1.01 No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (4.31)
1.02 tuning problems (4.17)
1.03 Then (4.55)
1.04 It's Love (12.56)
1.05 Everydays (5.03)
1.06 I See You (12.42)
1.07 Something's Coming (10.28)
==============================

YES
1969-10-27
Amougies Belgium Actuel Festival
27 October 1969
Audience recording
Quality C

Jon Anderson - lead vocals
Peter Banks - guitar & backing vocals
Tony Kaye - organ
Chris Squire - bass & vocals
Bill Bruford - drums
And now for the penultimate day of this legendary festival... I'm sure this is one of the most anticipated performances - a rare early performance by Yes

1.01 No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (4.31)
1.02 tuning problems (4.17)
1.03 Then (4.55)
1.04 It's Love (12.56)
1.05 Everydays (5.03)
1.06 I See You (12.42)
1.07 Something's Coming (10.28)

Yes fans are in for a treat - sonics aside, this is a really interesting listen. First, with the exception of "Then", they only play covers, including the rare "It's Love" from The Rascals which extensively features Chris Squire on vocals and bass (there is a version with Steve Howe on the recent live boxed set) - and, already at that point, has Anderson quoting the introductory theme to Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring" (as he again did on "Yessongs"). The climax of the gig, I think, is the very extended "I See You" which has one of those long, wild guitar/drums duets between Banks and Bruford that Banks has referred to repeatedly but here's the first real chance of hearing what it really was like. Of course, Yes went on to make great music, arguably better and more accomplished, but there's a wildness and freedom to their early incarnation that was missing in their later, superstar days.

Lastly, the usual reminder about the sound quality - the tape recorder used was way below modern standards and the sound is nowhere near "professional" quality. This reservation aside, however, this is simply an unbelievable document of a legendary festival, and so our hearfelt thanks to the taper, JJB, for recording this at the time, and for allowing me to seed it here.

(technical note: JJB tells me he remembers using a Grundig tape recorder with LR14 batteries, using 8cm-diameter reels with a 4,75 cm/s recording speed)

== urich21 ==