My cousin Greg came through once again and scored tickets for us.When we were on our way to the concert, we got within a few blocks of the theater, but went down a wrong side street and almost got lost. Suddenly I noticed the car in front of us had plates that said "ABWH", and I told my cousin to follow them, and sure enough we found our way back!Thanks to those fellow YES fans, where ever you are!as we were waiting in line to get in, a passerby stopped and noticed the Yes name on the theater sign and said to us," YES? hey that's the band with GREG Wakeman,right?" Ummm....Rrrright.(sorry RICK!). When we were inside,at first I was a bit taken aback by the fact that my Favorite band, who use to be able to fill stadiums and huge ampitheaters,were now playing in this dinky and somewhat dingey(sic?)little theater( that's probably why they scheduled 3 nights in a row).But,THANK GOD for general admission!We worked our way up to the 3rd.row ( right in front of CHRIS SQUIRE!)YES! The closest I've ever been to the stage.We could actually make Eye contact with the FISH ( and Billy). Yes played of course GREAT this night. The LADDER songs were done especially well."HOMEWORLD" was Incredible.I got a laugh at how JON flubbed the first verse of "IT WILL BE A GOOD DAY", Then he expertly teased the audience by starting the song over! What a showman! His voice was perfect through the whole show.When I first heard "LIGHTNING STRIKES" on the radio,I wasn't too impressed by it. But I must Admit that when they did it live, it got the crowd on their feet and dancing."FACE TO FACE" was another lively crowd-pleaser. When Chris would hit certain notes on his Bass during "THE MESSENGER",I could feel the "whoooosshh" go right thru me! SHIVVYMETIMBRES,matey! I was hoping they'd do "FINALLY", but They didn't, oh well.The classic tunes were Great , also. "PERPETUAL CHANGE" was nice to hear again(although I still think the live YESSONGS version will ALWAYS be the greatest,well up until the drum solo, anyways...sorry BILL!)."AWAKEN" was very good, You could hear shouts of "IGOR WAKEMAN" from the crowd ( at least they DIDN'T call him "GREG"!). But I prefer the Original "RICKSTER" on this EPIC."HEARTS" was a surprise, but I found it Strange when STEVE HOWE would walk in and out for the guitar parts. Apparently, so did Mr.Squire, who at one point was on Steve's part of the stage looking to the back of the stage, waiting for Steve to come back out as if to say "hurry up,your part is coming up". Very odd. But all in all a great show,despite the rather crappy venue.
David Nemeth
I saw YES for the fourth time in my life at the Riveria Theatre Chicago. My wife was on the internet and said YES tickets are $10.00. I was like sure whatever. I got to the show early and got some decent balcony seats. I was not expecting anything special. I was blown away by YES! Steve Howe was amazing and Chris Squire played the house with his Bass. I was blown away by Chris on the bass. I was crying hearing these songs after all this time and what they meant to me. I wonder if people around me noticed I was crying from joy! Us old time Yes fans became rowdy and soon everyone was cheering for YES. This was a SPECIAL show. Yes could feel that total love comming from the audience. I think it invigerated them. It invigerated me!
Shaun Wise
Also in Chicago this past tour he started It Will Be a Good Day with another verse entirely. Most know it starts out Golden forest, golden lake, sanctuary, state of grace....... he started the song with golden mountains, golden seas a thousand reasons...... Right after he finished that line he stopped and said "I think I am going to start this again." or something to that effect after he noticed he had started the song with the wrong verse. After he said that, the whole audience, all 200 of us ;-) along with Jon had a good laugh about it. That was handled very well. And the show went on.
Brian Neeson
Remember in Chicago, [Anderson's] roadie forgot to put those miniature cymbals on the mike stand. Jon picked up "imaginary" cymbals and started to "play" them on The Messenger.
Froy
I am very sad to Say that The Yes shows in Chicago are a complete embarrassment. The choice of venue has to be the worst in the bands 30 year career. As I was walking into the show tonight the first thing I noticed were 4 guys being arrested in front of the dumpy theater . Also the Rivera could not even turn on the Marquee so you could see the theater. The reason? the guts of the sign was missing. They have a promo going for 10 dollars which puts you in the balcony, only problem is you can't see the stage from the balcony . Im Glad I went to the HOB in Vegas and Milwaukee because Chicago got screwed. If you are thinking of going on Wednesday be smart for safety reasons and a ridiculous 75 dollar GA ticket , STAY HOME.
Dave Holste
After being disapointed with the poor sound Saturday night at the Milwaukee (Barn) Auditorium I was looking forward to this show at the Riviera in Chicago because of the great accoustics.
The place is like a 100 year old opera house and Yes took full advantage of the accoustics and put on an inspired show.
"Awaken" was always one of my favorites back in the day and it definitely brought chills to me tonight....Very beautiful.
I can see why the band always plays "And You & I" because its such a great live song for them and really gets the crowd juiced up.
They skipped playing "Nine Voices" again so it looks like thats been scrapped from this tour along with "New Languages" which they havn't played for a month. Dissapointing because I was looking forward to both of those.
Anyways I was very happy with the show and look forward to seeing them again this Saturday in Toledo for the 3rd & final leg of my Yes experience for this tour.