47 years, 3 months and 5 days ago

Thursday, June 17, 1976

Jersey City, New Jersey

Roosevelt Stadium

25,000 capacity

Richard Neer:
The light show has begun. There is a laser – there are all kinds of blue lights up on stage. Yes has just gotten here in their limousine. The big blimp, or whatever that is, is descending and the concert should start momentarily. It’s amazing, that feeling of going out on stage. There must be 100,000 – there are only about 25, but it feels like there are 100,000 people out there and the energy level right now, after all these people have been waiting for some 45 minutes to an hour, is just incredible! The group is going on stage right now, so we should be doing it in just about a minute or two. The amazing thing was being on the stage – the decibel level of noise coming from the audience. It may only be 25 to 30,000 people but it’s a surround stage, it’s like being in the middle of a Cinerama screen, with quadruple quadraphonic sound coming from all different directions, and there’s just a whole lot of noise up there, a whole lot of excitement in this crowd. Larry Fast is in the crowd, which is excitement enough on it’s own. And the show is just about to begin, on stage now for Yes from Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City…

Jon Anderson:
It's Roosevelt Stadium again! Woah!

Jon Anderson:
Here’s a song from ‘Relayer’… 'The Gates Of Delirium'.

Jon Anderson:
Like to take this opportunity and thank you all so very much for making a wonderful evening. Old Roosevelt Stadium! Here's a song called 'Ritual'.

Richard Neer:
Yes from Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. About 35,000 people on their feet, applauding what has been an incredible concert by Yes. They have erected huge television screens on both sides of the stage and I’ll try to give you a picture of what’s going on here… It’s basically an old baseball stadium – you got the grandstands in the back and bleachers in left field and down the right field lines, with big light stanchions on either side, old fashioned scoreboard in the back as well. And right now we are in what would be center field, where the stage is, slightly behind the stage and we’re looking out over the crowd. If you’ve seen matches being lit at Madison Square Garden for an encore, you should see it here – it’s just incredible! An amazing sight…

Pat Dawson:
I think there’s a reasonable expectation that there will be an encore. I think it’s kind of in the ballpark of definite. Let me put it this way – I don’t want to be here if there’s no encore! I don’t want to be here with 30,000 of those people not getting an encore, that’s all I can say.

Richard Neer:
One of the incredible things, a friend of mine said he was in the press box, watching, over home plate into centerfield, where the stage is. And the amazing thing was, they were using lasers during most of their numbers, multi-colored lasers, and they were shooting them at the sky and some of them you could actually see off the clouds. But they were going over the Hudson River and hitting buildings in Manhattan, you could actually see little green specks on the buildings in Manhattan from the lasers being beamed across from here in Jersey City. They have not, as yet, gone back on stage but it is in the certainty area that they will. Fireworks are going off and here they come

Pat Dawson:
back on stage

Richard Neer:
A spirited version of ‘Roundabout’ and the crowd again is going wild. I don’t know quite if you’re hearing the full impact of the crowd on the radio, but it’s just incredible. The intensity of the noise from the crowd is just the loudest I have heard anywhere. Matches lit all over the stadium again, spotlights around…

Alison Steele:
In this particular setting, it’s the most impressive scene I have ever witnessed. I mean it’s just total bananas, pandemonium!

Richard Neer:
And they’re back on stage now for another encore – they have done on the tour as many as three, this’ll be their second. Back on stage now with Yes…

Steve Howe:
This is great to be back in New York.

Chris Squire:
Thank you!

Patrick Moraz:
And thank YOU!