With Dr. Hook? I caught that gig, too.Originally Posted by KIPMEISTER
The Capitol was a regular haunt but, yeah, it was a pretty sketchy scene. I never encountered any problems but I knew people who did.....
With Dr. Hook? I caught that gig, too.
The Capitol was a regular haunt but, yeah, it was a pretty sketchy scene. I never encountered any problems but I knew people who did.....
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Fair enough. That does make sense and seems perfectly sound to me. I can relate in a way. I remember seeing Yes on their 90215 tour and they had a really great stage show (not like the ones we're talking about, but cool enough; there was a three dimensional laser fired over the audience which spelled out 'Yes' and it was pretty breathtaking). The following tour was with Big Generator, which I found to be a really boring album. But I went to see the show anyway because, as you would understand, I thought I might see a cool stage show and I hoped they'd play some of the old chestnuts I liked. Well... the show was much more stripped down that year and they played a lot of Big Generator (not surprisingly) so it was a major disappointment.
But your point about being bored by a spectacle on the scale you're talking is well taken. I might hate the music and not dig the vibe behind having a big show like that, but it probably wouldn't be boring (aggravating and annoying maybe, but not boring).
I saw both Yes tours, and I recall being disappointed by the visuals for Big Generator. Not that is was bad, I expected something more special. Of course its always better going into a show without any expectations, it ends up hard to live up to what you are hoping for.
I avoided this thread because of the hated word "prog" but my very first concert was Yes at Madison Square Garden in 1978. I got to hear a good deal of Tormato before its release (release). They were "in the round" that year and for the following two tours as well. That means a rotating stage. The stage turned very slowly so everyone in the audience could see the whole band.
I thought Future Times was really cool and Don't Kill the Whale was almost as interesting just for the subject matter (imagine subject matter in a Yes song). I was a little put off by Circus of Heaven, particularly the stage effects including plywood hobbyhorses rising and falling around the circular stage and the voice of Damien on the PA. I'm sure he was a cool kid but that was overbearing. One effect I was really impressed with, though, was the multi-colored laser lights. Everyone was reaching out to touch a beam.
Overall I was fascinated with the concert. I sat in the mezzanine and had huge joints and party bowls passed to me about every five minutes. When they started playing what Jon said would be the last song, ISAGP, I left the mezzanine to try to get closer to the stage. Then I left the Garden, not knowing they were going to play an encore and then heard someone talking about Roundabout which surprised me.
I was sixteen at the time and had never been to a rock concert. Great way to start.
They actually played this live? Scary thought. I actually like Tormato, but consider Circus of Heaven to be frighteningly bad. I had no idea they actually played it on the Tormato tour.
Wild Turkey/Yes/Black Sabbath...March 1972. Las Vegas,Nv Convention Center. Before anyone says,Black Sabbath ain't prog,let me just say in 1972 as I was building my collection exposing my ears to anything that I could,the term prog or progressive rock had not even been invented yet. In those days it was all music A-Z and you either liked it or you didn't. We didn't label music then the way we do today and to a great extent,I miss that innocence. I was playing Yes,ELP and Jethro Tull along side Three Dog Night,Steppenwolf and Grand Funk Railroad. If it was good music that was all that mattered....there was room for anything and everything you know? I was in the air force at the tender age of 18 and just opening myself up to all kinds of music. A lot of albums I liked then I never replaced,Humble Pie was a good example,loved Rockin' The Fillmore,Smokin' and saw them live,but over the years they just fell out of favor for whatever reason. I was getting more and more art rock soon to be known as progressive rock and there was only so much money to spend on music,so I had to make some cuts.
So much hatred on PE for a song that captures a certain whimsical magic that only Jon can create. Yes, they did play that and it was actually a nice break from the other material.
I don't hate the song. I just didn't like the stage effects.
Fair enough.
There is a lot of hatred on PE for Tormato in general, though I've never understood it. But "Circus", I've never warmed to it at all.
I hear this said often, but I'm wondering if people didn't at least hear a big difference between the sound of Yes and Black Sabbath, I mean they are light years apart in so many ways. I would think pairing them up wouldn't make a lot of sense to all that many people. I'm someone who does bounce around a lot between totally different styles, seeing nothing odd about listening to Bach, Iron Maiden, Tangerine Dream and Marshall Tucker Band all in the same day. But I'd think most people don't like going too far outside a comfort zone. Despite all the labeling today, I gladly choose many different things to listen to not sticking to one tiny, exclusive box. But I do like to know what box that particular sound comes from, and let my mood dictate what I want to hear.
While the audience may not have been as fragmented then as now, there still were divisions (e.g. mods v. rockers) and there were certainly labels (beat, surf rock, hard rock, soft rock, acid rock, folk rock, country rock, bubble gum, soul, funk, r&b, blues, space rock, glam, fusion, art rock, etc.).
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