Reuploaded: 2001 – Sacred Ground

Vancouver, Canada, August 2, 2001

The Magnification tour was the first one in which Yes performed with an orchestra. This brought some new colour to old songs and made them play some old songs they hadn't played for a long time.
This bootleg is from the beginning of the tour. It's from three months before the show in Amsterdam which was recorded and became the DVD Symphonic Live. So the set list was slightly different. They didn't play Magnification or Owner of a Lonely Heart, but played Perpetual Change and Wonderous Stories. The orchestra left the stage during these two songs, but they were great anyway, with a tight band, improvising a little.
The tour was beginning, and at some moments it's clear they're not so familiar with some songs. Howe has a clear error in Ritual, which he transforms in a great short improvisation. 

I was very pleased to hear Steve playing Solar Winds, from his good instrumental album Natural Timbre.

Audio quality is very good at most times, with all instruments loud and clear. But at a few moments the tape probably had some problem, so there are short cuts on And You And I and Perpetual Change.

Set list:

Disc 1
Close to the Edge
Long Distance Runaround
Don't Go
In The Presence Of
The Gates of Delirium

Disc 2
Solar Winds
Mood for a Day
Wonderous Stories
Perpetual Change
And You And I
Ritual
I've Seen All Good People

Disc 3
Starship Trooper
Roundabout

Links on comments!

2008 - Steve Howe Trio

Steve Howe Trio

2008-10-04

Mod Clud, Toronto

After releasing the album The Haunted Melody, the Steve Howe Trio toured Canada, in the brief moments Steve had between his tours with Asia and Yes.

Similar to the 2007 show, but featuring new songs: He ain't heavy, he's my brother, Tune up (by Miles Davis), Laughing with Larry (Steve's acoustic solo), A Venture.

The funny moment of the show is when Ross Stanley plays the theme from The Flintstones during his solo on Kenny's Sound.

Set 1:

01 - Sweet Thunder

02 - Dream River

03 - Chatter and Band Introduction

04 - Travelin'

05 - The Haunted Melody

06 - Tune Up

07 - Siberian Khatru

Set 2:

08 - Mood For A Day

09 - Blue Bash

10 - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

11 - Momenta

12 - Kenny's Sound

13 - Crowd

14 - Laughing With Larry

15 - A Venture/Close To The Edge

Steve Howe: electric and acoustic guitar

Ross Stanley: hammond organ

Dylan Howe: Drums

Link on comments!

Bruford - Beelzebub (1979)

Line-up:

Bill Bruford - drums

Dave Stewart - keyboards

Jeff Berlin - bass

Alan Holdsworth - guitar

The tune is a real mover, and it’s definitely Yes-like in its structure since it’s made up of a few different time signatures and a wonderfully busy progressive tempo. "Beelzebub" starts and halts suddenly, then shifts from frantic to smooth and soft to hard in an instant, illustrating Bruford’s rhythmic control and musical imagination. There’s plenty of energy spawned by Bruford’s use of the cymbals as well, and the transition from a busy state to a relaxed one works its way effortlessly through the other instruments, which do their bit at handing the track its jazzy surface.

(from allmusic.com)

Coming soon: a bootleg from a complete show of Bruford's self-titled band in 1980.

1979 - Vancouver

May 05, 1979, Vancouver, Canada

An anonymous reader brought us a present. Link and comments by him/her:

This is a soundboard recording from Yes’ Tormato tour. I don’t know why this was recorded so well (perhaps for a radio broadcast?) but the sound quality and mixing goes well beyond what any reasonable person would expect from a bootleg.
This recording was originally available on a three LP bootleg named Seventh Age Imagination. That artwork is included in the ID3 tags, just for shits and giggles.
This is the entire concert minus the “Firebird Suite” intro and the “I’ve Seen All Good People” > “Roundabout” encore. If you’re at all familiar with Yes you’ve heard those two songs about a bazillion time already, so no great loss.

What appeals most to me are the liberties Yes took with their own music. For example, long songs are short—short songs are long.
Also, most of the songs segue into the next, and not just the usual “Long Distance Runaround “> “The Fish” transition, which shouldn’t really count anyhow. Speaking of “The Fish,” Squires Bass solo morph’s in a Tales from Topographic Oceans suite at its end.

How suite is that? Very, or I wouldn’t have posted it.

This is the Classic Yes lineup at their peak, rocking their ass off right before the birth of punk rock and at the peak of disco, thumbing their noses at all of it with heaping helpings of pure, unadulterated talent.

01 Siberian Khatru
02 Heart of the Sunrise
03 Future Times Rejoice
04 Circus of Heaven
05 Time and a Word
06 Long Distance Runaround
07 The Fish (with Tale’s Medley)
08 Perpetual Change
09 Soon
10 The Clap
11 And You and I
12 Rick Wakeman Solo
13 Starship Trooper
14 Awaken

Enjoy Yes-heads! 

Links on comments!

Reuploaded: 2004 Live at Jazz Lugano

July 08, 2004

Lugano Jazz Festival, Switzerland

This show, one of the best bootlegs from 2004, was already available here, but now you can also download the video!
It was broadcast on Swiss/Italian TV and starts with an interview with Rick Wakeman.

Enjoy!

Disc one
1-Firebird Suite
2-Going for the one
3-Sweet Dreams
4-I've seen all good people
5-Mind Drive part 1
6-South Side of the Sky
7-Footprints
8-Mind Drive part 2
9-Yours is no disgrace
10-Steve Howe solo
11-Rick Wakeman solo

Disc two
1-Long distance runaround
2-The fish
3-Whitefish
4-Owner of a lonely heart
5-Rhythm of love
6-And you and I
7-Starship Trooper
8-Roundabout

Links on comments!

Reuploaded: 1974 - King Biscuit Flower Hour

December 11th, 1974
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

This show was recorded for the famous radio show King Biscuit Flower Hour, and it presents Yes at the very beginning of Relayer tour. The whole album is played, and all the arrangements are quite similar to the studio ones.
Sound Chaser opens the concert like a thunderstorm, and we can't help but get amazed when they really can play all the complex sections with no difficulty!
Close to the Edge shows us that Moraz, being an awesome keyboardist in hiw own style, is one of the worse copycats they could find for Rick Wakeman. His solo near the end is almost ridiculous, and all through the song he's very low on the mix - luckily!
But on To be Over he shows us his best, rivalling Rick when it comes to the number of keyboards used. He once said his synth solo in the end of the song was improvised in the studio, but it was so complex that he had to write it down to play live. That's my favourite live performance of the song (ok, there weren't many others...)

The Gates of Delirium has an awesome stereo sound here, perhaps even better than the one in Yesshows, the mix is perfect, alll instruments are loud and Squire's powerful bass is very clear (especially his counterpoints inSoon).


Setlist:
Firebird Suite
Sound Chaser
Close To The Edge
To Be Over
The Gates Of Delirium
And You And I
Roundabout

This show has been released in many different bootlegs: Close To The Edge, The Affirmery, The Gates Of Boston Garden and others.

(according to ForgottenYesterdays Ritual was played, but there's no known version of this)

Links on comments!

On the Silent Wings of Freedom

This is a much cleaner copy, too bad they didn't include this video when they released the Greatest Video Hits back in the 90's...

(notice that this version is different from the one on Tormato, and arguably better)

Jon Anderson - 1980

Jon Anderson

Royal Albert Hall

London

December 1, 1980

Source: Radio Broadcast

In late 1979 Jon Anderson left Yes for a solo career. He recorded the album Song of Seven and subsequently embarked on an extensive tour in support of the album with a large band that went under the name The New Life Band. The Sheffield Concert was a gig from The Song of Seven Tour in the UK 1980. The nine piece line-up provides a generous set list including a number of key Yes songs, a medley with his work in collaboration with Vangelis, as well as most songs from Jon's solo album Song of Seven.

Very different from his music with Yes, most songs from Song of Seven are short and simple. The exception is the long progressive piece homonimous to the album, which is its pièce-de-resistance, especially for Yes fans.

1) Intro (1:46)

2) Yes Medley (25:03)

To Be Over 

Perpetual Change 

The Prophet 

Long Distance Runaround 

Wonderous Stories 

Rejoice

I've Seen All Good People (Pt 1)

Revealing Science Of God 

I've Seen All Good People (Pt 2) 

The Remembering (High The Memory) 

Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil)

3) Some Are Born (4:06)

4) Don't Forget (Nostalgia) (3:17) 

5) Petrushka (8:57)   (composed by Stravinsky)

6) Far Away In Baagad / Bird Song / One More Time (13:41)  (originally appeared on the album Short Stories, by Jon and Vangelis)

7) Hear It (2:43) 

8) Take Your Time (3:36) 

9) Song Of Seven (10:50)

On the official release "Live in Sheffield" recorded 2 days later, the following are credited as musicians:

- Barry DeSouza / drums

- Jo Partridge / guitars

- Ronnie Leahy / keyboards

- John Giblin / bass

- Morris Pert / drums, percussion

- Christopher Rainbow / vocals 

- Dick Morrisay / saxophone

Links on comments!

1975 - NJF Festival - Reading

Reading, England, UK
August 23, 1975

This is the last show from Relayer tour, after which the band would stop playing for eight months so that every member would record his solo album.

Ritual is powerful, Sound Chaser is stunning, but two short songs steal the scene here:

Leaves of Green, the last section of The Ancient, was played separated from the original song for the first time in this show.

High Vibration is what you're thinking: a really early version of Awaken! As Pete Whipple says on Forgotten Yesterdays:

It's still just the opening to 'Awaken' but Moraz and Howe have definate parts now. It's in a different key with White giving it a rock beat! This is about as close as you'll get to the legendary Moraz 'Awaken' everybody wants to hear.

Moraz also shines in his solo, this time on the electric piano (unlike the mellotron/orchestron solos of 1976). His playing is a pleasure to hear all through the show, but on the other hand the keys' loud sound makes Steve's guitar sound low on the mix, especially on Gates of Delirium (which has a couple of minutes lacking, between the "battle scene" and "Soon". Well, that's an alternative way of listening to this epic song, surely better than the QPR DVD, when Jon's guitar was louder than Steve's!

Disc 1 
01. Opening
02. Sound Chaser
03. Close To The Edge
04. And You And I
05. High Vibration
06. The Gates Of Delirium

Disc 2 
01. I've Seen All Good People
02. Leaves of Green
03. Long Distance Runaround / Moraz Solo
04. Ritual
05. Roundabout

Links on comments!

Steve Howe - Sharp on Attack (1988)

In 1988, the IRS No Speak label began releasing albums in the "Guitar Speak" trilogy. In this project, various guitarists were called upon to provide new material for compilation releases.

The excellence of Steve Howe's piece wasn't surprising to me. "Sharp On Attack" (which has since resurfaced in an alternate form on Homebrew) is an excellent display of Howe's talents. Steve uses more guitars on his piece than anyone else on this album (five, to be precise), and the internal diversity which results makes it well worth it. The acoustic opening provides excellent flavouring, and the middle section of the piece ranks among Howe's better melodies of recent years. This piece must be considered as the second official installment in Howe's redemption for the early 1980s (with "Sketches In The Sun" being the first), and it does its job well.

(quoted from the excellent blog jazz-rock-fusion-guitar - find the link to it on your right)

In this video, Steve plays his song, now with just one guitar, and, as my friend says, he shows us he was alive and well in the 80s!

1996 - Rehearsal (Roundabout)

This is a rare video of Yes rehearsing for the shows in San Luis Obispo.
Enjoy!

Reuploaded: 2004 - Yes and Dream Theater

19 September 2004, Universal City, California, USA

During 2004, Yes did a small tour with Dream Theater, having around 20 concerts opened by this band. No, they didn't play together. But Dream Theater played a good cover of Machine Messiah, so I'm putting here also their show.

This one was the last night of the tour. An amazing night by both bands. It's an audience recording, but of high quality. The place's mix was really good. Except for some seconds cut on Awaken (the bootlegger didn't expect such a long song and he was short on tape...), the complete concert is here.
Yes had a really changing set-list at this tour... This particular show has the acoustic set, with new arrangements to Long Distance Runaround, Wonderous Stories, Roundabout and Owner of a Lonwely Heart. But my favourite performances here are Awaken and Starship Trooper, both featuring perfect musicianship.
Oh, and here you'll also listen to Jon performing Singin' in the Rain... it's kind of weird in his voice, but I bet you'll want to listen!

Disc one - Dream Theater
01 - Overture (1:37)
02 - About To Crash (5:14)
03 - Learning To Live (10:17)
04 - Machine Messiah (3:19)
05 - Trial Of Tears (13:12)
06 - Stream Of Consciousness (10:35)
07 - The Spirit Carries On (6:56)
08 - Solitary Shell (5:39)
09 - About To Crash (reprise) (4:10)
10 - Losing Time – Grand Finale (6:12)

Disc two - Yes

01 - Firebird Suite (2:51)
02 - Going For The One (5:25)
03 - Sweet Dreams (7:27)
04 - I’ve Seen All Good People (8:11)
05 - America (10:35)
06 - South Side Of The Sky (11:56)
07 - Yours Is No Disgrace (13:21)

Disc three - Yes
01 - Clap - Singin' in the rain (5:33)
02 - Long Distance Runaround (acoustic) (5:16)
03 - Wonderous Stories (acoustic) (7:21)
04 - Roundabout (acoustic) (5:51)
05 - Owner Of A Lonely Heart (acoustic) (6:46)
06 - And You And I (13:29)
07 - Awaken (19:13)
08 - Starship Trooper (13:55)

Links on comments!

Rick Wakeman - Moogfest 2004 - Catherine Parr

B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, New York, USA
Tue, May 18, 2004

Catherine Parr is a song with lots of room for improvisation and different arrangements: Rick has already played it with a horn section (in the 70s), with choir, with long guitar solos.
But to me the definitive version is this one, from Moogfest.
Rick writes on his site:
Sometime way back at the beginning of the year, I had been asked to perform at Moogfest, a celebration of 50 years of the Moog Synthesizer in the honoured presence of Dr. Bob Moog at a club called Ben E Kings on 42 nd Street in New York. By pure coincidence the show was to take place on my birthday and, as I had nothing else planned for my birthday, (well when you reach 55 you start trying to forget how old you are) , it seemed like a really good idea.....and so it turned out to be as well.
The world and his uncle seem to be taking part in the evening and it was brilliantly organized as well. There was a wonderful party atmosphere and the camaraderie was amazing. I was playing just the one piece, (a very long version of Catherine Parr), and had a pretty amazing band performing with me containing some of the top New York session boys and to say they were “good” would be the understatement of the year! Jason from Dream Theater joined me as well to play the parts that Adam used to play years ago and all went swimmingly well. Korg were amazing in sorting out keyboards for me to go with the mini-moog and my great friend, ex NYPD detective Billy Burns, was on hand to “look after me” and keep me out of trouble, which he certainly did!
As I went on stage I was unexpectedly followed by Bob Moog and Keith Emerson, the latter playing Happy Birthday on the Moog synthesizer and then in front of a very enthusiastic crowd I was presented with a huge cake on a huge stand by a very pretty scantily dressed young lady with huge........well, some things are best left to your imagination I think!

Jordan Rudess, from Dream Theater, played keyboards with him, and I suppose the other musicians were the backing band for Moogfest (James Genus on Bass and Gene Lake on Drums). But the important here are Rick's fast fingers, doing some of the best moog improvisations I've ever heard.
This live record was sent to me by a keyboardist friend, who calls attention to Rick's "fan fingers", that is, the ultra-fast hand whose fingers open and close like a fan, a technique common in Bach.

No need to say the audience to Moogfest was crazy during Rick's performance. One review says: "Until Bob Moog came along, we (keyboard players) were hidden in the background. He gave us an instrument that can cut through concrete and frighten guitarists to death," growled Rick Wakeman, the hulking, platinum-blonde keyboard player for the progressive rock band Yes.

The following video shows Rick's conversation with Bob Moog (recently dead) and some seconds of Catherine Parr, where we can see Jordan Ruddess's bald head behind Rick. But don't forget to download the complete song!


Link on comments!

1996 - Key to Chris' Birthday

1996-03-05
San Luis Obispo, US
(second show of three)

In the three shows at San Luis Obispo, Yes declared every kind of audience recording was authorized.
This bootleg is from the second show. Eight songs from this show went to Keys to Ascension (the other five songs from Keys are from the other two shows).
It's interesting to listen to it for some reasons:
- Different performances of the instrumental jams on America and Starship Trooper. I'm crazy about what they did to Würm in these concerts.
- Long speeches by Jon before and after songs.
And the main reason: to notice the huge amount of overdubs that Keys to Ascension suffered. The vocal harmonies in Revealing Science of God, for example, are weak (normal for a song not played for 20 years, as there was little rehearsal for that show), but in Keys to Ascension the voices are perfect.
Going for the one (indeed a hard song to sing) Jon loses his breath and skips words, but guess what, they appear in the album.

So Keys to Ascension may be a great album, but it surely isn't an honest live one.


Set list:
Firebird Suite
Siberian Khatru
Close To The Edge
I've Seen All Good People
Time And A Word
Happy Birthday To Squire
And You And I
The Revealing Science Of God
Going For The One
Turn Of The Century
America
Onward
Awaken
Roundabout
Starship Trooper
Songs in boldface are the ones which were used for the two official live albums, Keys to Ascension 1 and 2.

Links on comments!

1974 - Tales at Nassau Coliseum

1974-02-14
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Uniondale
New York
Another show featuring the complete Tales, originally posted at the blog The clock that went backwards again.
Remastered by Tooleman.
Small segments of Revealing Science of God and The Ancient are missing... But overall the sound is good for audience bootleg (there was no soundboard record of this tour)

101 Firebird Suite
102 Siberian Khatru
103 And You And I
104 Close To The Edge
105 Album Introduction by Jon Anderson
106 The Revealing Science Of God (part 1) (tape flip)
107 The Revealing Science Of God (part 2)

201 Comments by Jon Anderson
202 The Remembering
203 The Ancient (part 1) (tape flip)
204 The Ancient (part 2)
205 Ritual
206 Roundabout

Links on comments!

1969 - In the Beginning

This is a bootleg that puts together three small conserts from 1969.
The first one has the worst sound quality, and features different versions of songs that can be better heard live on the BBC Sessions (Beyond and Before).
From the second show, only Eleanor Rigby survived. Their rendition of that Beatles' tune was as original as everything they did at this time, featuring loud organ and Squire's distinctive bass sound. Peter Banks said about it:
People were bemused because we didn't do the 'covers' like the original tunes. We went down pretty good in London, but outside of town we had a lot of very puzzled faces when Jon would say , 'we're now gonna do a Beatles' tune.' And we'd kind of do Eleanor Rigby at 150 beats per minute It wasn't quite what they expected. We didn't want to sound like The Beatles. The whole point was 'let's do it our way'
The third concert features another version of Eleanor Rigby, this time with the beginning cut.
The last song is probably the biggest surprise: a 21 minutes version of I See You.
Peter's long solo starts at 3 minutes, with a violin-like guitar sound that was very new at the time. At 4 mins, he quotes Bach's "Jesu, joy of men's desire". At 6 mins he's with a more jazzy guitar sound, accompanied by Bill's soft jazz drumming (Bill plays with him for the whole 21 mins, while the rest of the band has a break during most of the time) . At 7 mins he shows us he knows what is wah-wah. At 8:50 Peter quotes Bizet's Arlésienne Suites, a famous classical melody that would be played later by Wakeman in Catherine Howard. By 10 mins Peter seems to go on for further improvisation, and at 16 mins the dialogues between loud drums and distorted guitar ressemble some things that Bill would do years later in King Crimson. At 20 mins the rest of the band (which must be mad at Peter) comes in to finish the song.

Peter himself has a lot to say about I See You:
It was certainly spontaneous and I tried to make it different every night. We had good nights and bad nights and sometimes if it wasn't happening on a gig, I'd go on longer and longer out of frustration and take all my aggression out on the guitar. (...) I did some kind of fugue line but none of it was really worked out for the recorded version. On stage I'd end the piece by throwing my guitar in the air and catching it. (...) This was my post-Townshend angst period and to be honest, it did go on too long. The band used to complain about it and that just used to make me go on even longer." I was an experimental player and not all that would fit in with the concept of Yes. Bill was the same. (...) I can remember him saying, "I'm going to play everything different tonight" just before we went on stage. It was the sign of a very inventive drummer but of course I'd think, "Well, so will I!" Poor old Jon would be going, "What the hell is going on?" We were like misbehaving kids, really.

Peter Banks' quotes were taken from the book Close to the Edge, the story of Yes, by Chris Welch. Very recommended book, buy it if you can:
http://www.amazon.com/Close-Edge-Story-Chris-Welch/dp/0711995095

October 09, 1969 - Essen, Grugahalle, Germany:
1. Introduction
2. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
3. Dear Father
4. Every Little Thing
5. Something's Coming
---------------------------------------------------------------
August 20, 1969 - Hamburg, Star Club, Germany:
6. Eleanor Rigby
---------------------------------------------------------------
December 21, 1969 - Sheffield, Kingston Hotel, England, UK:
7. Dear Father
8. Eleanor Rigby
9. I See You

Links on comments!

1984 - I'm Down (featuring Jimmy Page)

June 24, 1984
Dortmund, Germany

This show from 90125 tour had Si, Solly's Beard and Soon recorded for 9012Live: the solos.
But what I bring you today is the unexpected encore: I'm Down (that Beatles' song they played in 1976 as well) with Jimmy Page (from Led Zeppelin) joining them to play guitar.
Jon is slightly out of tune in the beginning, but later, when the guitars of Trevor Rabin and Jimmy Page start duelling, we have one of the band's best moments from the 80s.

Link on comments!

Reuploaded: 2002 - Acoustic at XM Radio

2002-08-10

This is not a typical Yes show.
In 2002, soon after Rick's return to the band, Yes did this small concert broadcast by XM Radio. The result is a very different band, not the typical "Yes Acoustic" show you may expect hearing, as it was done before the officially released acoustic concert, so it's really worth the listen. Here Yes is not at all the ambitious and complex-sounding band we're used to, but just five talented musicians having fun.
They talk about many interest subject, such as why South Side of the Sky wasn't played for so long, and how was Alan's experience substituting Bill.
Walk Don't Run is hilarious, with Rick passing an uncomfortable moment as he doesn't know the chords... And the Awaken workshop is essential to anybody who likes this song, giving a unique perspective of how it was created.

Set list:
XM Radio Intro
Band's Introduction
South Side of the Sky/ And You And I
Interview I
The Ancient Excerpts
Walk Don't Run
Intervies II
I'Ve Seen All Good People
Interview III
Show Me
Interview IV
Awaken Composition I
Awaken Composition II

Links on comments!

Steve Howe - Solo show, 2008 in Canada

Steve Howe

2008-10-02
Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto, Canada

Setlist:
Set 1:
01 - Masquerade
02 - Australia
03 - The Ancient
04 - Corkscrew
05 - J's Theme
06 - Pyramidology
07 - Classical Gas
08 - Concerto In D, second movement
09 - Little Galliard
10 - Mood For A Day
Set 2:
Sadly could not be recorded.

Encore:
11 - Soon (with steel guitar)

In 2008, besides touring with Yes and Asia, Steve Howe played gigs both with his Steve Howe Trio and alone, playing wonderful tunes mostly on acoustic guitar, doing a real one-man show, with tunes from Yes (including the sometimes forgotten Masquerade, from Union) and various solo albums (Beginnings, Natural Timbre, Turbulence).
Little Galliard is a lute piece from 17th century that he recorded on Natural Timbre.
Enjoy!

Links on comments!

Reuploaded: 1978 - Wembley Arena

10/28/1978 Wembley, UK
Wembley Arena (evening show)

This is probably the most bootlegged show in Yes history. There were multiple radio broadcasts, and portions of this show were released on various compilations. So check out before downloading, you're very likely to already have this bootleg.

It was really one of the best shows the band ever did. All of the band members has his moments in this great concert, and they sound incredibly tight, a group completely united together. This can be heard in Heart of the Sunrise and especially in the big medley they created for this tour, perhaps to commemorate their 10th anniversary, which begun on their second album, Time and a Word (with a great arrangement of the title song, featuring Steve and Rick making us glad that they replaced Tony and Peter), went for Fragile, came back to Yes, passed quickly by Tales, came to The Yes Album and finished with Relayer. I really love this arrangement, The Fish sounds terrific with the whole band playing, and they change it to Perpetual Change and then to Soon in exciting ways. This was the band's fifth concert in three days, but they're not even slightly tired!

After two songs from Tormato that I prefer live than on the original, and a powerful rendition of Starship Trooper, comes my favourite part of the concert.

These versions of Awaken and I've Seen All Good People are the best live ones I've ever listened. Awaken features a stunning work by Mr. Squire, his bass is very loud and much more present than on the original version. His backing vocals are also very good, his voice sounds more natural than on Going For The One. But I really lose myself listening to his slide bass lines accompanying Anderson. The rest of the band sounds very good too, Howe with burning guitar solos, and Wakeman with his grandious middle section

I've Seen All Good People is another killer. Alan White plays with a great energy, the whole band sound so together... and what makes me love this version better than any other is the last part, where Jon presents the band and each member plays a short 4-bars solo, all of them sounding amazing and very representative of the musicians' styles.
There's still Roundabout to give a perfect end to a perfect concert.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Siberian Khatru
Heart Of The Sunrise
Future Times/Rejoice (Yes played it but no tape with this survived)
Circus Of Heaven
Time And A Word/Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)/Survival/The Ancient/Perpetual Change/Soon
Don't Kill The Whale
Clap
Starship Trooper
Madrigal - On The Silent Wings Of Freedom
Rick Wakeman solo (Six Wives & Journey)
Awaken
I've Seen All Good People
Roundabout

If you'll download just one Yes bootleg, this is the one to pick!

Links on comments!

2008 - Rick Wakeman and Orchestra - Merlin the magician

Rick Wakeman did a couple of concerts in Chile, playing only piano with orchestra and choir. Several videos can be found at Youtube. This one is from December 6.

2008 - In the Present - Bloomington, 11-30-08

November 30, 2008
Bloomington, Illinois, USA

Chris Squire - bass, vocals, harmonica
Steve Howe - guitar, vocals
Alan White - drums, vocals
Benoit David - vocals, percussion, guitar
Oliver Wakeman - keyboards

After two weeks playing together, this new Yes seems better rehearsaled as they get to know each other well. Tempus Fugit is again fresh as it was in 1980, while Aliens remains a good moment to go to the bathroom.
Notice that Steve Howe plays different solo numbers at each concert.

Setlist was a bit shortened, maybe due to the weather, and features:
01. Firebird Suite
02. Siberian Khatru
03. I've Seen All Good People
04. Tempus Fugit
05. Onward
06. Astral Traveller
07. Close to the Edge
08. All's a Chord
09. Laughing With Larry
10. And You And I
11. Long Distance Runaround >
12. The Fish >
13. Aliens (Are Only Us From The Future)
14. Machine Messiah
15. Starship Trooper
16. Roundabout

Links at comments!

In The Present Tour - Hampton, New Hampshire, USA Friday, November 07, 2008

Here is a bootleg from one of the first shows of the new tour. Surprisingly good audio for an audience record, this one captures a band having some problems to play their song (have the rehearsals been enough?).
I can't stand people who say this band is not Yes. If Banks, Kaye, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe, Rabin can be substituted by other musicians, why can't Jon Anderson? Is he a deity or what?
So this is Yes. Good Yes? Perhaps.
Oliver Wakeman seems uncomfortable here, but I'm sure this will be solved with time, as he'll get used to the band. A friend of mine was mad at him for spoiling Heart of the Sunrise (listen to the 9th minute and you'll get what he means). Benoit may not be Jon, but he hasn't disappointed most people who watched their shows.
Good surprises: Astral Traveller (I already commented it on another post) , Machine Messiah (wonderful to hear it again) and Close to the Edge (Oliver delivers his father's solo perfectly, and Benoit's voice really fits this song)
Bad surprise: Tempus Fugit (The band seems unfamiliar with this song, after 28 years without playing it. It lacks energy and feeling), Aliens (new song, doesn't deserve the names of Chris Squire and Steve Hackett)

Setlist
Disc 1:
1. Firebird Suite (2:52)
2. Siberian Khatru (10:00)
3. I've Seen All Good People (7:29)
4. Heart Of The Sunrise (12:34)
5. Tempus Fugit (6:15)
6. Onward (5:29)
7. Astral Traveler (7:32)
8. Close To The Edge (20:45)
Disc 2:
9. Parallels (6:47)
10. And You And I (12:10)
11. Steve Howe Solo: Mood For A Day (aborted) / The Clap (5:38)
12. Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) (7:25)
13. Aliens (Are Only Us From The Future) (6:02)
14. Machine Messiah (10:55)
15. Soon (7:25)
16. Starship Trooper (13:40)
17. Owner Of A Lonely Heart (6:12)
18. Roundabout (9:28)

Links on comments!

Astral Traveller - Now and Then

Steve Howe said, to a magazine from Argentina, in 1999:
A fan once gave me as a present a tape of us playing Astral Traveller, back in 1971... I ran to Jon and Chris and said: "Let's play this!" This song has nothing to do with me, but I started listening to Time and a Word (the album), and loved it, I admire Peter Banks a lot. He helped to design Yes' guitar style, in which I entered as it had been meant for me. It helped a lot that the guy before me wasn't a heavy metal guitarrist, but Peter, a clever man with different ideas.

After waiting 9 years, Howe finally had the chance of playing Astral Traveller again, in their new tour! He's clearly happy when he announces the song. And the new version also features a short and awesome drum solo! (good to hear Alan White playing faster again...)




Howe's approach to Astral Traveller from 1971 shouldn't be missed either. The Yes Album line-up played this song live not many times, and this is the only good record of Astral Traveller, including Bill's frantic drumming and Howe improvising very well. Link to the 71 Astral Traveller on comments!

Mood for a day - Montreux, 19 july 1979

Is there a complete video of this gig?

Two Yes guitars in Atlanta

Our feature today is part of a Yes concert in Atlanta, August 13, 2002.
First track is Steve Howe playing, on the acoustic guitar, Georgia's Theme, a song from Steve's album The Grand Scheme of Things (1993). This simple and beautiful piece was very rarely played live.
Second track is Chris Squire's solo spot, featuring all we like about his bass guitar style. He adds to The Fish small parts of Tempus Fugit, On The Silent Wings Of Freedom and Sound Chaser.

Links on comments!

Steve Howe Trio - Mood for a day & Travelin'

Finally I could put my hands on Steve Howe's latest album, his deep dive into the world of jazz.

After thinking it through, I decided I shouldn't put the whole album in the blog, as it would disencourage people from buying it (by the way, you can buy here) so I'll upload two songs that show how interesting this album is.

Mood for a day is played on electric guitar, and that's already a huge change! Besides, the hammond organ does really creative basslines (as on the whole album). If Jimi Hendrix used to play as if he were having sex with his guitar, Steve plays here as if his guitar were made of gold and he couldn't spoil it. His improvisations are careful in every note and timbre.

Travelin' is a song by Kenny Burrell, a guitarist that really inspired him to do this album. Her the Hammond is also at the forefront, as well as the drums. If you start hearing, you can't stop until it ends.

Link on comments and keep on jazzin', Steve!

Jon Anderson - London, 2005

Shepherds Bush Empire - 10th October 2005

While we have Jon in our thoughts, hoping he gets better soon, it's a good time to remember his solo shows, always much simpler than Yes ones but nonetheless sophisticated.
This one is noteworthy because Jon briefly quotes Sound Out The Galleon on the way into Soon, which makes it very special for admirers of Olias Of Sunhillow.
Quoting a review of another concert from the same tour:
Aside from a screen projecting visual sceneries and a mostly acoustic Anderson (who only plugged in for one quick keyboard set and occasionally had piped in loops or accompaniment) it was an intimate session packed with nearly two dozen songs. From the get go he set out to please, settling extremely early into the readily familiar "Long Distance Runaround" and dusting off the deeper cut "Yours Is No Disgrace."
The first half also saw him turn to other bodies of work such as his solo cannon for "You Lift Me Up." During this selection, Anderson relied heavily on a pre-recorded reggae beat, which despite sounding artificial, brought the chilled out chord strums to more vibrant life. Another key area of his career came from the albums he made with acclaimed instrumentalist Vangelis, which reached a mainstream peak the States via "State of Independence" (once covered by Donna Summer). Though lacking the disco dance grind in this setting, Anderson allowed room for some groove while still remaining in character. Additional attention came from that collaboration with "I'll Find My Way Home," a new aged styled track examining religious tolerance.
Anderson also dabbled with the keyboard for a handful of old timers that came across so personal he could've very well been in the audience's living rooms. Paring the solo delicacy of "Set Sail" with the Yes staple "Close To the Edge" was intriguing, while "The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)" came across as downright chilling. Even though it was clearly the commercial apex of his career, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was the one track that simply didn't work in this environment, trading it its slick synth-pop for an abridged and unplugged version. But come the encore "Your Move" all the lighters came out and the otherwise quiet and attentive crowd let loose like a packed karaoke bar. Paired with an acapella finale of "O'er," it made for an introspective and enlightening send-off die-hards will be desperate to see again.

Circa - rest of the show

Here is the rest of the show, consisting on their whole album played live and a surprising encore.
The bass is very loud, as if Billy Sherwood wanted to show us all that he learned with Squire. And indeed he learned it quite well.

1. Cut The Ties
2. Don't Let Go
3. Together We Are
4. Information Overload
5. Trust In Something
6. Keeper Of The Flame
7. Life Going By
8. Look Inside
9. Brotherhood Of Man
10. band intros
11. Yes Medley (on a separate link)
12. Encore: Let Go (Yes:Union)

Links on comments!

2008 - Circa

CIRCA is a progressive rock supergroup founded by four musicians associated with Yes: current Yes member Alan White (drums), former Yes members Tony Kaye (Hammond, keyboards) and Billy Sherwood (bass, vocals), and guitarist Jimmy Haun, who played on the album Union. (from wikipedia)

After releasing an album in 2007, Circa hit the road with their tour, where the first half is the whole album, and second half was a superb Yes instrumental medley of 39 minutes, including a track from almost every Yes album, including several songs that haven't been played for ages (Looking Around, Something's Coming, Parallels, Tempus Fugit, Lightning Strikes, etc)

In addition to the players listed above, Billy Sherwood's brother Michael Sherwood was playing keys, vocoder and backing vocals. (bringing the question: was Kaye in a good moment or was Michael playing most parts?) Jimmy Haun, a guitarist who says Steve Howe was his main influence, is a good surprise. Alan White is brilliant in the songs originally played by Bruford.

From this show - Rosfest, Glenside, PA, US May 3, 2008 - I uploaded just the Yes medley. If there's interest and I can, I'll upload the rest.
You can know more about Circa on their long interview to Notes from the Edge. (part 1 and part 2)
Now the medley:
Looking Around; The Prophet; Every Little Thing; Harold Land; No Opportunity Necessary, no Experience Needed; Something's Coming; Yours is No Disgrace; Heart of the Sunrise; South Side of the Sky; Roundabout; Close to the Edge; And you and I; Ritual; Sound Chaser; Parallels; Arriving UFO; On the Silent Wings of Freedom; Tempus Fugit; Changes; Owner of a Lonely Heart; Cinema; Rhythm of Love; Lift Me Up; Endless Dream; Loveshine; Mind Drive; Open Your Eyes; Lightning Strikes.
Links on comments!

YES Cancels 40th Anniversary Tour

NEW YORK, NY, JUNE 4, 2008 -– Legendary rock band Yes announced today that the group will unfortunately be canceling their 2008 40th Anniversary Tour. The 26-city tour was scheduled to kick off in Quebec next month and run through the summer.

Said Jon Anderson, “In the wake of my recent respiratory attack, doctors have advised me to spend the coming months resting and recovering. Unfortunately, this means I won't be able to tour with Yes this summer as originally planned. I'd like everyone to know how deeply disappointed I am by this turn of events. I was looking forward to celebrating our music with the amazing family of Yes fans once again; but as we all know, health must come before anything else. Wishing you all the very best...”

Said Chris Squire, “We were all looking forward to performing for our fans after a prolonged leave of absence from touring. I am especially regretful of the fact that I know many of our fans and friends have probably laid out non-refundable airfares and hotels, etc. in order to enjoy the Yes shows this summer. Please join me in wishing Jon a speedy return to health, which at this point in time is our main concern.”

Yes frontman and founding member Jon Anderson was admitted to the hospital last month after suffering a severe asthma attack. He has now been diagnosed with acute respiratory failure and was told by doctors this weekend that he needs to rest and not work for a period of at least six months or suffer further health complications. Upon receiving this news the band has determined that their tour plans need to be put on hold.

Ticket refunds will be available at the point of purchase.

(from Yesworld.com)

1984 - Milano

This show was uploaded by the friend Tadreamer62.
It's an audience recording with very good sound. See the original notes:
It was strange to see one of the dinosaurs of the 70's to play and acting like a typical
80's band, in the vain of Spandau Ballet or Tears for Fears! But the music was sooo good and the audience was looking
forward to see them after a 10 years absence from italian territory.

I remember hearing people describing the time they had
seen the band more than 10 years before in Milano, with PFM opening. The sound of the hall was quite good, despite the fact
this sports hall was not really designed for music events. Eventually, it was shut down and then destroyed one year later,
when a big snow in winter resulted in collapsing the venue's roof. This version comes from a direct copy from the master
I had in the early 90's from the taper himself, I big german guy who used to go around Europe and tape many shows with his
Sony Pro (thanks Robert L.!). It sounds amazing if you consider it's almost 23 years ago. I reduced a little bit basses
and enhanced trebles to sound it more clear, balanced the volume of the two channels and eliminated tape flips.
It's a very good sounding show, a real improvement from the master.
ldb


01 Intro / Cinema
02 Leave It
03 Yours Is No Disgrace
04 Alan White drums solo /
05 Hold On
06 Hearts
07 I've Seen All Good People
08 Si (Tony Kaye solo)
09 Solley's Beard
10 Changes
11 And You And I
12 Soon
13 Make It Easy/Owner Of A Lonely Heart
14 It Can Happen
15 Long Distance Runaround/
16 Whitefish/Amazing Grace
17 City Of Love
18 Starship Trooper
19 Roundabout
20 Applause / Outro music

Links on comments!

Steve's busy year

After touring with Asia and releasing their new album, Phoenix (some fans really liked it, check here) Steve Howe announced on his website a new tour from his Steve Howe Trio and a studio album by the group, to be released on June 4 on Steve's label Howesound.
The new album will be called The Haunted Melody (name of a flute piece by Roland Kirk, rearranged by Howe) and my expectations are high, as the shows from the trio, last year were probably the most original thing Steve has done since the 70s. In these concerts, Steve showed his jazz influences and also rearranged completely a few Yes classics. If you still haven't heard it, click here right now. Probably a great albums is to be released.

1976 - Memphis

June 04, 1976 - Memphis, Tenessee, USA
Yes's solo album tour didn't work as expected and the set-list was ever-changing. Quoting Circus Magazine from September 13, 1976:
At a concert in Memphis' Mid-South Coliseum, when Yes was still performing various solo material, Chris Squire got his turn with "Hold Out Your Hand," the opening track from his own Fish Out Of Water album, and some ten thousand people responded to the Squire tune with a standing ovation. "We were still experimenting with the show at that stage, and we were playing different songs every night, and I think that one night we just happened to play my song," says the too-modest bassist.

Indeed the best thing about this show was Squire's great song. He sings so well, and then in the end there's an instrumental rendition of You by my side, with Howe on steel guitar. Not to be missed.
Other high points are Sweet Dreams, with all the band playing intensely and freely that early song, and Moraz's solo, this time not on mellotron but on a bluesy piano.
The tape was from audience and sound quality is not the best.

Set-list:
Apocalypse
Siberian Khatru
Sound Chaser
I've Seen All Good People
Song Of Innocence
Hold Out Your Hand/You By My Side
Leaves Of Green
Clap
Long Distance Runaround/Moraz Solo
Harp Solo
Heart Of The Sunrise
Gates Of Delirium
Roundabout
Sweet Dreams

Links on comments!

1974 - The Tooleman presents Yessongs 2

Live at Madison Square Garden, New York City, Feb 18, 1974

Some Yes fans have commented on the blog thanking for the "full Tales experience" or, in other words, the chance of hearing the full Tales from Topographic Oceans played live on stage. To those, this bootleg is the holy grail.
Tooleman, one of the greatest Yes aficionados in the world, managed to get a tape with the full Tales played live in New York, in a very good sound quality. Bad news is the tape didn't contain the rest of the show (the whole Close to the Edge album and Roundabout). He did a wonderful job remastering the tapes, and they sound fresh and lively. You can hear the moog as if it were beside you!
It might be just my imagination, but they sound so interested in this evening... The Ancient is simply dazzling: Howe plays with all his soul, and Rick has a more important role than in the studio version.
Links on comments!