Yes
Boston Garden
Boston, Massachusetts
June 19, 1979
Summer 1979 North American "Ten True Summers” Tour
[Link]

Yestorrent

The original Balrog audience master tape newly transferred and remastered in the summer of 2023 using the Magic Bullet.* If you have the original PRRP and/or BLG version, this will be a substantial upgrade.

Contrast Clause:
Distributed in 96kHz/24-bit and 44.1kHz/16-bit formats. Both are now on Dime. Previous versions are no longer on the tracker.

01. Intro - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
02. Siberian Khatru
03. Heart of the Sunrise
04. Future Times/Rejoice
05. Circus of Heaven
06. Time and a Word/Long Distance Runaround/
Survival/The Fish/Perpetual Change/
Excerpts from The Gates of Delirium including “Soon”
07. Technical Problems
08. Excerpt from The Ancient: "Leaves of Green"
09. Clap (Howe solo including Double Rondo)
10. Arriving UFO (including Alan White solo)
11. Starship Trooper
12. Wakeman solo
13. Awaken
14. Tour Song
15. I've Seen All Good People
16. Audience (fireworks)
17. Roundabout

Yes
Jon Anderson - Vocals and various instruments
Steve Howe – Guitars
Chris Squire - Bass guitars
Rick Wakeman - Keyboards
Alan White – Percussion

Recording Lineage 1979: Nakamichi CM-100/CP-1 > Nakamichi 550 > Maxell XLII-S C90s

Digital Transfer Lineage 2023: Maxell XLII-S C90s > Nakamichi 481Z > line level conversion > Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen > Sound Forge Audio Studio > WAV

Balrog/Lestat Remaster 2023: WAV > Adobe Audition > Sound Forge Audio Studio > Magic Bullet > Adobe Audition > FLAC

Equalization and other work to reveal detail as the audience heard and felt it to every extent possible. No alteration of band-crowd-venue sound balance or reduction of local crowd noise as they are perfectly natural in the recording and do not interfere with music signal.

* The Magic Bullet is a whimsical name given to a process for improving the sound quality of audience recordings discovered by Balrog after years of research. The process is less precise but much less labor-intensive than the iterative process used by Lestat in the past. Lestat's process still produces finer results but the time and effort saved by the Magic Bullet is significant. Its efficiency has allowed us to remaster and share some old master tapes that otherwise would never have seen the light of day. It also has proven invaluable for mastering excellent audience recordings in combination with Lestat’s normal process. See Notes at end.

Balrog Notes:

There were two previous remastered versions of this recording, the first done by the PRRP (Progressive Rock Remastering Project) and the second by BLG (Balrog-Lestat-Gromek). The PRRP version (UFOs Over Boston was significantly off pitch. Unauthorized "speed corrected" versions appeared on Dime, much to my dismay and annoyance. No speed corrected version was ever issued by the PRRP, the upshot of which was the beginning of my long, productive, and extremely rewarding partnership with Lestat and Gromek. Some of you may remember our BLG releases, this concert having been called “The Realization of a Little Imagination,” taken from one of Jon’s song introductions.

I'm confident that the pitch of this recording is correct. The Nakamichi 550 portable cassette deck on which it was recorded has a built-in "Super Stabilizer" that prevents power supply voltage fluctuations and a pulse-controlled DC servomotor that maintains absolute speed stability. The Nakamichi 481Z cassete deck on which it was played back has speed governors and has been serviced and calibrated by a professional. Moreover, I trust Lestat's ear for individual human voice properties and overall sonic detail to confirm accurate pitch.

I’m quite pleased with the sound quality of the fresh analog to digital conversion, which was made with better equipment than the original and has the benefit of more experience on my part. The 481Z is one of the “sleeper” decks that were manufactured during what the Nakamichi cognoscenti call the “golden era” of the company. It has a genuine Nakamichi transport and surprisingly good sound quality, comparable to the much more expensive Dragon and CR-7.

Unlike our recording of Yes at Providence Civic Center, June 10, 1976, this one has an FFT cutoff filter (“haircut”) well above 20kHz, which is the upper limit of normal human hearing. Any residual tape hiss below the cutoff is hidden by audience noise.

What I remember most about this concert is the astonishing performance of Arriving UFO, which was played only ten times during this tour and then never again. Alan White’s drum synth solo is worth the price of admission. Those of us who were at Boston Garden the year before, for the first Tormato tour, were lucky enough to have heard Release, Release, which was only ever played six times.

I also appreciated finally hearing a satisfying version of Long Distance Runaround into The Fish, one comparable to the Yessongs album, which I wore out when it was first released. I love hearing Jon singing “Survival,” a song from the first Yes album, then “Schindleria Praematurus,” which is an obscure fish that never displays adult characteristics. The story is that Chris wanted the name of a fish that had eight syllables and asked a roadie to find one. The best he could come up with had nine, which is why the last syllable trails off.

There were quite a few disruptive elements at this show. People were setting off fireworks at concerts in the old Boston Garden back then with impunity. The one that goes off just at the end of I've Seen All Good People sounds like an M-80, a large, powerful firecracker, sometimes called a salute. M-80s were originally made for the military to simulate explosives or artillery fire.

There were technical problems at the end of the “big medley” that had roadies running around the stage. At the time, I thought Jon sang Leaves of Green only to keep the audience entertained while the roadies were working on the equipment but it was actually part of the set.

The drunk who insisted on walking in front of me at the beginning of Arriving UFO could have easily walked back to a cross-aisle. My friends tried to turn him around and send him back but arguing with him was pointless. I used my penlight to show him how to step over my tape deck. The dropouts caused by me moving my microphone stand out his way have been spliced out.

The original BLG info file (info-old.txt) and Gromek artwork files (renamed) are included for historical purposes. The cover photograph and several others in this info.pdf file are ones I took at Boston Garden in 1978. I used them because I don’t have many good photographs in 1979 and I don’t like the ones in the Forgotten Yesterdays collection. I believe that those who had been to the Tormato tour in 1978 knew that everything would be pretty much the same except for the costumes. It was a difficult concert to photograph because of the revolving stage. Timing is critical in photography and it's almost impossible to compose an image and wait for just the right moment if the subjects and the platform they’re standing on are both moving. There were no digital cameras back then. You couldn't shoot a burst of 20 or 30 images and then pick the best one at your leisure. A camera with a motor drive, massive film canisters, and a tripod would have been a sure way to get noticed by security and busted.

The revolving stage and the 360-degree sound system were fantastic with respect to enhancing the concert experience. Everyone in the whole arena had a great seat and terrific sound. There were no bad seats. No one had to sit way off to one side because there were no sides. Everyone could see all the musicians. The only downside of the revolving stage was the difficulty of getting good photographs and the absence of the elaborate stage props used in the Tales, Relayer, and (to a lesser extent) Going for the One tours.

Lestat Notes:

The one time I actually saw Yes in the 1970s was the initial 1978 Tormato tour, in Greensboro, NC. Deathbed regrets will certainly include missing every other - especially 1976 - but I will be ‘forever’ grateful for that concert and what it told me of Yes’ overall concert sound in that era. Even subsequent tours right into the new millennium with their ever ‘improved’ technology never quite sounded like it. A major factor of course was the in-the-round, 360 “flying” p.a. system, delivering amazing ‘presence’ even in the worst venues (Greensboro Coliseum was bad, Boston Garden apparently much worse) and this recording demonstrates it as well as any.

The first really excellent Yes audience recording I heard was a quality first generation tape copy of another taper’s capture at Madison Square Garden, same ’79 tour. I’d worn that tape to death by the time I’d started mastering work or would have published it a decade or more ago. Thankfully someone eventually published the original master but as usual it was not well handled – my dub copy sounded better than what’s circulating now. The taper whose name I can’t exactly remember (Steinberger?) used all Nak equipment and Maxells as I recall and the capture was in some ways even better than this one. Tragic.

Thankfully Balrog’s and my paths crossed and this product the ultimate result.
Mastering – as the original ‘aughts Info File and Gromek art package detail at great length the raw sound and subsequent remaster had serious issues, tapes themselves having a lot of wear and it’s understandable given the stunning recording quality. In the day everyone wanted a good copy, particularly for “Arriving UFO”.

Thankfully it turns out not nearly as worn as we thought 14 or so years ago, but still a few problems including a slightly harsh, ‘ringy’ property, some high end detail loss and minor sibilant distortion. In the original BLG release these were much worse, especially the sibilants. Long story short, they were all aggravated and amplified by the transfer process/equipment then used fine as they were. We didn’t realize it then, and my mastering approach consequently required tolerating added nasty side effects.

The new transfer is quite simply a revelation and a miracle. Even before the Magic Bullet phase what I could do with it in a fraction of the time the old, badly compromised remaster required another one. Tape wear issues real enough but a bare fraction of what we originally thought and I’m happy to report the sibilants gone completely. They had bothered me more than anything else. What you dear listeners should hear now: this recording at 99% of what it could/should have been.

Yes performance – well, what we’d expect naturally. Brilliant. 1979. Most have heard it already and know. That said, like certain shows from every tour not what I’d consider the best. The aforementioned NYC performance was IMO more fired up and musically interesting, not least the Medley, Starship Trooper and Awaken. Also had a uniquely 1979, hair prickling arrangement of “And You And I”. But it didn’t have “Arriving UFO”, and unless Balrog acquires its master tapes it will likely never have this one’s sound quality. The performance meanwhile stunning enough – enjoy.

Do Not Alter or Sell This Recording in Any Form

Lestat and Balrog emphatically curse and condemn anyone who would publicly distribute an altered copy of this recording and/or make it into a commercial bootleg, as has happened to so many of our projects in the past. If you must convert it to MP3 or some other format, keep it to yourself.

Magic Bullet Notes

So far, there are three other Magic Bullet recordings in circulation:

Electric Light Orchestra 1978-09-27 Boston Garden
[Link]
[Link]

Boston 1978-11-06 Boston Garden
[Link]

Yes 1976-06-10 Providence Civic Center
[Link]
[Link]

More are coming, including The Kinks from 1978, Phil Collins from 1985, and fresh transfers of many of the previous BLG projects. We’re willing to process other people's audience recordings with the "Magic Bullet" but please understand that it’s a real-time process. In other words, a two-hour recording takes two hours to process plus the time needed to choose the optimal settings. If you would like to submit a sample of your recording for processing, contact Balrog at barry@brogoff.com.