I was at this one, and in fact sitting next to the chap who was making the "unofficial" video of the show.

Only that wasn't where my ticket seats were. I'm not sure if this was indicative of the decline of Yes's popularity along with most other classic and 80's rockers in light of the new Nirvana thing, but the place was barely 1/3 full. Most of the upper seating was empty.

And that had me and my friends in shock, because the tickets we received from Ticketmaster over the phone were way up there, and we get there only to find every row in front of us all the way to the front of the "Red" upper section. We assumed we had the best seats they could give us...

Still, it was a good show, and from the distance we couldn't necessarilly tell if the band were depressed or down about the lower numbers.

The new arrangement of "Saving My Heart" I thought was good. Much better than the one released on Union. It would be nice if that someday made it to an official release somewhere.

I saw Yes in the UNION tour 3 months previous to this show. I saw them at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA on April 19, 1991.

I was happy to find out they were returning to the area to play. I actually won tickets from the local rock station, DC101 to attend this concert. I have NEVER won anything in my life and during this summer I won 3 things from a radio station - a Sony car CD player, a 6 foot party sub and Yes tickets! The stars and the movements of the moon must have been aligned for me. I should have bought lottery tickets!

Yes played in the round and it was killer! Watching all the guys play and trade off guitar, keyboard and drum parts with each other was something I will never forget.

I'd love a chance to say something about Yes and Yes fans here. I have been reading all of the stories from Yes fans and how many of them didn't like Trevor Rabin's verisons of songs or his song writing - they wanted Steve Howe and missed his playing and writing. Life goes on! Steve Howe was in Asia and GTR and recording solo projects. I think Trevor Rabin helped save Yes and their existence! I love his playing and writing. Sure its different - his style leans toward a heavier rocking sound and helped introduce Yes music to a whole new breed and age of Yes fans. The early eighties was a time that had Yes on the radio again - not playing classic Yes - but NEW YES MUSIC. I actually heard Yes music in dance clubs and Yes even had a video of "Owner of A Lonely Heart" on MTV. Yes was actually enjoying success and developing a new mass following. They were not writing 20 minute songs - so what! Neither was Rush - concept albums went to the wayside - it was a different time in music. It was a time that I saw the most people at a Yes concert.

I saw YES in 1991 during the Union tour--it was in the Washington DC area, and it was probably one of the best concerts I have ever seen! Seeing Anderson, Bruford, Howe, Squire, Bruford, White, Wakeman, Kaye, and Rabin together was incredible! I recall almost 3 1/2 hours of music. Lots of old and new stuff--I recall Your Move/All Good People (John asked audience to sing along, as the concert was being videoed/recorded), Lift Me Up (Squire had trouble getting his bass hooked up in the beginning), an incedible Wakeman solo, a wonderfully long, almost religious, Awaken. No solo was done by Kaye. All in all, it was great!


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John Noble:
I attended the Yes concert last Saturday night at the Capital Center in Largo, Md (in the D.C. suburbs). Here are some observations and comments:

Comments:
This was the first Yes concert I have attended after being a Yes fan for about 20 years (I got "Close to the Edge" on my 16th or 17th birthday and have been hooked ever since). I was impressed by the "in the round" setup; I was in one of the "cheap" seats (about 30 rows up from the floor) and felt that I as good a seat as anyone; I think I would have preferred being there rather than on the floor (where the expensive seats were) and being below the stage.

I think Jon announced that Trevor Rabin became an American citizen the night before.

The highlights of the concert for me were the various "solos"; Howe was incredible, stalking about the center of the stage displaying his incredible style and talent. The drum duet was spellbinding, and a excellent way to begin the second half of the show. Even Rabin's solo was impressive; his style is unmistakable. Rabin did some of the dueling banjo's stuff I had read about in an earlier "Notes"; he added some chords from the Star Spangled Banner (I think), perhaps in honor of his newfound citizenship. Squire's solo was perhaps the best of the bunch. Certainly, he put on the best show from a presentation point of view - he really played to the crowd. And, Wakeman, was, of course, Wakeman.

The song highlight for this night had to be Your Move/All Good People. Jon again announced that this was being recorded (whether he was serious or not, I don't know) and he wanted everyone to sing along. And it seemed that everyone did. It sounded great.

Jon's voice was crystal clear and crisp. I can't understand how his voice can hold up so well under such a long tour.

The band has added another song from the Union album, Saving My Heart. It was good, but I would have liked the song it evidently replaced, Long Distance Runaround, as much.

Awaken, the last song of the night (before the encore) is one of my favorite Yes songs, but it really lost something in concert. I suppose one of the aspects of that song I enjoy the most is the majestic sound of the church organ Rick Wakeman used for this song on the Going for the One album. That sound was not captured on the relatively puny electric organ he used.

The disappointments I have mainly have to do with the fact that this is only the first Yes concert I have attended; I would have loved to have heard many more songs, like "On The Silent Wings of Freedom," "Going for the One", "Parallels", "Sound Chaser", etc. etc. etc. in concert. I would have loved to hear "Order of the Universe" from the ABWH album, too. The three hours of concert time went far too quickly. All in all, though, the band did an excellent job of spanning the years with their song selection.

Overall, I am glad I went and would go to another one in a microsecond.

Among the minor criticisms I have: Aside from Squire, the band doesn't really have a lot of charisma. It is their depth of talent that makes watching them perform enjoyable; you won't get too many goosebumps *watching* them perform (unless you watch the hands flying over the key

Jon Anderson:
Woo! Thank you. Hey, it's Saturday night. Gotta loosen up now. Great to be with you this evening. 'Shock To The System'. Shock to the rights of mankind. Shock to the politian.

Jon Anderson:
Woo! Gosh. You gotta wake up and dream. Somebody told. You gotta wake up and dream. Like a sharp distant dream. Just wake up and dream.

Jon Anderson:
Woo! Thank you very much. Reminds me when..uh we first wrote that song we've been working together. Just for a few years we were working in the city. we actually wrote that song down in Devon which is a beuatufil, beautiful part of England. That's why we're more into trying to figure out [???] besides the city. Rubish. It's always a great pleasure to introduce, on aucustic guitar. The maestro Mr. Steve Howe.

Trevor Rabin:
Thank you.

Jon Anderson:
Woo! Really gotta tell ya. Really don't know. Alright. Here's a song that..uh last night I dreamed about this song last night and still even in the dream it was really wonderful to play but..uh The song is called..uh you know, you know. You know what it is.

Announcer:
Are you ready? Ladies and Gentleman, Mr. Alan White, Mr. Bill Bruford.

Jon Anderson:
The original drum machine, thunder machine. Mr. Alan White. On the electronic drums, Mr. Bill Bruford. Some say he's a dangerous man. Others agree. The original, the unmistakable, Mr. Tony Kaye.

Trevor Rabin:
Thank you.

Jon Anderson:
Woo! Thank you so much. Thank you. Under the Saturday night. Sorry. We're going to sing a song together now. It's like a sing along now. Sing along. You all know this song. We're going to sing it in. We're going to record you tonight by the way. Let me get the microphone. Woo! The one of..uh one of the modern technology we can recording every night. [???] record the microphone up there can hear you singing. We are in the key of E. Everybody. Woo!

Jon Anderson:
Woo! Unbelievable, you guys are so fantastic. Yo! Woo! Woo! [???]. As you've..uh probably noticed that..uh this is a very brand new stool. A stool was..uh specially imported from Sweden. Came today. It's the right color. The right design. so is the guitar. This guy spends so much time in the studio and last month he became an American citizen. Mr. Trevor Rabin.

Trevor Rabin:
Thank you very much. Thank you Washington. Great to be back here again.

Jon Anderson:
So there was this time and..uh running up the Trevor's house which is really a big studio and..uh he was sitting there sing this song pretty much like we did it that day. Kinda groovy.

Jon Anderson:
Woo! Gotta 'Lift Me Up' she said. 'Lift Me Up' told her. [???]. 'Lift Me Up'. Gotta 'Lift Me Up'.

Jon Anderson:
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. As we..uh travel around ..uh. We just spent six weeks in Europe traveling around. This time we start down in Florida and work our way up and round about and here we are. Saturday night Washington. When traveling so much you gotta have a sense of humor and someone in the band has got the most crazy sense of humor in the world and not only that he's the wizards of the keyboards. Mr. Rick Wakeman.