Rob Andrews

Sunday, May 14, 2017 6:31 AM

As I recall this show had been rescheduled and relocated from a date in Birmingham. Perhaps someone else can recall the circumstances? I can't.
I tagged along with my friend Garry Lloyd and his girlfriend (later his wife), Jan, who bailed out of the gig very early to sit in the lobby for two hours. I suspect it was the depressing cold emanating from the covered floor. On reflection, she might have had the best seat in the house.
Like other reviewers here I liked We Can Fly From Here and Go Through This very much and having heard the instrumental backing that existed for Go Through This (on the Drama reissue) it is still a drag that they couldn't haul themselves into the studio to lay down some vocals.
Either I didn't hear, or I didn't notice any booing. I'm saddened that Trevor had such a hostile reaction in England but such tests can make or break you. I guess the UK leg of the Drama tour made Trevor's mind up for him and he chose record production. I think it worked out OK for him.

Mark B

Saturday, January 2, 2016 3:53 AM

I had seen Yes on the Going For The One tour in 1977 - a cow shed (quite literally!) called The Bingley Hall, near Stafford. It was my first concert and they were towering - a band without peer. I contrived to miss the Tormato tour - if memory serves me correctly they didn't do many shows in the UK and, being a impecunious student, I couldn't afford to travel to London from Sheffield. So, a couple of years later I found myself (with some hardened Yes chums) at the Deeside Leisure Centre (Why? Leicester was closer and on a direct train line!! I'm sure there was a reason, probably involving a woman). As another reviewer has stated, this was a covered over ice rink and it was freezing cold! A bizarre place for a concert, to be sure. I tried to approach the concert with an open mind, although being honest, I felt a Yes without Jon Anderson could not be Yes. I had, perversely, rather enjoyed the Drama album - some of those tracks still get played today. On reflection (35 years after the event!), they were brave to play five tracks from Drama, plus two unknown tracks. Brave, but ultimately foolhardy. The moment they hit the stage I knew it was not going to be good. Trevor Horn just looked so out of place; almost "lost", in fact. Geoff Downes was dressed in a silver jacket and, to my ears, was pretty ham-fisted all night. The first time Horn attempted a "Jon" song (Yours Is No Disgrace, I believe) the muttering started around me. It was dire - (the late, lamented) Chris Squire carried him through most of the song - a pattern that would become very evident as the concert progressed. And You And I was a travesty which fed into the odd centre section of the concert. This comprised two songs no one in the audience knew and a shocking Downes solo spot. This was the nadir of the gig and I, and my friends, almost left - a number of the audience did at this point. Things picked up during the Tempus Fugit - Chris solo- Machine Messiah segment, but crashed soon after with Starship Trooper and Roundabout. The fact the band returned for an encore still amazes me to this day. The applause was desultory, to say the least, and coupled with the very audible booing of Downes must have made for a depressing experience for the band. Starship Trooper was, again, carried my Chris Squire and I walked out (along with large numbers of others) during Roundabout. I'm sitting writing this in my study - on the wall is my ticket collection and, nestled amongst the many Yes tickets, is the vivid blue one for this concert. The fact that 35 years on I still have such strong feelings about this concert surprises me. My favourite band were awful - I suspect they knew it.

Smudger

My first live gig,i just wanted to see Chris Squire !.
Thought Drama was pretty good,it was a good progression from Tormato.
I remember Steve Howe giving someone in the crowd a wry smile while he played Clap,as they shouted 'Avereage' !!.
Trevor Horn's voice just wasn't up to it and he looked across to Chris Squire with embarassment when he failed to reach the choirboy notes.
I remember the booing well too,but generally i think the crowd gave Trevor Horn & Geoff Downes about 8 out of 10 as they blended in well musically with the other 3.
Was it really 27 years,3 months & 26 days ago ?!!!.
Still got the tour t-shirt although hasn't fitted for a while.

Andrew Vize

Deeside was an unlikely venue being an ice rink but quite popular at the time. (I saw Rush there too a couple of times.) My recollection is of a great gig overall. Yes - Geoff did get booed. This was during his solo piece where he played a bit of VKtRS. And yes, Chris Squire was the driving force of the evening but as it was the first time I saw Yes in any form, I was hugely impressed.

Chris Squire wore the same shiny green jacket that appeared on the cover of Melody Maker shortly after under the headline 'New Yes conquer New York'. Probably the last time they made the front page.

I hadn't heard rock music played with such dynamics before. There were quiet bits and loud bits. And I remember the loud bits being very loud. Rush did it but in a much more deliberate way. Here comes a quiet bit: cue temple blocks and twelve-string guitar.

I liked the two (Yeggles) tunes left off Drama. 'We can fly from here' and 'Go through this' were great live. Pity WCFfH does not appear on the Rhino re-master.

For the more purist reviewers, you have to understand that this was the first Yes record that was a contemporary of me - i.e. this wasn't ancient history, this was now. Drama had just been released and so at the time, I didn't miss Jon Anderson too much because I was glad to have some current output.

As an aspirant bass player, I was aware that I was in the presence of greatness. Chris Squire was simply astounding. The muso in me also remembers Chris trading his white Rick for a Fender Jazz for WCFFH. Steve Howe had more guitars than I can recall but as a point of trivia, Trevor Horn clutched a Yamaha SG2000 for much of the night.

The stage was relatively sparse but with the odd Roger Dean rock formation here and there. Quite well done really - certainly much better than inflatable stage sets or rather stilted automated kettle drums!

Err that's all I can remember for now. But if I undergo any regression therapy, I'll get back to you.

Tony Boggild

The main point was the disappointment of Trevor's vocals. His studio work stands up to most of Jon's but he just couldn't cut it live.

Chris and Steve had to dig him out on most tracks to such an extent that Chris was virtually lead vocalist by the end of the set.

The Auditorium was an ice rink which they had covered over, but it was bloody freezing!

Chris's solo was very good, but it felt like a show of solo's rather than a coherent set. The crowd actually booed during Geoff's solo.

Never having seen Yes with Jon singing still rankles but I live in hope.

I still wouldn't have missed it but it was a shame not to see Yes at their best.