Maurice D

Anderson,Bruford,Wakeman,Howe's summer tour of 1989 was the first time I had ever seen Yes in any formation and in retrospect am glad for it. I don't believe losing my cherry with RabinYes would be as memorable. Instead I remember Steve Howe dodging moths at the old Riverfront right by Thoreau's Merrimack River(Kerouac's too). His playing was flawed at times but the show was hopping all along. Tony Levin played Chris Squire's parts admirably and his interplay with Bill Bruford was really the highlight of the show.

The Giotto Lady

It's summer in New England. The three weeks preceding my ABWH show were uncharacteristically hot and humid. It felt like a tropical rain forest. The afternoon of the show a huge thunderstorm blew in and brought welcome cool, dry air. ABWH were playing at an outside bandstand. I arrived early and stationed myself directly in front of where Steve Howe would be playing. This was a very casual venue and I was no more than 15 feet away. I also had an unobstructed view of Bill Bruford's spot, behind and to Howe's left. Dusk fell, the air cooled further and the band began to play. Roughly four songs in, every insect in New England (which had been breeding triple time in the recent weather), realized that "Hey! It's warmer on stage under those lights!". The band was literally swarmed by bugs. It looked like a plague. They kept on playing but Rick was ducking and weaving, Jon was waving his arms around and Steve kept lurching from side to side. Bill was less affected than the others and seemed to be slightly amused by the proceedings. As the insect attack continued, Steve stepped up closer to the mike to begin singing. The moment he opened his mouth he inhaled a huge moth. As he started choking, Bill burst into laughter. Steve spun to his left and spit the moth out on stage. Bill continued laughing like a maniac and called something to Steve that I missed. Steve, now facing the audience, turned his head back over his shoulder and gave Bill a mock scowl. Bill laughed even louder. Steve, trying hard not to laugh himself, pointedly turned his back towards Bill while smiling into his guitar. After a few more moments of listening to Bill's laughter, Steve broke into a huge grin, turned again, stuck his tongue out at Bill and faced back towards the audience "ignoring" him. Bill was almost hysterical by now and Jon turned around and gave him a real scowl. Bill sobered up immediately and glanced over at Steve to see his reaction. Steve was still chuckling and ignoring him. However, I was just beyond Steve in Bill's line of vision. I must have still been smiling because Bill looked right at me, gave me a huge wink and dissolved into laughter again. Jon was not pleased. When the band stopped for intermission Steve and Bill headed straight for each other, wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders and laughed their way off stage together. So, for that one night at least, Steve and Bill were having a grand old time together.