Jim

I had purchased the platinum tickets for this show so I sat 1st row and met the band after the show. I really enjoyed the YES sandwich of CTTE and Awaken. Given the windy conditions and sticky humidity I thought the band, especially Steve, was right-on.

Meeting the band was great. I had my picture taken with them and they signed a Roger Dean print that I had purchased. I was able to talk briefly with all members but I spent most of my time talking "Strawbs" with Rick and the Natural Timbre CD with Steve.

All in all a great evening with YES.
Jim

RFR

Both bands suffered from mellowing, either with age (Yes), or by
association (DT).

Although I was pleased with the classics Yes played, I there are so many others I'd have preferred instead of the lame Owner of A Lonely Heart, Awaken, Every Little Thing, etc. Siberian Khatru, Yours Is No Disgrace, Heart of the Sunrise, Tempest Fugit, and so many others would have been preferable. Roundabout acoustic came off a bit lame, although Wakeman mostly rescued it with his piano solo. And Southside was much better than I recall on the studio album. Wondrous Stories could have been dropped. But I guess you can't have it all, and I imagine there are those who really love the songs I do not. Just personal preference. As far as playing goes, Wakeman was his usual stellar self (he showed JR of DT that it is possible to use BOTH hands when playing keyboard solos, as was Squire, and Howe had his signature awesome sound was a times (forgivably) sloppy (I haven't heard The Clap in a long time and it was quite welcome). Anderson and White were per usual, though the former sounded a bit strained. I'm still trying to figure out what those giant
balloon additions where doing in AW's kit...

As for DT, they were a huge disappointment, mainly because there is so much playing ability and so little of it was showcased in this set. The set list was about as whimpy as possible, presumably because they didn't want to upset Yes fans with their heavy tracks (as if Yes fans don't like heavy prog rock??!!). Someone needs to tell James LaBrie that he is droning, and his best efforts can not rescue the lame ballads. They would have been much better off playing more from their last 2 albums. Although they played a fraction of 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence, they played some of the lamest parts. I think they fancy the title track the way Queensryche fancies Operation: Mindcrime. The only difference is that O:M is mostly excellent with few lame parts, while the opposite is true of 6 Degrees (the song). From that disc, The Glass Prison and
either Misunderstood or Blind Faith would have been preferable.
Luckily, they chose an excellent track from Train of Thought, which
showcased their playing (and left LaBrie backstage): Stream of
Consciousness. They should have added As I Am, Endless Sacrifice, and This Dying Soul (sequel to The Glass Prison), if they were looking to impress anyone. Instead, they chose to please the fans who enjoy their more mellow stuff at the expense of the rest of us falling asleep. I recognize that probably half of their fans are into these tracks, but I am not in that half. I like aggressive prog tracks with smoking keyboards/guitar, which DT certainly has (particularly lately). If you insist on a track from Images and Words, how about either Pull Me Under or Metropolis Pt. 1 instead of Learning to Live? The latter is just too tedious to endure live, since there's no fast-forward button available. I know they enjoy the artistic freedom to venture into the interludes in the middle of the track, but it's simply not engaging. I'm willing to endure some nonsense if there's a payoff, but unlike the other 2 tracks
I mentioned, there is no such payoff in LtL. Wake me up when it's
over. This is a luxury they can't afford in a short set. Now it may be that they promised Yes that they wouldn't play anything offensive, but this is ridiculous. Overall, I found their set to be a colossal waste of their talent and my time. At least they interpolated Yes' Machine Messiah into their set, which was heavier and better than 80% of their own tracks.

RFR

Jim Price

Being a Dream Theater fan as much as a Yes fan, I was real excited for this show. Dream Theater opened, and since the seats were empty up front, I ended up getting seats right in front of John Petrruci. My favorite part was probably when he nodded to me. He probably doesn't remember anymore, but it was awesome either way.
James LaBrie was dead on his parts. Usually he's sharp or flat in some parts, but he was amazing. They all played wonderfully, and I loved it. Setlist for Dream Theater was...
01-About to Crash
02-Learing to Live
03-Stream of Conciousness
04-Trial of Tears. They also did an instrumental on "Machine Messiah" for all you hardcore Yes fans.
04-Solitary Shell
05-About To Crash(reprise)
06-Grand Finale
A short list for them, but an amazing one. You all did well gentlemen.

Now for Yes. I was surprized they started off with Close To the Edge, and a bit dissapointed. I was really looking foward to Going For the One, as it's one of my favorite songs by Yes.
America was terrific. I'm a big Paul Simon fan, so it was a favorite of mine.
I've Seen All Good People was good. The harmonies seemed to be less than what it was last time I've seen them, but maybe it was where I was in the seats. A favorite of mine, I was happy they played this song.
Mind Drive never did much to me. Maybe I need to hear it more.
South Side of the Sky was amazing, as expected. The battle between Howe and Wakeman was hair raising.
I was glad Howe entertained us with Clap to kick off the acoustic set. That song is always welcome to me.
Long Distance Runaround was one of the songs I was waiting for them to play. I was sucked in when they played this song. Steve seemed to be sloppy on some of his runs, but that's fine with me.
Wonderous Stories, Roundabout, and Owner of A Lonely Heart(an attempt, as said by Anderson) were all terrific as acoustic pieces.
Awaken was one of the highlights. Chris Squire had a 3-neck bass. Yeah. Three necks. Guitar, 4-string, and 5-string. The song itself was great. It was amusing to see Chris jump around with such a big instrument.
Every Little Thing was good, but I was hoping for Starship Trooper.

I'm a little disappointed they didn't play Yours Is No Disgrace. My favorite song, and they played it all through the tour. Oh well. Next time.

Andy Nicholes

It was a windy night in A.C. but a most memorable one as well. YES shocked us all by opening with "Close To The Edge" and then "America." Most of us were expecting "Going For The One." It's great to have CTTE back in the lineup again. "Southside of the Sky" is becoming quite the stage number. It's getting hard to top that one. Steve, you are awesome. Rick, you are awesome. Great jamming on that one. "Awaken" is back, YES!! It was a natural high for me, hearing that song again. Poor Steve, I thought the wind was going to take you and blow you away. The guitars certainly almost did. "And You And I" - Amazing. (Crowd let them finish this time, too!) I can't wait for next week @ the PNC. Great show guys, and keep on keeping on... You're the Best. HALL OF FAME - NOW!

CT Craiger

I've been faithfully watching the set list. I saw the Spring tour and felt it was the best of the 16 previous. Now, sharing time with Dreamworks; what will they play. Great changes lately. Now, if they could just take this show and switch out Every Little Thing for Starship Trooper for Sunday's show in Hartford....I could die the most happy man. Salute.
P.S. Steve Howe's still God (with appologies to Clapton)
P.S.S. Wakeman's the maestro!

Johnno --correction

Correction, they didn't play yours is no disgrace

Good Show, Windy as Hell, CttE and America are a welcome change to the set. Would have prefered Heart of the Sunrise or Starship Trooper as apposed to Awaken.

Dream Theater did an intrumental version of Machine Messiah

Firebird Suite
Close to the Edge
America
I've Seen All Good People
Mind Drive/South Side Of The Sky
Foot Prints
Mind Drive (Conclusion)

Acoustic Begin:
Clap
Long Distance Runaround
Wonderous Stories
Roundabout
Owner Of A Lonely Heart
Acoustic End

And You And I
Awaken
Every Little Thing

Johnno

Good Show, Windy as Hell, CttE and America are a welcome change to the set. Would have prefered Heart of the Sunrise or Starship Trooper as apposed to Awaken.

Dream Theater did an intrumental version of Machine Messiah

Firebird Suite
Close to the Edge
America
I've Seen All Good People
Mind Drive/South Side Of The Sky
Foot Prints
Mind Drive (Conclusion)
Yours Is No Disgrace
Clap

Acoustic Begin:
Long Distance Runaround
Wonderous Stories
Roundabout
Owner Of A Lonely Heart
Acoustic End

And You And I
Awaken
Every Little Thing