Rob Quider

I can hardly believe it's been 32 years since I first saw Yes in concert. Yes, my very first Yes concert was at the Hollywood Sportatorium, thanks to my older sister and one of her best girlfriends who were visiting from college. I think they went because the Eagles were playing, but I was already a fan of Yes, having loved Fragile and the Yes Album. It was also my very first true Rock concert, so the whole experience was new to me. Who would have known then that 32 years later I'd still be a huge fan. I've seen Yes live about 15 times since then, and I still can't get enough of their music. On this particular night in '72, I was totally blown away by their musicianship, even though the acoustics of the Sportatorium were horrible. I even remember Jon commenting on how the sound bounced off the back wall, so you just about heard every note twice. You see, the Sportatorium was little more than an old airplane hanger, put to better commercial use at the time. We all sat on the floor for the concert until Yes got us to our feet. I also remember the crowd not wanting to leave after the final song. That wasn't just because of the good aroma wafting all through the auditorium. We were all in a state of amazement. Back then, you just hadn't heard anything like Yes music live. Heck, many of my friends were even into the retro 50's thing at the time. I was a Junior in High School. Anyway, this little trip down memory lane has been a blast. Let's pray Yes still has a few good years left in them to tour, so us diehards can get a few more fixes before we head off to the South Side of the Sky!...