I have been a Yes fan since I could crawl! Seen them twice before this show (Relayer tour, Union tour) and felt a lot more close up and personal with them in this cozy venue. When Oliver Wakeman's keys crapped out on Astral Traveller, my heart broke for the guys, I'm a musician myself (nearly 40 years full/part time) and I have been in that situation many times. Very hard to pull yourself together when it happens, but Yes, being who they are, of course did not let it phase them one bit! I have a '74 Rickenbacker 4001 stereo bass and was playing it in my mind the whole show. Chris Squire is my all-time hero, THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL!
Scott
Great show, seen Yes quite a few times and this was easily the best one. The intimate venue definitely suits this band. As far as Oliver and Benoit, couldn't have been better. Watching Steve is always a treat, Alan and Chris are like old friends that visit me everytime I play their music (you real Yes fans know what I mean). The best part of the evening was to finally hear things like "Machine Messiah," "Tempus Fugit" and "Close To The Edge" (they played "CTTE" when I seen them on the Symphonic Tour but it like a circus at a summer outdoor venue). Last time I seen them was the 2004 jaunt and the whole set was all their well known stuff... so I love when they did deep.
My girlfriend who isn't a Yes fan came along, even made her own Yes shirt, she was hooked by the end of the night. She knew most of the stuff because I always have it on at home. I was hoping for "Parelells" but didn't get it - and Oliver's gear died at the organ solo of "Astral Traveller." We got to hang with Chris, Alan and Oliver after the show, Steve jetted right away as usual in his car.
Amazing night with an amazing band. www.myspace.com/jsbellmusic - I'll have the pics up there.
Wurm
boy this show was awsome, as good as the Going For the One Tour. No better. They play way better now than in the 1970's. This sound system was 10 times better than the sound system for the Relayer Tour. This show was YES in it's grandour, just great versions. This Close to the Edge was better then the one from YESSSONGS. If you believe the statements above, I have a bridge to sell ya. Seriously, this show was, on a scale of 1-10, an 8. It's great to hear these songs played again. Howe and Squire are immortals!
YESSHOWS
Parallels was not played. don't worry, you didn't miss anything. i've seen them do Parallels twice on this tour. Lousy version. Listen to a 1977 version, then listen to this. Wow!! The versions I heard on this tour were sloppy, messy, and you couldn't hear Steve's gutair. In 1977 they are PERFECT!! amazing. What can I expect with no Brian Lane, no Eddie Offord, No Clair Brothers, No nothing!!!
relayer35
The song Steve Howe played after the aborted "Astral Traveller" is called "Cat Napping" and is from his Motif CD. The two songs he played as part of his regular solo were "Mood For A Day" and "Valley Of Rocks".
Shaun WIse
What a great show. One correction to the set list though. Parallels was not played. I don't know if it was because of the technical problems with Oliver's keys but I know it wasn't played. Benoit was great. He was as close to sounding like Jon Anderson as one can possibly be without actually being Jon. Oliver was better than I thought he would be, having read some of the less than stellar reviews. Steve, Alan and Chris were great as usual. Go see this tour if you aren't sure. Go enjoy the music! Peace.
Anon
Steve Howe solo was '?' and 'Mood For A Day'
thaabit
I don't know why there aren't long lines for something like this. Simply phenomenal. Benoit did a superb job as did Oliver. No need to comment on the rest, they just simply dazzled.
Bob Desmarais
This show was excellent from start to finish...so good to hear YESSONGS live again. Obviously I wish that Jon were singing but Benoit did an outstanding job and I also feel that Oliver did a very respectable job as well. The song selections were nice. Bravo and thank you for coming to Detroit...
JNicholson
Woops I totally forgot to put Machine Messiah before Soon.
JNicholson
I. Firebird Suite II. Siberian Khatru III. I've Seen All Good People IV. Tempus Fugit V. Onward VI. Astral Traveler* VII. Steve Solo** VIII. Astral Traveler restarted IX. And You And I X. Close to the Edge XI. Steve solo XII. Long Distance Runaround XIII. The Fish XIV. Aliens are Only Us From the Future XV. Soon XVI. Starship Trooper XVII. Owner of a Lonley Heart (First Encore) XVIII. Roundabout (Second Encore)
* Oliver's Keyboards went out for some reason about two minutes into the song.
** Steve played some stuff while Oliver got his stuff sorted out.
Rob
Awesome show!!!! Better than I expected, and believe me, my expectations were high. The guys sounded as good as ever. Benoit was fantastic! Oliver was excellent, though he could have done much more if he had the opportunity, he was obviously capable. Steve and Chris were phenomenal. In fact, so good, I couldn't tell if I was listening to them in the 70's, 80's.... or now.
I believe Steve Howe is the greatest guitar player ever. And still... right at this moment in 2008.