Rhea Frankel

Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:20 PM

I went to this show! I wrote about it on my blog at [Link]

dabronks

No nit picking but like I said on my previous post a little more of Yes on stage is a good thing-beats staying ''home in front of the TV''........

Ted Canty

i was so glad to have been ablbe to see Yes again. I took my two grandchildren who were amazed, especially when we got them up to the stage at the end of the show. i knew it was going to be a short show and actually it was 1/2 hour longer than seaworld wanted it to be. beacuse of the time constraints we got to see quite a few of the crowd favorites. any attempt to do the long epic prog songs would have limited the texture of the show. i applaud yes and anything they do to continue the great philosophy and musical talent they bring us. to me, i feel lucky to see them or anyone play that great music with the great message and stories. thank god i am a yes fan, i never left them. anyone who is going to nit pick over minutia at any concert should stay home with their tv

dabronks

Don't know what the hell the rush was-they could have added a couple more songs to get to an even 2 hours.When this band got together they were doing Parallels-why not now ? Anyway,still enjoyed it and thought HOTS,Tempus Fugit,and And You and I were excellent-my wife still tears at that song...I just tear when they play Firebird Suite and come out-I'll never tire of these men-just wanted a little longer show which is not a bad thing,right ?

Joe Sicilliano

It had been a while (18 years) since I had seen the band live, the last time front row in Orlando in the round in 1991. Prior to that I had been a regular at Madison Square Gardern where I had seen them 13 times in the 70's and 80's. To say the least I was starving to see them. I can sum it up by saying that Steve, Chris and Allen were fantastic, not missing a beat. Steve was crisp and clean one of the best times I have seen him. It was hard to listen and not have Jon in the band at times. The show was great and could have listened for another few hours. I am glad that I have been a Yes fan in my life. Thier music will NEVER be duplicated.

John Galloway

Yes sounded great......I sat in the VIP section 2nd row, center stage. The place was packed and the crowd really enjoyed Yes...A lot of people were up and standing thru out the songs...Steve, Chris and Allen were fantastic. and the two rookies Benoit David and Oliver Wakeman were the best I have heard...I really do not miss Jon Anderson, do not get me wrong when I listen to Yes on CDs and Videos, I hear Jon...But this concert was Steve and Chris....people came to hear them....every lead of Steve's was met with applause and Cris with that thundering bass was great....they put on a good show with a encore...I talked to people who came 300 and 500 miles, even one guy who flew down from New York City, just to hear Yes at SeaWorld....I am thinking about driving down to Boca Raton tomorrow, to hear them again....Just about everyone was taking pictures and Steve and Chris catered to the camera... I shot 150 pictures. Steve used some new guitars and amps, not using the Fender Twins.....and Chris had a new bass, that I had not seen before...Alan never missed a beat and seemed to be enjoying the crowd...All and all I have a great time and the fans that I talked to loved them...GO YES, since 1969

John Garden

My 24th or so time seeing them. We had amazing seats. My wife went with me. Her first YES show. She loved it.

As the jaded veteran, I can say it was the shortest and least enthusiastic show I've seen. That said, Steve Howe was phenomenal with a capital P. Squire was going through the motions. Alan White was not a presence. Oliver Wakeman in his typically uncharismatic manner, played well, but we couldn't really see his hands in action.

This is my second time seeing Benoit David as the Jon Anderson stand in. To be fair, his mic was not loud enough. He was lost in the harmonies of Chris, Steve, and occasionally Oliver.

Regardless and with understanding, he lacks the stage presence, charisma, and, for lack of a better word "magic" that Jon Anderson, as the co-author and, in many ways driving/spiritual force behind YES has developed over four decades of devotion to this music. Again, to be fair to Benoit David, he had no chance of recreating that level of connection and/or experience. There is only one Jon Anderson and we miss him and probably saw his last performance as the YES frontman a few years ago prior to his health set back.

The band was sluggish to say the least for the first two songs, "Siberian Katru" and "All Good People." For my tastes, "Your's is No Disgrace" was outstanding as was "Heart of the Sunrise." I enjoyed "Tempus Fugit" as well.

My wife only knew "All Good People" because my kids play it over and over again (Along with ABWH) and "Owner of a Lonely Heart" which she knew from college in the 80s. Otherwise, every song was new. As we walked out, she commented that OLH seemed "like a pop song" compared to the other music. Hence, my baby is a trooper not a generator :0)

The encore was "Starship Trooper" which I have heard many times as a fantastic, leave you wanting for more encore. As they started, I said to my wife, "This is a great YES-Jam." It wasn't. Howe, despite an evening of virtuosity, seemed to end the song early and then...it was over.

Ed Bick

I swore I'd never see Yes if the line-up didn't include Jon/Steve/Chris, but living here in Orlando and having passes to SeaWorld, hard to pass up the free show. Started off pretty low energy I thought, but picked up towards the end. Heart Of The Sunrise was definately the gem of the day. David was serviceable, but Jon's spirit was noticably missing from the stage, IMO. Very predictable setlist. I had seen that they were playing Astral Traveler and was looking forward to that. Disappointed. Someone suggested that they should *add* Don't Kill The Whale, which would have been in very bad taste. Chris referenced the situation; "those of you who know our music well know which song we will *not* be playing today".

Josh

Here's the setlist I took down as the concert occurred:

Firebird Suite
Siberian Khatru
I've Seen All Good People
Tempus Fugit
Yours is No Disgrace
And You and I
Owner of a Lonely Heart
Heart of the Sunrise
Roundabout
Starship Trooper

The concert was moved indoors to the Nautilus Theater instead of Bayside Stadium due to bad weather. The crowd turnout seemed pretty good. The Sea World worker I spoke to at the information booth at the front of the park said the theater holds around 4,500 people and I would say it was at least 90% full.

As to the concert itself, there were a few acoustical issues, but otherwise it was very good. In my opinion the venue did not appear to be well suited for a concert like this as it seemed like the acoustics in building were not the best causing some portions of the performances to be garbled at certain points (alternatively, this may have been a sound mixing issue).

As to the band, Howe played magnificently and seemed to be having fun. Some of his solos were absolutely fantastic/mind boggling and at one point he was even jumping around like a rock star half his age. It was fun to see. Squire was awesome throughout as well, but his bass playing really stood out to me on Heart of the Sunrise and Starship Trooper. Seeing these two masters (Howe and Squire) live is just an incredible experience any way you dice it. White brought it as usual and was fun to watch as well. As to Benoit David and Oliver Wakeman, they seemed much more at home with the band than the last time I saw them in Orlando a little over a year ago. At certain points in the concert it almost felt like there was a time warp of sorts with a younger Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman from the 70's jamming with the Howe, Squire, and White of today. Benoit has huge shoes to fill, but I think he acquits himself quite well. One of my favorite things about Benoit is his ability to find Horn's range and sing songs from Drama in addition to the rest of the band's works. Regarding Oliver, you can clearly see the elder Wakeman in Oliver which is a cool tie in to the past. Both times I have seen him I have been impressed with how well he mimics some of the keyboard parts/sounds from the studio albums.

In sum, the concert was an excellent overall experience. My favorite performances were Heart of the Sunrise, Yours is no Disgrace and Starship Trooper.