Losing Time/Grand Finale *
The SDOIT excerpts were good, but the highlights were definetely "Learning to Live" and "Trial of Tears"... sending chills down my spine. "Stream of Consciousness" was good also, but playing "The Spirit Carries On" was a mistake (well... that song's a mistake). I wish they had played "A Change of Seasons" or "Metropolis Part 1", but they had already performed those two 6 months before...

It was my first Yes show... and I was surprised by the band's performance : flawless (or so). Jon Anderson is such a refreshing person : simple and funny. The stage design was great and so was the lighting.
The acoustic set was very pleasant, letting the band (and the audience) catch their breath before the rest of the show. "Owner of a lonely heart" sounded better than ever (Rick Wakeman's imitation of the electronic sounds was great).
Other highlights : "And You And I" and "Awaken".
Playing "Close to the Edge", "Gates of Delirium" and "Sound Chaser" would've cast me to the heavens...

Peace out
"I get uuuuuuuuuuuuuup, I get doooooooooown"

Bruno Lussier

It was.. like a truck full of sand, but no brakes...

Seriously, I enjoy the show... It was my first Yes show :)

First of all, i'm a Dream Theater fan.. and they disapointed me. Most of the songs they played was from "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" album... I don't like this album. They didn't played their best songs like Metropolis Pt. 1, A Mind Behind Itself, A Change Of Seasons, etc... and just one from the last album... (and.. honestly, they are coming too "show-off" for me, the music was good but the attitude was poor).

The real reason I went to this show was the second part... :) Oui Monsieur!! It was amazing.

"Awaken".. I have no words to describe the feeling I had.. "South Side Of The Sky", "Yours Is No Disgrace", and "And You and I" was fantastic. Two Thumbs Up to Steve and Rick in SSOTS.

Two Thumbs Up for the band... They are the best musicians I've ever seen...

Winter

Certainly a beautiful performance.
Awaken made me cry in emotion...I was really looking forward for that song...and South side of the sky, And you and I...I wanted to see Close to the Edge as well.. but Awaken was really, as someone else said here, worth 80 canadian bucks.
And the acoustic performances...outstanding!
About Dream Theater...they, OF COURSE, cannot be compared to Yes. First of all, Yes is a "senior" band, they have 35 years of experience and their sound is totally different from metal. Their symphonic prog-rock is really distant from Dream Theater's prog-metal.
I know both bands more or less...and Dream Theater's setlist was terrible, there was only one song REALLY worth listening (Learning to Live, from Images & Words, 1992)...so, before judging, know. What if I had to judge Yes according to, let's say, "Open your eyes"?
Think.

M. La Fontaine

Hi,

Overall a good show !!

I was dissappointed with the encore !!

I was really looking foward to Starship Trooper.
Ah well, it was too close to 11 and probably past their bed time !!
The show lasted 2H and 15 min.

South Side of the Sky and Yours is no Disgrace were the highlights for me.

I've never been a big fan of Awaken.

cheers !!

M.

pierre

je regrette l'absence du "Turn de la Century". Quelle dommage!
mais une concerte tres bien en generalle. "Et Vous Et Je" rockez
le maison, pour sure!! "Le Drive de la Tete" requirez une performance
singular - ne split pas. Monsieur Anderson est en forme formidable,
et Monsieur Howe et Monsieur Wakeman. Monsieur Blanche? Je desire
que le band "Oui" takez une truck de Brinks et back it up a la
maison de Monsieur Bruford. S'il vous plait? Moola parlez, non?

Dan Audet

Here is the setlist :

Intro (Firebird Suite)
Going for the one
Sweet dreams
I've see all good people
Mind Drive (pt 1)
South side of the sky
Foot print (excerpt)
Mind Drive (pt 2)
Yours is no disgrace
The Clap
Long distance runaround (acoustic)
Wonderous stories (acoustic)
Roundabout (acoustic)
Owner of a lonely heart (acoustic)
And you and I
Awaken

encore : Every Little Thing

I'm still not sure how I feel about this show. Let's start with what I didn't like about it :

1) I believe James LaBrie (Dream Theater's singer) should be removed from that band. He is awful. The musical sections of the band were good though.

2) Going for the One and Sweet Dreams to open the show ? Blah... Going for the One is probably one of Yes's worst song.

3) Cutting Mind Drive in 2 was a mistake. That song deserves a shot at being played live as a whole. Even worst, they cut the acoustic guitar intro and Wakeman's solo in the middle. Still, that song really blew me away. For me, the show really beagan with that song.

4) Every Little Thing as the only encore was a huge mistake. A 4-5 minutes song that half the audience doesn't know just doesn't cut it. To think that they used to play Starship Trooper instead... I really felt as if the show wasn't complete when I left.

5) The show was barely 2 hours long. For a band like Yes, that is unforgivable. We had to wait 1 hour between Dream Theater and Yes.

6) The Clap. When I see Yes live, I wanna see the whole band. I'm getting tired of hearing that song in their shows.

7) I wish they would put more of their recent stuff in their shows. Songs like Dreamtime and Homeworld could become classics. I don't know why they only play old stuff. The 2 most recent songs they played were both cut short (Mind Drive and Footprints).

Now for the positive sides of the show

1) AWAKEN !!! Yes's best song to close the show ! That song alone was worth the price of the ticket...

2) The acousitc set was very good and you could feel the guys were having fun on the stage. Roundabout was particularly great.

3) The more and more they play Yours is no Disgarce, the longer the song is. The instrumental jam in the middle was unbelievable.

4) The closing section of South Side of the Sky was marvellous, with Steve and Rick as good as they ever were.

5) And You and I. It's no wonder why they play it on every tour. That song is so powerful live that it sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it.

So all in all a good show with unbeliavable moments and a few downsides.

Jules Saulnier

After enduring a whole hour with the terribly redundant prog-metal-thingy of the awful Dream Theater came a show that blew away my expectations. True, I still have many reserves regarding the balloonesque background which looked like the dead carcass of a giant sea Kraken, but the energy and musicianship of the band were more than enough to make up for it. I may have made some words up in that last phrase. Whatever.

Anyway, here is what we heard, including what I think is a splendid premiere. I'm not 100% sure about the running order, but here is the song list in a mostly accurate order:

Firebird Suite
1. Going for the one
2. Sweet Dreams
3. I've seen all good people
4. Mind Drive Part 1
5. South Side of the sky
6. Foot Prints (excerpt)
7. Mind Drive Part 2
8. Yours is no Disgrace
9. Clap
10. Long distance runaround
11. Owner of a lonely heart (acoustic)
12. Roundabout (Bluesey "Montréal-blue-shuffle" version)
13. Wonderous Stories
14. And you and I
15. Awaken (!)

Encore
16. Every Little Thing

What more could you ask for? Not only did we get Awaken as a splendid closer, they even spared us Rythm of Love! I am fulfilled. Thanks for the great show.

Bruno Lussier

Have a great show all!!!!

only 3 hours to wait :D:D:D

Marc La Fontaine

I was at the Ottawa show as well, in Nov. 2002 and the Montreal Symphonic show.

I had the first seat in from of Rick for Ottawa !!

We had heaven/South side of the sky were superb !!

cheers !!

M.

Richard Hebert

At last, Yes will be back in the province of Quebec after nearly
three years. Last time they came to Montreal was on the Symphonic
tour, one of the best of eight Yes concert I have seen over the
years. In 2002, not wanting to miss the return of Rick Wakeman
(and "South Side Of The Sky !!!), we took a three-and-a-half hour
drive to Ottawa, Ontario, through a huge snowstorm to attend the
show, where we had VIP seats in the third row. Now, the date is
August 18, no chance of having a snowstorm this time ! (if there
is, I'm moving to Caracas !) I'm really looking forward to this
new meeting with Yes, my ninth, even if they did drop a few songs
that I really wanted to see them play again, like "Ritual".
Perhaps they will reinstate it, but I seriously doubt it !
In any case, I'll be back with my review of the concert the
following night. See you then !