Ken Robertson

Me and my buddy Moonhead drive all the way from Bloomington with no tickets vowing that if we can't get in, we'll listen by the back door. at 6pm we buy seats on " row A " I ask the lady at the ticket window if row A is in the balcony or something she says " I can tell you this.. no one will be blocking your view " we walk to get a beer , and see a limo in the alley behind the venue inside the limo is this really wild looking zebra looking jacket I tell Moonhead that I really really really want to take that coat ( of course I know better , so we go get beers ) we come back for the show the usher walks us to " row A " right at the foot of the stage and sits us in seats right in front of a small set of removable steps music starts / lights go out / the band walks out right through the crowd through a human tunnel of security guards right up the stairs at our feet Squire is wearing the zebra looking jacket

Ken Robertson

I bought my front row ticket just before the show at the ticket window ( $9.50 )

The night I saw it they used the Firebird Suite then it blended into the Close Encounters music that works up into three or four extreamly loud crescendos , then a loud chord by Steve ( the one that usally led into Siberean Khatru ) This time it led into " Does it Really Happen ? "

While this was going on, the band was walked out to the round stage in the dark ( entering the stage about 2 feet fron where I was standing ) then they all gathered in the center of the stage ( still in the dark ) and stood in a tight circle back to back, as a translucent round curtain ( not much larger than the circle they made ) was lowered down over them. I think I remember Chris , Trevor, and Geof doing something like tai chai inside the curtain ( or maybe they where just adjusting their shorts )

Dim light was on the curtain during the CE3K music and bright flashes of light on them as each of the loud crescendos rang out.

The curtain raised off them, and the moved to their positions Then Steve hit the chord, and as they began CiRH , the lights came up , and the stage began to revolve.

The whole thing probably gave the impression that they where beamed in with a star trek transporter if you saw it for a few rows out.

Ken Robertson

I saw the Drama show in Oct 1980 (very near the end of the tour, I think) in Louisville KY. (front row) I don't recall the crowd being negative to Trevor at all. Trevor handled the vocals very well, (of course the classic stuff sounded like Trevor, and not Jon, but still it sounded like YES) and I've seen every YES tour since then (some twice), Chris Squire (still my favorite bass player) has never in the past 17 years sounded as impressive as Oct 1980.

BTW..Geoff Downes was great that night also and I've seen him live 3 times since then...