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Monday, September 3, 2001 Danbury, Connecticut Charles Ives Center For The Arts 5,000 capacity 21 years, 6 months and 24 days ago
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Colorado Mountain Girl and prozakcbluesman Posting this nearly a year after seeing it... (hey, we've been busy!) First I must say that I really liked the Charles Ives Center, what a cool place, lots of trees, a classy little pavillion, very intimate - however lawn seating is not as nice as being seated in reserve! What a great show! I have seen every YES tour since 1984 (sorry Talk was not worth seeing!), but this was Colorado Mountain Girl's first YES show - what a way to start it all! To be able to see this band play Close to the Edge, Gates of Delirium, Perpetual Change, And You and I, Starship Trooper and Ritual all in the same night, and with an orchestra!!! I looked over to her during Gates of Delirium only to see a look of shock and amazement on Mountain Girl's face, which only brought a smile and a laugh for me. The sweet jazziness of Perpetual Change, the whole-earth, deep sea sounds of And You And I, the primal bass-drums workout during Ritual, the spaciness of Starship Trooper, the metallic strength and power of Gates of Delirium, the relgious experience that is Close to the Edge... All these pieces, so many emotions, so many moods, simply and truly a fan's wishes come true. At the time, I said the only thing that could make this better would be to have Rick Wakeman re-join the band! Please see our posting for Columbia, MD 8/9/02! Sharon Brown Probably will be the first and last time I will see YES perform practically in my back yard. I actually live here in Danbury. Was so glad I went. As Matt says, Gates was wonderful. Sat midway into the center section with fellow YES friends thanks to Roy and Rhea. My original ticket was close on Steve's side, but I chose to sit with friends instead. I agree that the venue was strange, but it has it's own uniqueness. The year before when the Moody Blues played there, as the band started to play, the bats rose from the top of the kiosak and flew off into the Sky. Always wonder what Jon would have said if they did that again. OH well.. fun show doubt that they will be back here soon, but it sure was fun. Matthew S. Putzel Ives Concert Park, on the campus of Western Connecticut State University, in Danbury, CT is easily the most unusual place I have ever seen Yes play. First of all, the parking was atrocious. College students were parking the cars, and they seemed to be completely unprepared for the amount of traffic. A stop and go mess ensued going up the hill that leads to the concert area. Finally, someone had the brilliant idea of opening up a lot by the O’Neil Center that for some reason they had closed off. Due to the traffic, we didn’t get to our seats until 20 minutes after the show was scheduled to start. Luckily, however, the band and the orchestra waited for us as they started as soon as my fiancé and I sat down. The stage was a gazebo, no kidding..with a moat around it, or what resembled a moat anyway. Woods surrounded the area. There were about 1500 seats in the reserved seating area, with the lawn seats all obstructed view. We were in the reserved seats dead center in front of Jon Anderson about nine rows back. However it seemed farther because of the moat that separated the stage (gazebo) from the fans. The show started around 6:20 PM, so it was broad daylight. When it did get dark, the regular Yes assortment of lights was nowhere to be found. The stage setup is probably used for a lot of college bands, so seeing Yes here was quite different from a couple days ago at the Oakdale. Seeing half the show in broad daylight was also very different. “Close to the Edge” was the opener as usual. Again, it was very strange to see them play in broad daylight with no lighting effects at all. Unlike the other two Connecticut stops, the orchestra was clearly heard throughout the entire set. The arrangements made for a completely different listening experience, that really worked. After “Long Distance Runaround,” Jon commented about how this venue reminded him of some of the places they played when they first started. “Don’t Go” was played with the usual commotion of people getting out of their seats to go to the bathroom and get refreshments. A highlight for me was “In the Presence of” which really flourished with the more audible orchestra. At one point near the end of the song, a flock of geese flew overhead which Jon thought was really cool. He jokingly said after the song that they planned it that way and they release geese every night at that same point of the song. “Gates of Delirium” rocked the forest, and keyboardist Tom Brislin’s animations during the song were quite amusing. One middle aged female violinist in the orchestra who was sitting right behind Tom gave him the strangest look during the battle section. The oboe players were really getting into it, rocking along with it. Either they were big Yes fans, or they thought it was just really cool. At any rate, it was a real strong performance. Steve Howe’s acoustic set featured what I think was Vivaldi’s “Winter” and “Clap.” Brislin once again was very animated during a strong rendition of “Perpetual Change.” “Starship Trooper” did not go over as well as it did at the Oakdale but was fun none the less. I noticed a folded towel was placed on the stage right where Chris Squire would kneel during his bass solo. It’s funny to notice the little props that are necessary for each song, such as the megaphone for “Don’t Go.” The sun was setting by the time “And You and I” started, which was particularly strong due to the orchestrations. “Ritual” was fun as always, but lacked the strobe lighting effects that add to the experience during the drum section. The crowd was up and dancing for “I’ve Seen All Good People” and “Roundabout”. This was definitely an unusual venue to see Yes play, and quite an experience. If you get a chance to catch a major act at this venue, do it, just get there early so you don’t get caught in the parking mess. Reviewed by Matthew S. Putzel rabin105 I was waiting for this all day we went to theives anmd sood around for a while when guess who pulled up Alan White and Chris squire. I yelled out to them they waved but had to drive away to prepare for the show my mother got a picture of them but it hasn't turned out yet. then when we got in i went saw the stage from my veiw brislin had a korg organ and two synthasiesers. the show started with brislin and the members of the orchestra coming on stage this guy throws more life in the keys he was excited to be there and you could tell. the first song was close to the edge and it was great. Jon's voice in stellar condition and the venue was great a flock of birds flew by during the song. Jon joked saying how he planned that. then they played ldr oh my god it was terific brislin was dancing around He should be a member. then they played don't go and in the presence of They are terrific songs can't wait for the new ablum (whenever it comes out) thengod howe solo spot and starship trooper as well as rituals and perpetual change. finishing of with all good people and round about. The only problem was the guy 3 seets behind me yelling some garbege about a.m. radio i wanted to yell at the guy to shut up but he was a druken idiot and might hvae started a riot. vthe show was magical and I love the orchestration and keyboard playing on Long distance runaround don't think there with an orchestra it will suck think this will be great they have Tom brislin and a great new sound it is great trused me
before 'Don't Go' transcribed by: Matthew Putzel Jon Anderson:Thank you so much, thank you. It's great to be with you this evening in this wonderful ...garden here. I remember when we first uh... played 'Close to the Edge,' the first time ever was in a place just like this in London. It was kinda... A place called Crystal Palace would you believe? Some 20....few years ago as they say...yeah it's okay. it's okay. Anyway, we are going to do a couple new songs for you from the new album. We uh...we finished the album about a couple months ago just before the tour. And the album is called 'Magnification.' And uh.. its one of those things, you make an album, it's kind of wierd for people to hear it. So It's, it's coming out soon, anyway here's a couple of songs, this first one is uh..about the idea, don't beat yourself up so much and love is something...I kepp forgetting what it is. Chris wrote it. Chris remembers more than me. Oh, yeah, don't take love for granted. It's uh..here we go. Don't Go. before 'In The Presence Of' transcribed by: Matthew Putzel Jon Anderson:Thank you. During the course of recording, every morning...well morning...ten to twelve, we'd all get into the studio...except a certain member of the band who is ..always sort of late. A little bit, I won't go there. But Alan used to spend a lot of time playing the piano, thing like this...yeah let's do a song like this. [sings] Another Sat... I was just getting into it..okay. So, he came up with this meloday and we put this song together in a couple of hours. And the song is called 'In The Presence Of' before 'Gates Of Delirium, The' transcribed by: Matthew Putzel Jon Anderson:Thank you so much. Thank you. Wooo. We had a sacred fly over there, I thought it was kind of cool. We do that every night. We have those guys in a box...over there. Like to introduce you to Mr. William Stromberg and the Symphony Orchestra here. Wonderful People. Wondeful. When we decided to do this uh..tour with the orchestra we wanted to try out uh...things that we've done before..but you know with an orchestra lets really go crazy, and uh, this is a piece of music we wrote in the middle of the 70's when life was definately crazier than it is now. And uh...the energy of war was all over the darn place. So this song comes from that kind of place..if you like. It's called 'Gates Of Delirium.' before 'Perpetual Change' transcribed by: Matthew Putzel Jon Anderson:Mr. Steve Howe. Steve Howe: Alright..thank you. before 'And You And I' transcribed by: Matthew Putzel Jon Anderson:Thank you so much. Thank you. Wonderful. Wooo. Steve Howe...Chris Squire...Steve Howe. On the keyboards, all the way from New Jersey, Mr. Tom Brislin. Wooo. Thank you. Here's a song...we just love to play this song. In fact since we recorded it, we always play it. before 'Ritual' transcribed by: Matthew Putzel Jon Anderson:Wooo.... Wooo.... Thank you so much. There's ah.. sort of a story to this next piece of music. We were getting ready to do this album, and I really wanted to do the album in the middle of the forest. It's very..sort of true, and the guys obviously told me to calm down Jon. You know, cause where would we plug in? You know? So, I had this crazy idea, but we eventually did it in a studio, but then I.. I started to bring in some cardboard cows and ducks and things...just to get a feeling of country. So here we are in the middle of this lovely park. Yeeees! Cause this next piece was all about the idea of Mother Earth, you know? This is for my wonderful soul mate Jane. She loves singing this song with me. The idea of Mother Earth and the way people bang drums and thing like that ...is a Ritual of life you see, so we're going to do the song from 'Tales From Topographic' called 'Ritual'. before 'I've Seen All Good People' transcribed by: Matthew Putzel Jon Anderson:Mr. Steve Howe. Tom Brislin. You. Here's a song we're all going to sing a long to, half way through, everybody up and dancing, the boogie, and get rid of those guys okay. Chase those guys away. |