With which two encore songs would you replace Roundabout and Starship Trooper?

[Mr. Holland]

Got the idea for this thread from a disussion on another thread. The last couple of tours Roudabout and Starship Trooper have been the staple encores. Let's say Yes would either cut those songs on a next tour, or reshuffle them to another place in the setlist. What two other tracks would make for a great encore?

[kkleinschmidt]

While personally I believe that Starship Trooper is one of the finest closing songs by any rock and roll band, and I am completely over and done with Roundabout as a closer (it takes a lot for me not to leave when they start playing it), if I had to pick another song to round out a Yes show it would be All Good People. I can also see Perpetual Change and Yours Is No Disgrace working as a closer. Sounds like The Yes Album is the closing winner!

[josuev80]

A complete, proper OTSWOF and YIND. To Be Over would be good name-wise but is too soft and slow.

[Mr. Holland]

A complete, proper OTSWOF and YIND. To Be Over would be good name-wise but is too soft and slow.

I like those choices 👍

[Soundwaveseeker]

I would move Roundabout up to show opener, possibly even using the abbreviated version they used on the Talk tour. Tempus Fugit would be an ok encore song. Yours Is No Disgrace or even Siberian Khatru may also work. Or go soft/low key like Genesis did when they closed with Carpet Crawlers and do Onward or Time & A Word.

[Olorin]

Since it's a given that they'll never not do Roundabout (they've said so), I think they should start the show with it, or if they do two sets, either close the first set with it or start the second set with it. As far as what they'd do as an encore, probably anything I'd pick as being what I'd want to hear at the very close of the evening would be deemed not to have broad enough appeal to the wider audience that maybe only knows them from what they (used to, years ago) hear on FM radio. So, that means if Roundabout and Starship Trooper are off the table as closers, it would have to be something like All Good People.

[Susanne]

I'm happy enough with Roundabout and Starship Trooper, but I'd be fine with All Good People, too. (Also, other options that perhaps would not be selected by the band.)

[Davy]

Those are all good songs, and Tempus Digit or Yours is No Disgrace would be perfect. But as a fan of the new Yes, I would like a track like Fly From Here, Into the Storm, or The Ice Bridge as the first song.

Thanks Arno, this is what that other thread should actually have been!

[madbear]

Parallels is a good stomping tune. and I like Open Your Eyes too. To Be Over is a fantastic tune, but might not work as a replacement for these two.

[JMKUSA]

And You and I and Yours is No Disgrace.

[brianos]

I love Starship Trooper as the final song, but would be happy to see Roundabout moved earlier in the set - perhaps the last song of the set proper? I like Olorin's idea of starting the encore with Time And A Word. Maybe even Wondrous Stories - something quieter & shorter before cranking it back up to 10 with Trooper!

[OB1kenOB]

Time and a Word then Tempus Fugit. Everyone in the house shouting "Yes Yes" together.

[Mr. Holland]

Some nice suggestions. I like the idea of using Roundabout as an opener.

Here are my choices for encores:

- Sweet Dreams (as played on the '76 tour and 50th tour)
- Southside of the Sky (with an extended outro of Steve and Geoff duelling and also a solo for Billy and Jay if possible)

[downbyariver]

"Owner of a Lonely Heart" and a seriously rocked up version of "I've Seen All Good People" are the only two songs other than "Roundabout" and "Starship Trooper" with the pop culture juice to fill those two final slots IMO.

A certain percentage of fans at shows are just fans of 70s and 80s rock and roll who are primarily familiar with 3-4 Yes songs, and if you're going with the old adage of wanting to send people home happy (and looking forward to buying tickets the next time the band comes to town) with some of your best known best loved rock and roll songs as the encores, the number of real choices are limited.

Even that change seems a little radical from a band that hasn't played Owner *at all* since early 2016 and that (At least in the last 10-15 years) leans heavily toward doing close copies of album versions on stage rather than reinterpretations if they can still pull off the album versions.

I think Owner should be in every set, but at this point, it might take some pressure off the song from the people who don't like the 80s if it were just mixed into the set, or maybe the last song before the encore, rather than making it the encore (Though perhaps it could be back to back with "Roundabout" with "Make It Easy" as an intro as the encore with the entire lights going out thing and such? Give it a build up and some effects.).

ISAGP just doesnt have the right tempo for those slots, but is also a song that I think they should do somewhere in their sets on most tours. I think it's in that 3-4 most known best loved songs that get played on oldies and classic rock radio and streams that even non-Yes fans dig, but usually you want the closing song to be something with a little more punch.

So, you play "Roundabout" and "Starship Trooper". If it's a three song encore, YIND. I think they may have built "Tempus Fugit" back up (In combination with it being a rock song and sort of a defacto Yes anthem) where it could start a three song encore as well (but not a one or two song one), and that there may be some past hits that would qualify had they continued to play them over the years instead of dropping them that could also be rebuild over a decade or so played well inside of sets and eventually graduated (Some of the hits of the 80s, for example, though that basically presupposes that the band both has a change of heart after Steve retires and is around for that many years afterwards to grow a song back into encore-level popularity with the fans, which sounds like a tough collection of things to have to get all of to make it work).

I think it's hard to go against the tide on this one and move away from "Roundabout" and "Starship Trooper" anytime soon, though. In addition to all the other factors, the band has conditioned their fan base to expect those songs in those spots. Some people complain a bit online, but I think a lot of people in the crowds look forward to them.

This subject has come up in interviews and one member of the band said they once tried to skip "Roundabout" decades ago and it didn't go over well with the crowd. I suppose that it could be in a setlist without being the encore ala when they did Fragile live in the early 10s, but I'm not sure it's worth messing with something that's working, in general.

But to be fair and answer the question within the stipulations that it can't be the two songs it always is, I'll refer readers back to my first paragraph.

Maybe I am wrong about the intrinsic limitations of what works for an encore, but if a band can really tour, say, North America playing a song from Tormato and a song from Relayer as it's only encores and have that go over well with the people there and not cause issues with promoters or attendance the next time they tour the same cities, then at that point I'd believe they could get away with just about anything and as might as well pull Internet fan suggestions out of a hat each night.

[JMKUSA]

I saw them open a show with Roundabout before, believe it or not! Washington, DC in 2014. https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/yes/2...-7bc132d0.html

It doesn’t work as an opener unless you skip the intro bit, but it was interesting to hear it played in a different spot nonetheless.