Nieuwsblad van het Noorden - 1972-01-28

Tuesday, January 18, 2022 5:29 PM

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION - Nieuwsblad van het Noorden - 1972-01-28]

Yes: in the West not to the North

Last weekend the group Yes was in the Netherlands. Although it was originally said that the group would also perform in Eindhoven and yes, Groningen, it was again only the Rotterdammers and Amsterdammers (as usual) and this time also "outer area" Breda, who got to hear and see the group.

And that is very unfortunate for us here in the North, because anyone who has heard the last Yes-LP "Fragile" must be curious about their stage qualities. Fortunately I was able to comfort myself with this LP and the memories to the concert they gave on October 31, 1971 in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Five tired boys at the end of a long European tour, a not so great support act (the English folk singer Jonathan Swift), an installation that is not perfectly tuned, which mainly means bassist Chris Squire didn't get through very well in the beginning; the first minutes of the concert didn't exactly give the impression of being with the group, as you know it from their album. However, this impression was soon dispelled. The high, almost girlish voice of singer Jon Anderson (also heard on King Crimson's 3rd LP), occasionally combined with that of the two guitarists, makes Yes's vocal qualities something breathtaking. Instrumentally, the group is a very cool whole. The recruitment of organist Rick Wakeman (formerly with the Strawbs) has only done the group good.

A relief between the very long and exhausting songs was the actually too short solo performance by solo guitarist Steve Howe, who gave a demonstration of his qualities on the acoustic guitar. Last man of the group drummer Bill Bruford completed the whole and literally knocked his clothes off. At the end of the concert, the announcement that the group would be back in January and the handing over of the Edison (for "The Yes Album") to Jon Anderson, who after receiving it asked the record company representative: "Is this real chocolate"?

As I said, very tiring to listen to (especially live), but in my opinion Yes is one of the better bands that have emerged in the last two years.

All the more reason to ask again, to all the organizers: "As Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, Fields, Jethro Tull, etc come to the Netherlands again, can they please come to the North?"

Etty T. Bonnema

Cor Diemers

Bruford was teasing Howe all the time during the show and suddenly they played Five per cent for nothing together. Very rare performance as far as I know.