Yes live Medley vs. Genesis live Medley

[Soundwaveseeker]

When you look at live sets through the years, Yes never really did too many medleys - Unlike Genesis, who made the medleys of older material a highlight of their shows in their later years. The In The Cage/Slipperman/Afterglow medley, the 1991 Old Medley, Genesis knew how to stitch them together where each bit naturally flows into each other, rising and falling, creating build-up and resolution.

Yes did have the 1978 or 1979 'Big Medley'/Ten True Summers medley with Time & A Word/Long Distance Runaround/Fish/Ancient-Survival/Perpetual Change/Gates Of Delirium. Perpetual Change seamlessly goes into Gates/Soon, on par with some of their contemporaries' medleys. That was Yes' equivalent to the Genesis Cage medleys I suppose. They also had Magnification into Don't Kill The Whale as a mini-medley. Any other medleys from Yes in a live set that really worked that I forgot about or don't know about?

Genesis were great at the medley, and even created new passages to link the bits together. IQ had some nifty medleys from what I gather from live releases. Some classic bands like Queen or Rush did some cool medleys, but those were really snippets of larger songs that they might have played half of before launching into the next bit, with only some kind of feedback or sustained chord to link them together. The Big Medley and the Genesis ones were different in that they were constructed almost as a long piece made up of existing songs and new joins rather than a long 'spot the song' rock medley like others might have done. But the 1979 Big Medley certainly gave Genesis a run for their money with the medley format.

I wouldn't mind Yes revisiting material in medley form, especially lesser played tracks. But with 'Album Series' being their thing in recent times, a lot of classic era lesser played things have certainly resurfaced. Perhaps a medley of 90's material: New Languages/Homeworld/Open Your Eyes/Footprints/Endless Dream closing section, with Steve playing pedal steel for the solo during the long 'Talk, talk, In a silent spring...' jam section. That would shake things up slightly, a new 20 minute medley of forgotten gems.

What do you think? Is it time for another Big Medley from Yes?

[soundchaser09]

Genesis always did great medleys

I do think Yes could approach the later eras in a medley style yeah that could be an interesting idea

[Gilly Goodness]

Yeah. Like your idea. Loved seeing the boys segue from Mag into DKTW Live in 03. SoS runnin' into Humankind into OTSWOF into climax of Homeworld.

Music to my Ears.

[Ash Armstrong]

As much as I enjoyed, and still enjoy, the Big Medley, I don't think they need to revisit the idea.

[Gtkgasman]

I would rather one or two full songs from the catalogue at this point , rather than a medley. 78-79 was special time and place.

[Susanne]

It's an interesting idea, and probably appealing to many. Personally, however, I'm not generally keen on medleys. I find them confusing, and my mind won't accept what it's hearing.

[luna65]

I think most Yesfans are too invested in the epics to make this idea palatable from a setlist perspective, as well as the band. Whereas Genesis performed the medley(s) because they wanted to acknowledge the past but not relive it (or maybe that was just Tony).

[Mr. Holland]

I would rather one or two full songs from the catalogue at this point , rather than a medley. 78-79 was special time and place.

I'm in the same frame of mind. Never been a fan of medley's.

[Ash Armstrong]

I like The Bob (Medley) on the first Roxy Music album, but there's little chance of Yes playing that...

[Soundwaveseeker]

I would love to hear that! Can't imagine Jon Davison in a white tuxedo or Steve with the bug-eyed Manzanera glasses though.

[1yesfan]

Genesis was great at it. I just think it was not a YES thing.

[Grey Wolf]

Yes should do Circa's Chronological Journey.

[True]

I still remember seeing the Big Medley and I loved it - at the time, you didn't know that they were about to pivot to a new tune, so it was a fun surprise. I've always assumed the medley concept was Anderson's thing. Never seemed to happen when he was not part of the band. His Yes medley on the Animation tour was great. On the other hand, I remember being thrilled when they opened the Talk tour shows with a bit of Perpetual Change - but then I felt deflated when they segued into "The Calling" just as it felt like Perpetual Change was getting going. I kept hoping they's go back and finish Perpetual Change. The Genesis medley seemed like an automatic thing, seemed they did it on a lot of tours, and they did it well, but again, sometimes I felt a bit cheated when they would only play a little bit of a Gabriel-era tune.

[Ash Armstrong]

How many songs does it take to make a medley?
On the Relayer Tour they segued from Roundabout into Sweet Dreams, but I wouldn't call that a medley?

[Soundwaveseeker]

Not sure, technically. It's probably not a medley if they just play a whole song and then just as they end it, they launch into another track with no pause between the two. The Genesis ones seem to be constructed to be long songs and the individual songs or song fragments contained within are the long song's 'movements'. With Yes, less so - though The Big Medley seems to be closer to a Genesis-type long slab of tunes weaved together rather than say, Long Distance Runaround segued into The Fish. Magnification into Don't Kill The Whale was probably a bad example on my part. But I guess two songs together could be a medley if they reprise the 1st song at the end of the second. Genesis and IQ are good at the medleys, Yes really only pulled it off once.

Abbey Road could be considered half an album of medleys, I suppose.