Debbi Hempe

After a good dinner last night I opened my email and realized YES would be playing in Fort Worth in an hour and a half. My brand new husband and love of my life John has been a fan for many decades, as have I. We hopped in the car and made our way to the Bass.We had had tickets to the cancelled tour and were delighted to get a chance to see the band after all.

We have all aged and like a fine wine we have hopefully aged well. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the show and the entire evening.. These guys have done this for decades and continue to be masters of their craft. It must be difficult to keep the performance as fresh as it still is after decades of shows.
Not only was the music excellent but the night made me feel young again ( I'm 49 ) not ancient but, you know what I mean. I was transported to the good old bad old days and I thank YES for a great night. They were kind enough to sign my tickets, very gracious gentlemen. visiting with other fans after the show took me back to the days when we all buzzed about shows we'd seen and how great they were.
We loved the night and we thank you very much for keeping us young at heart. I loved seeing YES with my new husband

Stephen Hansen

It was an evening of fun in Fort Worth.
The fun started at the Flying Saucer across the street from Bass Hall. It was great to chat with some new characters and to see the Yesfans we've met from previous shows (Danny where were you?)
We made the best of a tough situation at the crowded Flying Saucer bar. Dom keep up your veggie diet Steve Howe would be proud of ya!
Hopefully someday YES will play Bass Hall again. we can only hope right?
The sound at the show was loud but not excessively so. This was my 17th time seeing the band and it's still a great time.
Let's do this again next year!

P.S. I know Clapton is God but Steve Howe is right there with him!

Ryan Talbot

Yes/Asia concert last night was amazing. The best part was I met Alan White yesterday afternoon in my hotel before the show, and this morning I saw John Wetton and Geoff Downes eating breakfast. The highlight of Asia's set was In the court of the Crimson King. The highlight of of Yes' set was Heart of the Sunrise. Machine Messiah and And You and I also sounded amazing. I traveled 9 hours from Louisiana to see both of these bands.

Die Hard Yes Fan

Didn't start going to Yes concerts until the 90125 tour. Been to everyone since. They are still great musicians and didn't miss a beat with the two new members. Would still like to see Jon and hopefully Rick back one day soon. Missed Asia during the 80's. They were a most definite bonus to the bill. My girl enjoyed Asia more but I'm a true die hard Yes fan. Would have liked to hear and see other older classic songs but they would still be playing until the next day's sunrise.

Parallels 2009

Tonight's shows were not incredibly inspired, but well worth attending. The general theme seemed to be a recent vocal improvement for both bands, as John Wetton is more easily sustaining his notes and Benoit David seems to be less strident and more in tune than previous shows. Still, I prefer Jon Anderson's voice for its richness and more colorful timbres.

Here are the set lists with some various notes:

Asia:

Wildest Dreams
Only Time Will Tell
An Extraordinary Life (the only song from Pheonix)
Video Killed the Radio Star (with a surprisingly apt and powerful guitar solo from Steve Howe!)
Court of the Crimson King (why don't they play "Exiles"?)
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
Don't Cry
Fanfare for the Common Man/Drum Solo (Carl Palmer has not lost any of his chops since I saw him with ELP about 16 years ago!)
Soul Survivor (my favorite of the evening)
Heat of the Moment

In general, Asia sounded more self-assured and solid than they seemed to be when they started their reunion.

Yes:

Siberian Khatru
I've Seen All Good People
Tempus Fugit
And You and I (strange--there was no lead Moog at the beginning of the piece--it did not seem like a missed cue...)
Steve Howe acoustic solo ("Double Rondo" and "Mood for a Day")
Owner of a Lonely Heart (Howe seems to find interesting solutions to playing over the simpler chord structure during the solo--I remember a similar approach during the '98 tour)
Machine Messiah
Roundabout
Long Distance Runaround
Starship Trooper

If Benoit David and Oliver Wakeman (more in the footsteps of Tony Kaye or Geoff Downes than his father's) are indeed new full time members as Chris Squire hinted in the introduction to "Tempus Fugit," it remains of great interest to see which direction Yes will go in the future.

All in all, a worthwhile evening...

Scott Harbison

I must admit that after reading all the previous reviews of the Yes/Asia tour, all the naysayers picking apart each band bit by bit (particularly YES), let me assure all prog rock fans - prog rock lives on, stronger than ever!

The Asia hour-long set was short, but quite varied. Certainly there were songs in their repetoire that were deserving of being included, particularly from the new album "Phoenix." Alas, this time they were merely the warm-up band...but they were anything but warm, they sizzled!

Yes' 2-hour set was much stronger than the reviews led me to expect. Sure, they had a few minor flaws, what with Rick's son, talented yet unconfident-at-times, and Alan's brave, yet gut-wrenching drumming performance. But, YES, they did all come together as the night progressed! I would say absolutely they performed as well, or possibly better at times, than in the past! For anyone having the least bit of interest in my favorite genre of music, they truly owe it to themselves to get their tickets fast while these two super prog rock groups are still touring! Five stars!

your_host

NOTICE (July 25): A substantial data corruption occurred some time between July 22 and 24, which wiped out almost all information for the second leg of the "In the Present" USA tour. Unfortunately there was no backup recent enough to regenerate the lost data (more frequent backups are now being instituted). The lost dates and setlists have been reconstituted manually, but the reviews cannot be regenerated except by fans re-submitting them, which we encourage. FY regrets the inconvenience.