Bugeyes

Friday, March 22, 2013 11:51 AM

It was a GREAT show last night. But now I know why I don't do reviews...'cause I don't want to be a downer. (No Kathi, I didn't cry. ) Since they played Saturday & Sunday night, I thought maybe they were tired for Monday night. There are five great musicians on stage, but I wasn't transcending. First off, I still struggle emotionally with the fact I am at a YES concert, so I need to get a grip, right off the bat. As Drejcat (Dan) said, "We’re not going to be watching a video." Again, the smile would spread across my face, and I'd have to contain my excitement. It's finally March 18th. I've been living for this day. And then there's the fact that there are less than a handful of YesFans in the Kansas City area to share my excitement. Yeah, that's a pisser. But as Nancy, Dan & I walked in from The Indie bar, a high school mate walks thru the front door. Talk about timing?! YES. Hey Marc, it was wonderful to see you last night, and I hope you find me here. Well, we sat in the upper balcony with a beautiful view of the stage, but it's probably not a sweet sound spot (my attempt at giving the concert a break.) Chefgolf, Patrick, sat in the row in front of us. It was great to see him again. Oh, the memories...Chicago, May 2004, St. Louis for ASIA 2005...all I can say is WOW, I love YesFans, without this place, I would believe I was alone in my little world of love of all things YES. (*pout* Kansas City SUCKS for YES lovers. )

The order was CttE, tYA & GftO. Maybe they were just getting limber during CttE? I am unable to articulate this feeling, so work with me here please and maybe help me understand why I was disappointed. Are the YESmen too concerned about the current measure, not anticipating or looking forward to the next? But yes, I agree with what most everyone has said in previous reviews, they are playing true to the original music! I've always loved playing albums in their scored order, I do not care for any compilations or "best of" recordings by any artists. I am so very happy this is the format of this tour. It's wonderful.

AYAI, sublime, always has been, always will be. Smokin' Siberian Khatru...probably the first time of at least three times Nancy said, "Oh my, the guitarist is really good." YIND ... I'm sure they can play that in their sleep, and it was very well performed. Yet, I still find myself wandering, yearning for that path to musical heaven, Valhalla, nirvana to unfold.

Clap was wonderful, and again Nancy turns to me wide-eyed at what a remarkable player Howe is. Howe is absolutely in his element, and had me hanging a couple times for the next measure, so I know they have the potential for the magic I long of ole ... this isn't the '70's, but that is my benchmark, GftO, October 6, 1977, I had heaven.

Then ST came out in attack mode. I was happy and finally had the joy of YES I desired. ISAGP I would love hear played the next 1,400 times...is this the one that climbed the highest on the US charts I just read from that Louisville paper? (And I don't count OOALH. But I will admit I love OOALH live.)

And then A Venture...Forgotten Yesterday has it listed as being played only four other times in concert, and the March 18th show is the 12th of the tour, so this is the 16th time it's been played. Very, very good and I've been trying to format the movie to something I can upload here. grrrr! And right before the intermission came Perpetual Changes, this is the one I've probably been looking forward to hearing the most, I was pleasantly please.

They played GftO as well as the other stuff. Other reviews I've read felt they came out stronger after the intermission, but I didn't feel that way. They played very well the whole night, I probably just expected too much. I absolutely love this whole album (my first YES concert) and heard myself gasp in awe during TotC. Parallels was my other anticiapted song I longed to hear, yet it passed in a blin