'76 Tour Videos?

[FGregoryT1]

For years, I've been led to believe that the 1976 Solo Album Tour (aka the Relayer II tour) might have been taped, but that no one knows what happened to the video tapes. Is this still the case? The Crab Nebula stage show was the most amazing I've ever seen, and I'd love to have a tape of it (along the lines of the Queen's Park Relayer Tour video).

[Snarly]

Queen Park, was that 1975 "Realyer I" tour?
Is that the video they call "QPR"?

I've got to get a copy of this! Anyone know where I can score?

P.S. - Welcome Gregory

[YYY]

I have a copy of it. It's an outdoor concert which starts in the late afternoon and last into the early evening hours. My video is probably one of many copies that I got from a Yesfan 3 years ago. The picture quality and sound leave much to be desired but it's still worth viewing. I love it because it's the only Live tape I've found with Moraz on keys. He has some great solo moments and plays wonderfully on GATES and Sound Chaser. After the Firebird intro they open with Soundchaser. This alone is worth it.
There are several camera angles including wide shots of the massive crowd, close ups and overviews from behind Moraz. Other highlights are RSOG, RITUAL, To Be Over and CTTE. Jon who looks really cool with mustache and beard plays a lot of rhythm guitar and heavy percussion thoughout. I wish the sound recording was better but it's not hard to imagine what the audience was hearing. I only have 3 other YES videos [Yessongs, Keys 1 and HOB. I'd like to get a hold of more 70' tapes especially an 'In the Round" tour video. I love their physical energy in the early days.

Drop me an email if you want to get a copy

[PO]

The two QPR DVD's can be found at most CD/DVD outlets. I don't think any VHS is available (or worth it).

[Snarly]

YYY,

We need to trade!! I have Phillidelphia '79 on DVD!! In the round, short, and like your QPR, bad sound. But OH THE MEMORIES!!!!!!!

PM or e-mail me please.

[Snarly]

The two QPR DVD's can be found at most CD/DVD outlets. I don't think any VHS is available (or worth it).

I have never seen it for sale in my lovely home town of Backwardsfield.
Might have to order the DVD(s) online.

[rabinmovies]

More info of the QPR recording if anyone is interested. The concert was filmed at the Queens Park Rangers football stadium in London on saturday may 10th. It was 1 of 2 special outdoor stadium concerts of the relayer tour over here in the UK. The saturday after on the 17th of may, Yes played stoke football ground but unfortunately they had to cut short their set because of heavy rain. At QPR, Seals and croft, Ace and Gryphon were the bands that were on before Yes as it was an all day festival. Yes came on at 7.45pm and finished around 10.30pm at night. It is a must for any yes fan to get these 2 part dvd discs. The picture quality is brilliant but the sound still lacks.

[brian6660]

Hey Folks 2 words..... E BAY
Thats where I got mine. and the video quality is fantastic but the the 1st three or 4 tunes have a horrible just horrible mix. But the great thing about these is the fact that they are so seriously intense about portraying their compositions

[Rick N Backer]

Hey Folks 2 words..... E BAY
Thats where I got mine. and the video quality is fantastic but the the 1st three or 4 tunes have a horrible just horrible mix. But the great thing about these is the fact that they are so seriously intense about portraying their compositions


Don't get ripped off. Try
www.timelapse-records.co.uk

This company has loads and I mean loads of Yes 'rarities' as I must call them here, and they are reputable. I've had loads of stuff from them. Get on the mailing list to receive details of stuff not advertised on the site itself. The guy who runs it is a big Yes fan himself too.

You won't be disapponited.

[FGregoryT1]

Yes, that was Relayer I Tour. I'd have to do some research to remember where I got this Queen's park video -- might have been online. I'll let you know if i can remember.

The sound mix isn't great, but the visuals alone are worth it!

[nightliner]

Trading of the Queen's Park video is strictly forbidden on this site as it is commercially available.

[Snarly]

Trading of the Queen's Park video is strictly forbidden on this site as it is commercially available.
Really Sorry, I will make it a point not to do that then. :angel:
I will BUY it.

[Michele]

Dear Gregory:

Regarding:
For years, I've been led to believe that the 1976 Solo Album Tour (aka the Relayer II tour) might have been taped, but that no one knows what happened to the video tapes. Is this still the case? The Crab Nebula stage show was the most amazing I've ever seen, and I'd love to have a tape of it (along the lines of the Queen's Park Relayer Tour video).

The "Crab Nebula" stage set of the 1976 "Solo Albums Tour" was completely different from the stage set used in the "Relayer" tour, which is what the QPR video captures.

To the best of my knowledge -- and I have been researching this one for about five years now -- there are only three known film sources of the Crab Nebula show, all held by private owners.

I know a video dealer who has a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a few minutes of black and white 8 mm film taken at one of the "Crab" shows... I think in Minnesota. It is very grainy, blurry, and in black and white. You can't tell much from it.

The second source I have only *heard* about and have never been able to make contact with the owner. It may be a myth, or the alleged films may no longer exist. It was supposed to be about 8 minutes.

The third source is me. I have five full-color reels of super-8 mm movie film, taken during the roadie set-up and during the concert of the show in Dallas, Texas, August 6, 1976, at the Moody Coliseum. There might be 15 minutes of film there.

But I do have to say.... after all of these years in safe storage, the films are in great shape. The luminosity is still there, and the colors are still brilliant. The images of the Crab Nebula stage set "coming to life" at the beginning of the concert are still thrilling to see, even after all of these years... but of course, the films don't begin to convey the real excitement and drama of the moment. In truth, you had to be there.

This was, of course, before the days of home video, and super-8 home movies were as good as it got, if you were a poor hippy of limited means. (smiles)

A couple of years ago, I took the film reels to a very good video transfer company here -- (not one of those cheesy "make your home movies into videos" places that just videotapes a projection of the films). I had the films transferred to video just for basic preservation purposes. I do not believe the transfer -- professionally done though it was -- does justice to the films. There was some muting of the color in the transfer, and of course, it created a "second generation" and there was some loss of luminosity.

Ultimately, I plan to take the reels back to this same company and have them digitized to disk so they can be ditially cleaned up, enhanced, made better. But that is an expensive process and I'll have to budget for it when the time comes. Still, it will eventually happen.

I have been waiting for the right project to come along, for which these films might make a good "bonus feature" .... maybe as an added feature on a YES concert DVD of some sort, and I have made inquiries about this to the powers-that-be.

So, MAYBE one of these days this will happen. I do want the fans to be able to see these ultra-rare films. To some collectors, they have become something of a "holy grail" of YES history. These may be the only color films that exist of the 1976 tour... minimal though they are.

But it is very important to me that when they are shared, they be offered in the best possible condition, as close to the original as possible. I am not at all interested in trading video copies of video copies of video copies. There will be a way to do this right, and it will happen.

Ultimately, the 1976 Solo Album Tour was the last of the truly great light-and-scenery spectacles, the end of an era of gorgeous design excess. Those days have never been duplicated.

Almost all YES fans who saw the 1976 tour, remark that it was definitely the most visually spectacular. And I agree. And we all nod and remember fondly.

The new fans, some of whom were not born in 1976, can only look at us and wonder just exactly *what* was that mythical legendary "Crab Nebula," and why is everyone so entranced by it? (smiles)

One of these days they will be able to have a small visual taste of what it was, and how it worked, and how beautiful the show was.... the three-headed creature coming to life, lifting its heads to peer into the audience, shooting its green laser lights into the auditorium, rising above the stage to become the primary lighting source for Jon, Steve, and Chris....

....the ethereal red light filtering gently through Jon's harp strings during his solo... Chris's fabulous cape -- yes, he wore one, too! (grins) -- that indescribable backless gold-lame' jumpsuit that Steve wore with the little half-capelet sleeves... Patrick Moraz's untameable wild hair! ...the unstoppable Alan White, and the amazingly *small* number of percussion instruments (compared to today) used in the performances of "Gates of Delirium" and "Ritual" back in those days...

It was just a different time..........

Those younger fans will be able to see the images, but I don't think anyone who wasn't there can really know just how wonderful it was. The films don't do it justice... and there are only such a few moments of remarkable images....

But just so you know... there are films in existence. I am doing everything I can to find the right project with which to make them available to fans without loss of image quality. I ask only patience, because it matters that this be done right. It is an irreplaceable part of YES history that needs to be preserved and presented well.

Have a wonderful day!

Michele

[Bugeyes]

Oh Michele! Bite ME! I mean, a...a...a... I have a 8mm film projector. :D Let's see, what are you doing the day of May 5?

[Michele]

Dear Peggy:

Oh Michele! Bite ME! I mean, a...a...a... I have a 8mm film projector. :D Let's see, what are you doing the day of May 5?

Hon'.... you *know* I don't bite! (grins)

On the morning of May 5th, I will be driving back to Oklahoma from Chicago. We're leaving early... it is such a long drive home!

But darlin', there is no way I would travel with these films. They are now 28 years old, and film deteriorates rapidly if not cared for properly. I wouldn't put them through a projector any more either... which is why I will have them digitized. They can be put through the transfer machine without putting any "pull" on the film through the now-delicate sprockets.

...and an 8 mm projector, unless it has a super-8 setting, would not run these films anyway.

So, please be patient. (smiles) There will be a way......

Hugs! -- Michele

[PO]

I'd like to see the black-and-white as I was at the Minneapolis show. It is indelibly stamped on my brain, fortunately. I might be able to verify it.

Super 8 reels were 3 1/2 minutes long. My dad had one, too. It would be fun to try and sync up that film to the live recording, wouldn't it?

Way to go, Michele.

[Michele]

Dear Paul:

Super 8 reels were 3 1/2 minutes long. My dad had one, too. It would be fun to try and sync up that film to the live recording, wouldn't it?

Right. I believe my reels run at 15:40 or thereabouts all together.

Synching with sound will be a lot easier said than done, since all of the concert shots are here-and-there snippets. (smiles)

But there are a few places where I can tell for sure what is being played, from lighting cues, or by reading Jon's lips, or just from the "rhythm of the movement" on stage. I've collect just about all of the known boots from '76 for that purpose someday.

There is a plan. (smiles)

Have a great day! -- Michele

[Other Skylines]

Hello Michelle,

Thanks so much on the update on the rare YES films of the 1976 tour.

My only regret in life is missing that tour (school night).

Take good care of the film, lock it in a safety deposit box until the YES folks offer a DVD with extras.

Thanks!
Tommy C.

[Rick N Backer]

Well somebody somewhere must have some pro shot footage because a film crew was hired by the band to document the 76 tour for a Yessongs 2 project that got shelved.........

Seeing as the QPR tapes and others turned up unannounced a few years back, is it too wild to think that one day this lost footage will surface?

[HDvorak]

It'd be great if the Yesmen hunted down all of the pro-shot footage and the associated audio from the 70s and compiled a Zep style DVD. Wonder if anyone is working on this?

QPR is great with the exception of the audio. If they ever found the original multi-tracks, we'd be in hog heaven. Complete Relayer.

Michele, that's great that you're taking care of the 8mm! I've got about 3 hours of 8mm Zep footage, and most of it has been sound synched to available bootlegs. Much of it is very watchable and enjoyable, i.e. Chicago -75, LA - 75 & LA - 77.

[jimmygtr]

The master tapes are probably under some ex-2nd engineers futon in Duluth.

[Fred Flintstone]

I thought Yesshows II was the '77 tour? They filmed Paris and Glascow I believe. I know they did Glascow, it's in pretty wide circulation.

I got from a trader about 4 or 5 years ago a collection of all the Super 8 film known to circulate. It includes 10 minutes from Seattle, WA (7/23/76) and 20 minutes from Milwaukee, WI (8/16/76). Unfortunately, they both have unmatched sound.

According to Forgotten Yesterdays, one of the shows where they performed music from the solo albums was recorded in its entirety, but in my 20 years of collecting I have never seen it on anyone's list.

[Bugeyes]

Bump, cause timing is everything. Now, where's Michele?


Over and out. :angel:

[Hed G.]

Bump, cause timing is everything. Now, where's Michele?


Over and out. :angel:


Timing IS everything.

Over and out.

[Jonk]

I thought Yesshows II was the '77 tour? They filmed Paris and Glascow I believe. I know they did Glascow, it's in pretty wide circulation.

I got from a trader about 4 or 5 years ago a collection of all the Super 8 film known to circulate. It includes 10 minutes from Seattle, WA (7/23/76) and 20 minutes from Milwaukee, WI (8/16/76). Unfortunately, they both have unmatched sound.

According to Forgotten Yesterdays, one of the shows where they performed music from the solo albums was recorded in its entirety, but in my 20 years of collecting I have never seen it on anyone's list.

Glasgow was filmed apparently by Steve Howe's brother and was nothing to do with Yessongs II. That was filmed in America in 1976 and was going to be an official film until Brian Lane fell out with the two guys filming it(Something about cost I believe). Since then they have disappeared and no one knows where the film has gone...Sadly:headset: