The Summer Of YES and Perpetual Change.

[Earl Grey]

The last thing I want to hear this summer is a nostalgia tour: and I haven't really ever heard one yet from our favorite band.

Change is the only thing that never changes. Perpetual Change.

We YESFANS love the way YES re-interprets their work: why you see all the DAT recordings of shows running around after a particularly great YESSHOW: we love the reinterpretation of the classics, the reappearance of lesser tracks where they have delved deeply into the works and come up with new gleaming jewels.

The possibilities are endless, as YES has everywhere to go: more substance in YESWORKS than in anything short of modern jazz... the sky is no limit here.

What would you love to hear that would be OUTRAGEOUS?

Steve reinterpreting something by Trevor? Hell, Trevor did it!

What would Wakey do with the Moraz solos??? Could be interesting.

What strange songs could they do: How about Abaline?

How about a reggae version of Roundabout (I'm only slightly kidding here!).

They are going to release the unheard tracks from the lost album between Tormato and Drama on the newe box set: what if YES played some of those songs this tour? I'm up for it! Rich new terrain there.

Anything goes: what would you like to hear that would be...

'....NOW FOR SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT!???'

Hmm?

You can be wacky here! And I wont bite. The weirder the idea the better!

Earl:yesbird:

[RobAdams]

With this tour in mind, I'd love to see the following:

a) YES finally nailing SOUTH SIDE OF THE SKY
b) THE REMEMBERING - an incredible epic within an epic
c) Odd rare tunes here and there to be compiled on a new live album...A new live album without ROUNDABOUT or ALL GOOD PEOPLE.
d) At least a 3 hour show...Supposedly McCartney's doing 3 hours this year, and he's older than our YES guys.
e) SOUND CHASER would be wonderful. I think Rick could give it his own twist and have it still retain it's beauty.
f) YOURS IS NO DISGRACE, including the intro from YESSONGS because I have NEVER EVER seen them play this song live.
g) ROUNDABOUT will be played, no doubt. I'd love to see it played early in the show, at a leisurely pace, and complete.
h) NO idiotic tour song. What a waste of 2 minutes.
i) The crowd being politely quiet during quiet passages.
j) ON THE SILENT WINGS OF FREEDOM would be awesome
k) DREAMTIME straight into SILENT WINGS would be even better.
l) I'd like to hear Chris, Steve, Rick and Alan each introduce a song.
m) No opening act. They should play MONTY PYTHON episodes on a huge screen while we're all waiting for the show to start.
n) Something from their first album would be cool.
o) THEN from TIME AND A WORD would be very nice.
p) No fighting
q) Solos or no solos. Either way is fine with me.
r) Someone else's great idea: SHOOT HIGH AIM LOW with Chris singing Trevor's parts with Jon.
s) No OWNER OF A LONELY HEART....Please.
t) No TIME AND A WORD.
u) I'd love to see them play THEMES from ABWH. I want to see Chris' interpretation of the bass on that one.
v) I want either an LP side long epic or two ten minute songs for an encore.
w) MIND DRIVE would be a welcome tune.
x) At least 3 MAGNIFICATION songs. I'm in the minority, but I don't want IN THE PRESENCE OF.
y) NEW LANGUAGE would be great to see.
z) And lastly, I'm still hoping YES will be even cooler and go to AUSTRALIA , UK and EUROPE for our friends across the seas.

[Earl Grey]

...can always count on you buddy!

[Q]

Burlie-man, what you suggest est tres dangerous and I love it for that reason! Steve reinterpreting YesWest? reggae Roundabout? I love it, big-time!

HOWEVER - remember how a lot of YesFans respond when they get their Yes in any form other than exactly precisely specifically whatever it is that floats their boat - they go off the deep end! I hope your sense of adventure can be contagious, and inspire other fans to seek something new and unexpected.

I for one will come right alongside you and cheer for Perpetual Change!

[donner]

Frankly, I've always loved A Venture—the "forgotten" track from The Yes Album. That would be cool. Outside of that, it would be fun to see Yes take on the Grateful Dead's Terrapin Station. A perfect cover for them, I think.

[CathyG]

Some great ideas here - It would be fun to see how the guys could rework some of the classics, and it could possibly bring in new fans. When I heard that Clapton redid Layla I thought I would have a coronary - but it gave a whole new twist to the song. What about an all-acoustic Roundabout in a similar fashion? Hands off AYAI, however.

[Squireaholic]

As long as we're dreaming bigtime, I think it's high time Yes did a concert full of Beatles, Fifth Dimension and other stated influences.
All of Abbey Road Side Two!
Jonny A singing " The Age of Aquarius"!
Hey... It Can Happen!

[5_percent]

Originally posted by donner
Frankly, I've always loved A Venture—the "forgotten" track from The Yes Album. That would be cool. Outside of that, it would be fun to see Yes take on the Grateful Dead's Terrapin Station. A perfect cover for them, I think.

Absolutely! Venture is a huge favorite of mine, an underrated classic if you ask me.. As for Terrapin, that was really a great tune. My older Brother who got me into Yes years ago said that Jerry was asked about how "progressive" parts of it were like Yes or Genesis, and he said he didn't really like that kind of music! Well, the album version is some of the best work with orchestral parts really working well, a little like Magnification.

[YYY]

I know that this is my own personal fantasy but I'd like to hear all 4 sides of "TALES". I was lucky enough to experience it 'Live' during the original TALES tour. Only a few cities got to hear all of it before they changed the setlist, early in the tour.

NOT!

[gt76yesman]

Great topic Earl and once again I really agree with i-and-i. We think very much alike in this moment of YES.

1. Since we will get ROUNDABOUT, play it early, maybe open with it.
2. Play MAGNIFICATION into SPIRIT OF SURVIVAL.
3. Please play ON THE SILENT WINGS OF FREEDOM. I think it would work great coming out of DREAMTIME.
4. ONWARD or MADRIGAL instead of WONDEROUS STORIES
5. AWAKEN
6. epic? How about the first album of TALES (REVEALING SCIENCE OF GOD and THE REMEMBERING.
7. HOMEWORLD
8. THAT, THAT IS
9. Monty Python on the big screen while we get seated.
10. YES, please visit our friends down under in Australia. (It would be a great excuse for me to go)

Glendo from Chico

[donner]

Originally posted by 5_percent

My older Brother who got me into Yes years ago said that Jerry was asked about how "progressive" parts of it were like Yes or Genesis, and he said he didn't really like that kind of music! Well, the album version is some of the best work with orchestral parts really working well, a little like Magnification.

Totally agree, 5_percent! The orchestra, the suite, the length, all add to the "progness" of Terrapin. Although, Magnification is better! Sorry, Jerry! In fact, I thnk the elements that make progressive music progressive (namely the complexity and an aim to stretch beyond the norm) are firmly contained in the jamming styles of bands like the Dead and Phish. I have a friend who's a huge Dead and Phish fan who won't set foot in a Yes concert because he syays "he doesn't dig Yes." He digs them more than he thinks.

[gt76yesman]

Oops, gotta open my mouth, insert drop.............................................. ...................

Ah, now, I think it is the best of both worlds. I first saw YES is Long Beach '77 GftO tour. I first saw the Dead at Pauley Pavillion in '79. I saw the Dead over 200 times! Wish I could have seen more. If YES played 25 shows a year in the San Francisco area I would have seen them over 200 times as well. Two different worlds both GREAT music.

YES plays there music like the albums and it is incredible the force behind it. The Dead play absolutely nothing like the albums and it was incredible the forsce behind it.

My 3 favorite all time live bands:
1> YES
2> Grateful Dead
3> probably Talking Heads

[donner]

Yes, both bands have their respective arenas. I've been to Dead shows where they have soured so high NO band could catch them. I can say the same thing for Yes (and you can find several instances in that "Perfect moments in Yes music" thread). And I'd have to agree with you, gt76yesman, the Dead and Yes are my two faves live—each for different reasons.

Progressive music is complex but I think there are an awful lot of opportunities for improvisation. This is an area where a prog band could take the bull by the horns and just go nuts, but I don't think that many do. I hear The Flower Kings dabble with improv but I've never heard them live (would love to!)

Just some stray thoughts while I should be working.

[nightliner]

This totally off topic, but since the Grateful Dead was heavily mentioned here, I have a question. I was never a fan of the Dead, and never saw them in concert, but a Deadhead friend of mine once said part of the fun of going to a Dead concert was to see how many times Jerry Garcia screwed up. Do you agree with this assessment? When he said this, it surprised me. I don't go to concerts to hear the band make mistakes. Its one good thing about Yes...you hear very few sour notes.

[therifferoo]

....why not, Earl??? When Todd got sick of having to play Hello, It's Me, he did it in swing-time! Silly, but kinda cool! The band I play in does various popular tunes in salsa!! Why not??

Hmmmm......lessee....

How about an extended jam of Astral Traveller?? That'd be cool!

Would really like to hear On The Silent Wings Of Freedom...

Oh, hell, I still wanna dream big and see them play it all!! I don't care if they go chronologically or alphabetically....just go all night!!! And into the next day, even!!! Potty, nap and meal breaks allowed, of course! Oops....wake up, Riff!! (It was a nice dream, though!) LOL!!

~Riffer!!

[gt76yesman]

I would say half the fun of a Dead show was the audience. Some truely wonderful and beautiful people, twirling, dancing, sharing, much like an extended family. I always felt I could trust a Deadhead when I needed help, here is an instance:

90125 tour, San Francisco Cow Palace. Took 2 much X, had and amazing time. When they were singing 'Hold On' I was holding on to my sanity. When the show ended my friend and I were way to high to move. The ushers tried to get us to leave several times, finally we stood up to go. There was almost no one there, we did not know how we were going to get home and were to confused. This Deadhead was sitting behind us and still there. we talked and he said his friends would be more than happy to give us a ride home.

I always wished I could find those guys to thank them.

Dead and Yes two ends of perfect music.

[YYY]

The Dead and YES. What an unsual online bedfellows. The first time I saw them was in 1973 during a huge line-up that included the Allman Bros. It was a complete hippie drugfest. An experience I'll never forget, primarily because of the crowd and the fun loving crazy girls. In later years that was the only reason I would attend a Dead Show. Their improvisations would infrequently rise to spiritual heights but the flaws were abundant. If it wasn't for the woman and the party atmosphere, I would have not attended their shows. Actually most of the time I'd just go to the parking lot and hang with the crowds. The age of Psychedelia was the only similarity that YES had to the DEAD.

[RobAdams]

I never got much pleasure out of watching Garcia screw up. I enjoyed seeing the GD play because they were one of the best live bands I've ever seen. Unlike a YES show which seems to be quite carefully planned out, seeing the Dead was more like watching them jam. They rarely planned their shows - they just came out and let it happen. It seemed more like being at a rehearsal or a backyard jam session than a concert. There was no elaborate stage show, and no planned speeches in between songs. Just a long show where anything could happen. They were great at improvisation. If you want to check out a really good live Grateful Dead CD that doesn't cost much, WITHOUT A NET is a winner. Usually you can get this 2 CD set for about 17.99. It has one of their most interesting song cycles, HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT > FRANKLIN'S TOWER. If you don't enjoy that one cranked up, your GD gene is missing. But that doesn't make anyone a bad person!

The screw ups I saw toward the end of the Dead's history were not fun at all. I saw one of their last Giants Stadium shows. Now I've seen some GD shows that were 'just okay', but this one was the first and only truly bad show I've ever seen them do. Jerry was out of it. He looked disoriented, he hit wrong notes and he forgot many lyrics. I had the feeling from the way Weir and Lesh were looking at him that they wondered if Jerry was going to get through the show. The worst part of the show was when they started playing WHARF RAT. Jerry started it off with the A chord. He strummed and strummed, Weir and Lesh joined in, then Vince Welnick (ex-Tubes keyboardist) and Miickey & Bill followed. They waited for Jerry to sing the opening line "Old man down, way down down, down by the docks of the city...". All the bands eyes were on Jerry. He wouldn't start singing. The drummers let the beat fizzle out and it looked like Weir was going to lead them into a different song. Suddenly Jerry sings "Old man down...." and they tried to continue like nothing was wrong. At that point I had the feeling I was at my last Grateful Dead show. It was sad what Jerry did to himself. At his peak he was one terrific musician.


Quite a few Dead Head friends of mine are also fans of Yes. The music is totally unrelated, but one similarity I feel is that both YES and the GRATEFUL DEAD have approaches to music than can't fully develope and evolve within the confines of a 4 or 5 minute pop song. Like YES music, one must allow themselves to flow with the music and see where it goes.

[donner]

Pretty sad story, i-and-i. Clearly, the Dead of the 90's was a band in decline. Ah, but in their glory days . . . (and there were a lot of them!).

[Earl Grey]

Kind of a cool tangent this took (I lost track of the thread when it moved, ...thought it just piffled out or something...
All far-frickken-out stuff you guys!).

YES and The Dead have both been known to evoke the times they were forged in.

The Masterworks show was like a time machine to a 70's stadium: the vibe was just there, you know? Not all YES tours have been like that for me, but there was something about all of those epics being played back to back that was like magic: like a wrinkle in time!
It really did feel like The Summer Of Drugs (Like spinning out to 1974's "California Jam" to hear ELP/Black Sabbath/The Eagles/Deep Purple... much of the same free-for-all vibe)! With nary a nod to the 'hits'. No one else can do that now. YES can.

The Greatful Dead carried a little pocket of !THE SIXTIES! with them wherever they went. A gypsy caravan. i-and-i mentioned somewhere on this site that the 60's died when Uncle Jerr died.
You may be right there i-and-i.

As to enjoying the mistakes, The Dead was a much looser musical structure. Plenty of room to experiment, as we're talking about the parameters of three chords. Music made for jamming, and what fun!

YES has too many corners and convolutions in their music for it to serve as a total jam-engine. But the guys somehow manage to fit new notes in the strangest of places, new tones and new frequencies... it MUST be magic!

Oh. I heard Steve on an off-night once, and it wasn't pretty: and he REALLY looked brooding at that show! I don't think he enjoys his mistakes!!! I love to hear him reach for that note on the top of the neck and hit it! As he 99.9 % of the time does!

Anyway, back to topic: how about a Salsa version of A Venture? Haha! A rocked-up electric version of Wonderous Stories??
Roundabout done as an acoustic waltz???
The sky's no limit!

Earl Grey:yesbird:

[gt76yesman]

I felt the Dead and Yes were the ying and yang that made my musical world revolve. I miss the ying but the yang can cook!

Re: California Jam. HAHAHA, hadn't thought of that in a while. I don't remember the Eagles, I remember Seals and Crofts and of course the Deep Purple/Black Sabbath/ELP. My clearest memory of that show was Keith Emerson playing the grand piano while they were spinning in the air!

Good old Ontario Motor Speedway.

Glendo

[YYY]

Hey guys those were pretty wild times;

ELP
with the Spinning Piano Boy - seeing that was a bit over the top

Hendrix
burning his guitar - unfortunately missed that one; too young

Black Oak Arkansas
slamming their two guitars into each other - my first "Rock" concert ever ,circa 1970 - obviously this left a very strange impression

Alice Cooper
smashing a brown bag with a cat inside (I saw this slight of hand iin 71) even thouhg it looked real, ...eeyuk!

Ozzy
biting the head off a rabbit or was it a rat. Anyway I didn't catch that one

Jimmy Page
playing the guitar with his violin bow - saw that in NY 73: WOW!

Spinal Tap
playing the guitar with the violin only - actually I did see this one because I was an extra in the film. I am clearly visible in 2 scenes during their gig at the army base

and by the way Earl
I still like the idea of the audience spinning in the round while YES stays still in the middle of the arena

[no name]

I think it would be interesting if, for one song, they would all switch instruments. Like, instead of playing keyboards, Rick Wakeman would play bass, and Steve Howe would play keyboards, and Jon Anderson would be playing drums, Alan White on guitar, and Chris Squire on lead vocals. It could be quite interesting.

[Earl Grey]

...jamming together, "Humming bird don't fly away fly away: I'm going to bite off your head!"

A friend of mine (Who is now a rocket scientist at JPL) took a couple of tabs of black pyramid acid, climbed up the chain link fence surrounding the stage, and hung there through Deep Purple: afterwards he couldn't feel his arms for an hour, and had one nasty sunburn: we all had that!

I have this vivid memory of craning my neck up during Karnevil #9 to watch the spotlit Goodyear Blimp hovering overhead: like being inside of the Zeppelin II gatefold-sleeve!

Keith spinning on the piano (I heard the piano was actually hollowed-out, and it was a tape of Emerson being played during the sequence: anyone know if this was true?).

During ELP they were having trouble keeping the amplifiers sequenced: there was a distracting 'time delay' echo: but sometimes it worked: but I don't think it was done on purpose!
Stoned-age audial technology!

YYY: At the Cal Jam the audience WAS spinning around the stage: or so it seemed! Haha! Anyone know where I could find a videotape of that concert??? Hmm? Pretty please? :)

No Name: REM did an entire CD that way... The one with Losing My Religion on it (This may be your favorite song according to your mentioned belief preferences there! Haha!). It worked out really well.

Hmm. Alan does play keyboards, Howe could definitely play bass... I wonder how Squire sounds on guitar? Probably could hold his own: he already plays lead on bass...
Jon plays some drums...
Steve probably shouldn't take on the lead vocals! Haha!

Fun idea!

Earl Grey:yesbird:

[donner]

Maybe Yes could play a couple of tracks from the O, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack? Seems to be all the rage these days!

Failing that, what about an evening of progressive music from other artists. They could do Supper's Ready, Karn Evil 9, Wish You Were Here, Stardust We Are, etc.

By the way, gt76yesman, totally with you on the yin and yang of progressive music and jam music. Two great genres. Throw in a little British folk rock (the Fairport Conventions of this world) and I'll reach true inner peace.

[Earl Grey]

Steve would be up for it: you know how he loves roots music: ...though he would probably go for a more british-folk stance: lute work and such: YES is SO very british...

I thought that the "Oh Brother where art thou" soundtrack winning the Grammy was refreshing: and a nice slap in the face to the presently unimaginative A&R departments of the major record labels!

So glad it didn't go to an N'SIC band this year: what's wrong with contemporary music right now?!!! Pretty boring!

Earl:yesbird:

[donner]

Originally posted by Earl Grey

I thought that the "Oh Brother where art thou" soundtrack winning the Grammy was refreshing: and a nice slap in the face to the presently unimaginative A&R departments of the major record labels!

So glad it didn't go to an N'SIC band this year: what's wrong with contemporary music right now?!!! Pretty boring!

Earl:yesbird:

Entertainment Weekly posed the question: How did a CD with virtually no airplay and totally ignored by the music press win a Grammy? Their answer: Oh yeah, the music didn't suck.

A very nice slap in the face, indeed. Y'know, with the Internet being a growing haven for those seeking more obscure, "better" music than what's offered on the radio and in your local Sam Goody these days, what will happen first? The collapse of the pop music biz or the acceptance of talented obscure artists by that very same music biz?

Or will people just grow bored with the Web?

[gt76yesman]

I remember seeing The Mahavishnu Orchestra in Hunington Beach a long, long time ago in a small bar far, far away. John McGlothlin was awesome. And I saw Weather Report as well, that was really a great era of music.

One night I saw Bill Bruford at a club on the Sunset Strip (guess 1981?) It was awesome and after the show we are standing out from and out comes John Belushi and a lady front the show. We said 'Hi John' he said hi then they got in a limo.

Hadn't thought of that in years!!!

[Earl Grey]

...As it sinks Atlantis-like into the ocean, never to be seen again!


Originally posted by donner

...what will happen first? The collapse of the pop music biz or the acceptance of talented obscure artists by that very same music biz?...


MP3 Killed The Video Star!

I think the whole corrupt bottomfeeder industry is going to sink under it's own weight. And the music moguls know it: they're busy stealing pencils and letterhead stationary, and jumping ship like the rats they are!

And we wont get bored of our computers: we'll eventually be able to get all of our music from home. You'll have used 'record' stores for those who like vinyl and nostalgia, but new music will all be downloaded from home.

I give it about 6 years before the music industry totally collapses like a burnt out sun.

And just as happens when a star collapses, all the music-biz star-stuff will be blown out into the greater universe to enrich the starfields for something new and even better.

I think you'll see artists having control of their own music, a return to excellence in musical expression, and something as rich as the mid sixties as far as new talent goes...

But the old sun has to blow itself up first!

Any day now.

Earl Grey:ele:

[Flo]

In France we still like our good old CDs and the music industry is not collapsing yet. Recently I read in the press we were the only country with a rise in CD sales in 2001 (about 10%).

[Yes Oz]

Great to see all your wish list and why not. But what ever they play I just know you will enjoy the shows.

Also like to thank some of you guys for giving support to a tour of Oz. I know someone who is going to LA for this tour (how envious I am). If any of you are lucky enough to meet any members of Yes or their management, don't forget to put a plug in for us. We are still working hard at this end to try and make it happen, but any support would be apprecited.

I've just got a feeling that this is going to be a very special tour with Rick coming back. i can just imagine some of the arrangements he will put togeather from Mag. just coz there is no orchestra on this tour I'm sure they will still play a few tracks from the album.

:dog2: :dog2: :dog2:

[therifferoo]

Earl, our buddy Todd Rundgren saw this coming on the horizon nearly 20 years ago...ahead of his time once again. These days he's doing nothing BUT on line stuff.... ( F@!*! the record companies that dissed him!!!! he's adopted the ol D.I.Y. and I don't blame him!) I hope all those jerks get what's coming to them!!!! And the true artists get the chances for recognition they deserve!

Anyway...just my 2 cents! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YES!!!

~Riffer.

Oh, yeah...and Earl, one more Todd vid to go and you will have a veritable collection on the way!!!!

Peace all!

[Earl Grey]

You be the bomb!

I've been in a Todd mood too these past few months! Thank You!

Earl:ele:

[swib]

I would like to see on this tour

No Magnification songs-They ran Into the Presence from into the ground, magnification, on all the shows I went to last tour, they never got it right.

A quiet peaceful crowd with quiet passages, Eric Clapton played the Fleet Center a year or so back, a pin could drop, I loved it.

The Remembering/The Ancient- Seeing Jon kick the ---- out of the cymbals is nice.

WAKEMAN IN A CAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Glittering all over the place

35 years young ticket prices!!!!!

The old tour programmes for sale at the booths.

SQUIRE IN A CAPE!!!!!!!!!!!,,Fat chance of that happening, but if he can fit into spandex, he can do the cape thing too.

Steve and the doubleneck once more.

Smokey stages

Laser beams

Being able to bring a video camera in and shoot the show from the balcony in the fleet center with the best zoom.

Roger Dean having his own booth on this tour.

Releasing remastered videos of making the old albums.

Still waiting for the remastered bootlegs.

Good commercial ads on tv from everywhere about this tour.

Same campaigning as the UNION tour. That was the last big tour.