quiquemax

Wednesday, May 15, 2013 8:00 PM

I was there in that concert and a couple of weeks around I watched the same concert in New York Beacon Theatre where i got my official t shirt and merchandise that I still got it---In Peru was amazing--the crowd much warmer than in NYC---still remmebering !!

Geoff Dunn

To Jay

Very interesting, but Peter Banks was also at the 'Union' show at the L.A. Forum on Wednesday, May 15, 1991. (I was there!) It was a controversial "non-appearance" on stage for him. Check out the Forgotten Yesterdays entry for more details.

Jay Haywood

Apparently Peter Banks was in the audience for this show, with his newly wed wife (a Yes fan who he met on the internet). This was the only Yes concert Peter attended when he wasn't on stage with them (1970).

Carlos Benavides

The Yes in Lima Experience.-

Part I
The YesSweaters

Since I have a sweater factory (we produce and export sweaters to the US and Germany), few days before the concert decided to make a Yessweater for me with The Ladder in the front of it, using the same lettering as in the artwork of the album, plus the new logo; in the back, the classic logo. The sweater looked COOL! I ended making 5 sweaters (for 3 of my brothers and one of my sisters in law....she looked adorable !) As Dante Nieri has mentioned in his excellent post (good job Dante, keep those posts coming), we looked as wearing a uniform and being members of the Yesstaff.

Part II
The pre-Show reunion

Showtime was at 9:00 pm but we knew the concert wouldn't start until past 9:30 pm. At 7:00 pm I went to the house of one of my brothers and started warming up with some Scotchs and Yes music (of course). At 8:30 pm we were a party of 13 and decided to start moving towards the venue. When we arrived there was a big line of fans (aprox. 150 m or 500 ft) waiting to make their entrance to Muelle Uno. The funny thing is that we, the men had VIP tickets, so had no need to make line; our wives had cheaper tickets, so they had to stay in line and waited almost 45 minutes to get inside. As soon as we entered, our sweaters caused sensation....everybody was asking: "were did you buy those sweaters....they look great !", so I started giving everybody my phone number in order to make some Yes business.....don't worry, I'll send Roger and Steve their copyright cheque ;-).

At 9:30 pm the venue was packed....everybody was so excited....lots of beer and not many pot. Just behind me was the promoter who said the concert was an economic success, he showed me a CD of The Ladder.....how he got it ???

Part III
The Concert

At 9:50 pm the introduction music started sounding....first time I heard what I suppose is Young Person's Guide to Orchestra.....Steve Howe appeared first....the explosion! The band members saluted the 'in ecstasy' crowd. I was in 4th row at the center, just in front of Jon; a distance of aprox. 20 ft separated us.

Being so near to the stage has it's pros and cons.

The negative aspects are:

sound reached our ears with a small distortion.
lack of panoramic view.....at some moments of the concert it was like seeing a tennis match....head to the left to see Steve, head to the right to see Chris and Billy.
The positive are obvious....being so close to our heroes.
The setlist has already been posted by Dante so no need to mention it (we had more classics and less Ladder). I won't go thru the song by song analysis; just some comments to some songs and passages of the show:

YIND....a great start of the show.....Steve, Jon and Chris captured the attention. Jon was wearing a laurel leave scarf with his white and yellow relaxed fit clothing. As usual, Chris was wearing some outrageaus garments like white pants 3/4 long (covering only until aprox 10 cm below his knees); Steve was in blue, Billy in brown t-shirt and black pants, Alan all in black (t-shirt and shorts) and Igor...I'm not sure, IIRC, black pants and light purple shirt. From the start, all the praising was directed to Steve, Jon and Chris, so decided to encourage Billy. I was constantly cheering to him and he responded twice with a smile and a wave of hand.

Lightning Strikes: IMO, the lowest point of the concert. I'm almost sure Jon made a mistake while singing. He was singing some lines while the rest of the rest of the band members were playing other . Jon looked embarrased.

And You and I: the first surprise ! I didn't expected it.....it was a highlight. Probaly the most amazing tune of the concert. When it finished the venue almost colapsed with the roaring of the crowd......we were all shouting....YES ! YES ! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

Steve's Solo: Fro

Dante Nieri

I HAVE WAITED ALL MY LIFE FOR THIS MOMENT

I got to know Yes in the year 1972 trough Fragile and since the first lines of Roundabout it turned into my favourite group whose music has played an important role being part of my life over the years since then.

For 26 long years it was not possible for me to see them live because for various different reasons they never came to my country, until last year, I hopped on a plane with my wife and went to see them in Santiago de Chile. Even though the seats we had were not the best, seeing them perform was a dream come true.

This time in Lima things were different. I had a seat in the middle of the second row and it was like watching YES perform for the first time.

The concert took place in a huge tent at the Pacific Ocean called "Muelle Uno", the place was packed in spite of the expensive tickets. There were like 4000 people, not a soul more would have fitted in.

With me went my two sons (20 and 13), my wife as well as two friends and there wives. With one of my friends, Alfredo Coronado, we had gone the night before to the Sheraton Hotel, where YES was staying. We had the opportunity to see tem all, except Steve Howe and we talked to Alan White, who gave us his autograph and let us take some pictures with him.

Seeming a very simple and nice person, he told us how good it feels to play in Latina America, talked about the Set List and was worried about Hurricanes back in the States. I asked him to play Close to the Edge (my favourite song) but he explained that it would not be possible this time. Once we were sure that there REALLY would be a concert next day, we went home.

The concert started around 9:50 p.m. with Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra like planned and the Set List had some surprises.

I have seen YES videos many times, I spend my life listening to their music, but the experience of seeing them perform live is not comparable to anything else. It is magic, almost mystic. That music has been made to be fealt together with the people who created it in performance.

The charisma and virtuosity, specially Anderson's, Howe's and Squire's is something to be mentioned separately. I won't stop here to repeat about each one, what others repeatedly have written about them. I will simply repeat that they are the most extraordinary musicians. The experience was completely delighted and I am very happy and proud that YES, finally, came to my country.

Some notes that might be of interest about the concert:

I did not see any official video taping

There was no sale of Tour Book or T-shirts

Sound was bad, Howe had problems several times and we couldn't hear Anderson very well at moments
In total, the concert was 2:25 hours long.
Some Anecdotes from the concert:
"That guy is crazy" my youngest son said about Howe in YIND, which was a very good start of the concert. I think that was what I liked best.
Sitting in second row, you start some kind of a dialogue with the musicians... when the concert ended, my wife asked Jon Anderson to play CTTE, he smiled at her and made it clear that it was pretty late already and that it was time to go to sleep.
Carlos Benavides (member of the List "South Side" who also had gone with us to the Sheraton the night before) came with his brothers, all wearing sort of a uniform consisting of sweaters with the YES logo written on them and the cover of Ladder on them (sweaters made by him). At the end of the concert, they threw the sweaters on to the stage. Anderson picked up one, looked at it surprised and threw it back. The others were taken by the seconds.
Towards the end of the concert, somebody threw a bra on to stage, which was consciously checked by all surprised and amused musicians -specially Alan White- during the last applause.

Gustavo Alva

This is to say my dream finally came true. I'am 41 years old and since early 70's I follow Yes until nowadays.Concert at Lima was simply great; my older son Bruno (11 years old) had the opportunity to appreciate the legend in it's complete dimension. No words to describe how music sound like: And You and I, was not expected and we all reach climax when heard Steve's introduction. Yours is no disgrace at the beginning of the concert was incredibly, The Ladder's songs, specially Homeworld, were fantastic.

My friends and I are much grateful Yes decided to visit Peru for the first time and hope the come back pretty soon.

Gustavo Córdova

The show was incredible although there were some problems with the sound. It was the first time they play in Perú (Jon Anderson came alone in 1993).

Muelle Uno was full (more than 3000 people which is the top capacity of the local). The band appeared at 9:50 p.m. and aside from little technicals problems during Yours Is No Disgrace, the group played excellent: Steve Howe was the best from the night, playing many differents guitars as usually, he looked very happy. Igor played Awakwen and Roundabout very good and the new songs, but in the rest of the show the sound of the keybords was "lost" (in fact he asked to increase the volume from the keybords several times during the show).

The better gift from the night: the band decided to play And You And I (the first time they play during this tour acording to the people who wrote you). This was one of the peaks of the night (the other one: Awaken of course). Something strange: Jon presented the members of the band along the show whit the exception of........Alan White! It was a pitty because Alan had a great night.

Carlos Benavides

Tickets for the Yes concert will start selling tomorrow. I have just received a phone call from the saleswoman and she informs that VIP tickets (first 10-12 rows on the center) cost........$ 100 each !!!! Tickets for $ 60 and $ 30 are also available.

Of course I want a VIP ticket (6th row)....going with my wife would cost me $ 200, so I don't know, eventhough I'm paying, she is more concerned about spending so much money (obviously she isn't a Yes fan, though she likes Jon). Two of my brothers who initially were planning to go with their wives, after knowing the price, will go alone. Promoters really know how to scare fans.

Knowing me, at the end I for sure will take my wife......she can't miss it !.....but I'll send her way back to the $ 30 sector. ;-)

Carlos Benavides

La Republica August 28, 1999

Mythical Progressive Rock Group, leadered by charismatic Jon Anderson will present in our capital on Sept. 16.

Lima once had the chance to see Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, members of Yes, separately. Now, eventhough Wakeman is not there, we'll be able to appreciated the group as a whole. They will soon tour Southamerica and will anchor in our Lima (thirsty of good shows), to present their new album "The Ladder".

It's true that the group is coming (as usual) after 30 years of non stopped trayectory, but it's better later than never.

The best thing is that the band is coming with some of their most representative musicians: Jon Anderson (voice), Steve Howe (guitar), Chris Squire (bass) and Alan White (drums). The less known are Billw Sherwood (also guitars) and Igor Koroshev (keyboards). From earlier incarnations, we won't see the mentioned Wakeman, Tony Kaye, Trevor Rabin, and if we keep going back, Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn and Bill Bruford.

Yes has always been cataloged as a progressive rock group, the most ambitious current of the genre, due to many characteristics: syncopated rhythms, merge of eclectic styles, complex musical construction and a high virtuosism in the instrumental execution. Sample of that were their productions from the 70s: 'The Yes Album', 'Fragile', 'Close to the Edge', 'Relayer' , among others. From those albums, majestic himns have sprouted such as 'Roundabout', 'Heart of the Sunrise', 'And You and I', 'Starship Trooper', 'Yours Is No Disgrace' and 'I've Seen All Good Peaople'.

In the next decade, the group shortened their proposal. The personnel changes and the market demands, drove them to simpler paths, linked to POP, not saying with this that their works are devaluated. Albums like '90125' and 'Big Generator' have balanced music between the accesible and the elaborated. 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart', 'Changes', 'Love Will Find The Way' and 'Rhythm Of Love' belong to that era.

After Union, an album with almost all musicians from different incarnations, they entered the 90s following the simpler formula. They released 'Talk' and 'Open Your Eyes' before arriving to 'The Ladder'. This album will be released world wide next month and the promotion single is 'Lightning Strikes'.

The only presentation of Yes will be on Sept. 16 in Muelle Uno, and will have for sure an audience avid to enjoy their excellent anthology pieces.