1975 - Long Beach

June 23, 1975 Long Beach, California, US

The idea that Relayer formation was short-lived is wrong. Though they recorded only an album, they did many shows, in 1974, 75 and 76. The shows in 74 usually featured the entire Relayer and the entire Close to the Edge, leaving space only for a couple of other songs. The 75 shows were more variated, featuring solo spots, Ritual and a completely different, acoustic version of Long Distance Runaround. In 76, the set list would be similar, but without Close to the Edge, as Moraz playing this song was at least uninteresting, and without To Be Over, which the band was not that fond of.

This show, in 1975, has my favourite live version of To Be Over. Although the band stopped playing this soon after this show, Howe loves it and said, recently: “To Be Over” was so unplayed and unsung. It was like this song has just been forgotten about, or by Yes themselves, we had not played that song.
Another highlight is Sweet Dreams, in a completely new arrengement, very "Relayer-esque", with stunning solos of Moraz and Howe, and powerful drumming.
Moraz liked to change the songs, and this went well with simpler music, like Sweet Dreams. But in a complex suite like Close to the Edge, his improvisations are often disastrous. He should be forbidden to play it!
Ritual in this show has Moraz also giving his particular view to this song, using timbres and melodies similar to those he used in Relayer. The mellotron parts, for example, ressemble those in Sound Chaser. And in this tour Ritual included a quote from The Remembering.
In 1976 this song would get an arrangement with less freedom to Moraz, and he would play more similarly to Rick.

Set List:
Firebird Suite
Sound Chaser
Close To The Edge
To Be Over
Gates Of Delirium
Your Move/Mood For A Day
Long Distance Runaround/Moraz Solo
Clap
And You And I
Ritual
Roundabout
Sweet Dreams

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