Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks
Paramount Theater
Denver, Colorado, USA
August 10, 2024

lineage: Sony ECM-717 (mic) / Sony PCM-M10 (recorder) > 24/96 > 16/44 (downsampling, limiter on loud claps and nearby coughing using Audacity) > CD wav (track splitting) > MP3Tag (for file tagging) > FLAC (using Traders Little Helper) Level 8

Setlist (2:18:49)

01 Firebird Suite
02 Yours Is No Disgrace
03 Perpetual Change
04 Close To The Edge
05 And You And I
06 I've Seen All Good People
07 Owner Of A Lonely Heart
08 Heart Of The Sunrise
09 Shine On
10 Awaken
11 Thank God
12 Starship Trooper
13 True Messenger
14 Roundabout

Notes: This was the first of five shows my wife and I are seeing this year. After our last show last year (interestingly, Steve Howe's Yes Official at the same venue), I found myself questioning whether I wanted to keep going to concerts - they run later than I typically stay up anymore, the crowd is mostly drunk and unruly and, frankly, the performance I saw performed by the band calling itself Yes was a little less than inspiring. I like their most recent album Mirror In The Sky fine, but I just didn't think they played with any fire or passion.

However, when Jon Anderson announced a new tour with The Band Geeks and included Denver in the itinerary, my wife and I both agreed that we'd want to see it. We were not at all disappointed. Quite simply, this was a show with Yes music played with energy, enthusiasm and excitement, led by the person who originally sang them and largely wrote these songs. As important as Steve Howe is to the sound of Classic Yes, he can't match the magic that Jon brings to the performance.

The Band Geeks seemed to be very glad to be here, smiling, jumping and dancing around as they played - you can tell they love this music and it's a joy to hear it played like it's brand new again. And, speaking of new, we got three songs off the forthcoming True album. I can't say that I absolutely love the new songs, but I give Jon and group a lot of credit for believing in their material and having the spark to compose new music to present to the fans.

We sat much closer than we have in quite some time - 10th row, orchestra center - so there was a lot of noise from the crowd, who were very much into the show. I'd like to note that nobody in the audience seemed sloppy and wasted, so that was nice change of pace! The huge ceiling of the venue adds a lot of space to the recording, so this definitely has got a bit of echo to it. There's all the usual clapping, yelling and bumping that goes into recording a concert from the audience, which I've moderately tried to minimize. That said, the recording sounds better to my ears than it did in the venue - it was loud and the sound got mushy to my time worn hearing pretty quickly.

The best part of all was that we genuinely enjoyed the show - afterward, my wife said "that was the best Yes concert we've seen in a long time." Amen.

I've also included 100 photos taken from our seats - they ain't art, but they give you an idea of the stage set-up and how the show looked from where we sat.

Finally: please don't sell the recording, but, otherwise, do with it what you wish. Share it and trade it, and remember: these and other greats will not be around forever, so, let's enjoy them while we have them. Best wishes to all of the fans out there and Namaste.

Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 01 - Firebird Suite.flac:d5b0e383441c4657bb4ed82be723c0d1
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 02 - Yours Is No Disgrace.flac:bd177da3ec7e41944dd1b515dd32b484
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 03 - Perpetual Change.flac:fb372b1b75aac6351aade681793f8253
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 04 - Close To The Edge.flac:aa0087d60a4b24cc36115614a1fb3076
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 05 - And You And I.flac:0941dc7f109aa8932ddee970cc5a3c58
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 06 - I've Seen All Good People.flac:0012484eab52e17492c84a5649f387f3
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 07 - Owner Of A Lonely Heart.flac:dfcf06ad922de429607d9b114e957fd1
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 08 - Heart Of The Sunrise.flac:2f539c8428c748eff2770e55f0abbc3a
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 09 - Shine On.flac:06c7e982f7bba4cc8bb3ec15efac2041
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 10 - Awaken.flac:d50eb532ecfd4f7ca688c5462199c6de
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 11 - Thank God.flac:688bc8d4e4be6b55e946322968a8c111
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 12 - Starship Trooper.flac:781de9057b0fd94e340ad28bf8c50fc9
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 13 - True Messenger.flac:5fbfb1109e4b599a29fc603cad1e52d1
Jon Anderson - 2024-08-10 Denver (in_halen 16-44 master) - 14 - Roundabout.flac:0aefa7d9e7fad28f4db6e6e59ec865b8

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