The 1970's must have been GREAT!

[Skullhead]

I was in awe watching this video, but more in awe watching the crowd reaction after the song. This was a concert filled with rock fans. Not particularly die hard prog rock fans that are posting on message boards 40 years later.

The audience is so enthusiastic like Taylor Swift might be today. The fact that a band could draw that many people and get this kind of response from playing such an eclectic piece of experimental music is stunning.

Today, a major record company wouldn't even consider signing an act like this, and a band doing this kind of thing would have a hard time booking a club gig.

I was 11 years old when Yes did this tour. For you older guys, what was it like to be alive in an age where people were so much more consciously sophisticated in their openness for embracing extremely innovative and creative music?

[Brian Griffin]

For you older guys,

I beg your pardon?

what was it like to be alive in an age where people were so much more consciously sophisticated in their openness for embracing extremely innovative and creative music?

When Yes appeared on stage, it was like, the gods appearing from the heavens, deigning to play in front of the people

BG

[Lopez]

They sure were. I went to college in the Philly area from '71 to '75, and you could see music any night of the week from local acts to international touring bands. Even local guys like Springsteen and Todd Rundgren were starting to shine then and you could see them for next to nothing in tiny little clubs like the Main Point and the Bijou Cafe. Philly back then was host to any and all styles of music and prog was certainly huge. Yes, ELP, and Humble Pie (not prog, of course, but King Crimson was on the bill) would sell out the 20,000 seat Spectrum in no time. I was from Providence and almost no one there had ever heard of Wishbone Ash. I go to Philly and they are selling out 3000-seat theaters. The area must have held some attraction to some stars, such as David Bowie who played several nights in a row (in 1973) when one night after the other would sell out and ultimately recorded most of Diamond Dogs there at Sigma Sound Studios.

[chalkpie]

Man, Trevor Rabin sure was ugly back then.

[mogrooves]

I was 11 years old when Yes did this tour. For you older guys, what was it like to be alive in an age where people were so much more consciously sophisticated in their openness for embracing extremely innovative and creative music?

I saw Yes on a bill with KC and Procol Harum in '71, if that answers your question. Music of its time, by young people, for young people.

[Jerjo]

It's a bit disheartening to see how much popular music has regressed in the last couple decades. Top 40 singles were always the lowest common denominator even back in the day but there are very few popular bands these days that are as experimental as what was happening between '65 and '75. Oh you still have people experimenting with form and blending genres but very few see the huge success that the risk-takers enjoyed back then. Anything that is not mindless repetitive dance pop and ballads is pushed way to the margins. Other then the Decemberists or Radiohead, maybe Wilco, I just don't see any dominating acts that aren't fitting into the cookie cutter. It's sad and deplorable.

[Adrian]

I was born in 1971 and so I also missed the firsthand experience of this era, but it sure seems to me that people didn't try to pigeonhole music so much back then. Rock fans seemed to embrace the straight-ahead four-minute rocker as much as they did the 25-minute experimental prog numbers. The Beatles surely must have set the stage for popular acceptance of music that pushed the boundaries, so that by the time prog-rock got going full steam in the early '70s, record execs were just leaving artists alone to create. That pushed some extraordinary ideas into the musical mainstream, and that's how things like Topographic got a major-label release and massive sales to boot.

It really must have been an amazing time to be a music fan -- and a musician. That roughly 10-year stretch where music that pushed the limits had mainstream support -- circa 1965-75 -- is something I doubt we'll ever see again.

[member]

Music was good, but a trip to the dentist was a nightmare and there was no internet.
Some things are better now.

[Skullhead]

Seems to be true. The youth culture was more open to a larger variety of music and creative experimentation. The 20K people in the arena were rock fans, not strictly prog fans.

How was this kind of music able to touch the youth culture on such a deep level then compared to today? If I were to show this clip to a kid today on his iphone, he or she might say, oh, that's cool, then a minute later they are texting their friend or checking for facebook updates.

How were this many people turned by on the this kind of music? Ritual (for example) wasn't on the radio much was it? This was all word of mouth right?

Do you think vinyl records made a deeper impact on the listener than the way music is listened to today?

[Werbinox]

I actually prefer it now - smaller audiences. You get to see the band better, and the sound is generally better these days. No long waits to use arena bathrooms, and several people pissing in sinks cuz they cant wait any longer. And just because all those people went to those 70's shows does NOT mean they were all "enlightened Atlantis-type people"; progressive rock was quite the trend back then, and plenty of them were just swept up in that, going cuz a lot of people and their friends were going. And fuck those record companies, you dont need them today like you used to, and artists / bands can produce what they want and distribute thru their own labels, or independents, or online. Not as much $$$ is made, but alot of the older rock artists make more now then they ever did back then cuz the Biz people were skimming and ripping them off. My point is: its all a matter of perspective. I used to idolize the "freedom of the 60's", but now I know better. Focus on your own time and what is good about it, and make it the best you can.

[bigbassdrum]

WOW !

They were on FIRE

[trurl]

Not only were the concerts amazing but then you'd go have consequence-free unprotected sex after. Well, maybe during for some people but I wasn't one of them.

[Nijinsky Hind]

I graduated from high school in 1975... Got to see a lot of arena type concerts. Innocent times, but we were all being lied to and falling for media fabrications hook line and sinker. They could have told us on TV that they went to the sun and we would have believed. Ignorance was bliss in the 70s. We even drank flouride because they said it would give us better teeth... Of course now we know its a toxic brain numbing poison... And that hitler made sure his prisoners had a snootfull of flouride every day to keep them docile. All thanks to the internet and the truth movement. But the truth is such a drag.

[progmeister]

I went with my 8th grade math teacher to the Fillmore East to see ELP's debut American performance. The bill was ELP, Edgar Winter's White Trash, and Curved Air

[yesstiles]

I remember when I bought this on Japan VHS from Tower Records back in 1989 just out of high school. It was a holy grail. I watched it and was in heaven. If only they had filmed the 1976 laser shows!

[Digital_Man]

[It's a bit disheartening to see how much popular music has regressed in the last couple decades.]

I can't really disagree with this in general but it kind of depends. Since you said "popular music" I would have to agree. Most of the pop music these days makes Michael Jackson, ABBA and the Bee Gees sound like the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. I actually like a lot of stuff from the eighties and nineties but even rock has been pretty spotty for the past fifteen years or so. There's a few bands I really like such as the White Stripes, Green Day, Foo Fighters and the Black Keys to name a few but even those bands don't hold a candle to REM, U2, Red Hot Chilipeper's(early), Faith No more, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Live, Stone Temple Pilots and Nirvana to name a few. It seems that each decade the music just gets increasingly less interesting and watered down.

[flowerking]

Gotta be careful with subject lines like this. The 70s: the me generation, ugly leisure suits, the rise of both disco and punk and the death of prog (for awhile), the oil crisis and long lines for gasoline, Nixon and Watergate, 5 more years of Vietnam, pretty much an end to the space program, yeah lots of awesome things there.

I was also 11 in 1975. I didn't get to see Yes until 1979. I've seen them 9 times now but never saw them do anything from Tales and aside from Soon, nothing from Relayer. Sigh.

[Garden Dreamer]

I turned 12 in 1970 and the 70's were a great time for me from a music perspective. I didn't like most music being made in the 60's (I liked exactly 3 bands - The Monkees, The Band and CCR)... not even music made by bands I would like in the 70's (early Tull for example). I especially didn't like psychedelia and since I had no interest in drugs or alcohol it had even less relevance for me.

But once the "prog" of the 70's kicked in, it was as if the music world knew exactly what I was wanting - exploratory long form music, classical influences, jazz influences (Chicago), grandiose themes and concepts, odd time signatures, etc. etc. Loved every pretentious, overblown minute of it.

[Progbear]

Man, Trevor Rabin sure was ugly back then.

Ha! Trevor was in a South African teenybopper boy-band at the time:

[Garden Dreamer]

I remember when I bought this on Japan VHS from Tower Records back in 1989 just out of high school. It was a holy grail. I watched it and was in heaven. If only they had filmed the 1976 laser shows!

Yeah, I couldn't believe when I saw it in a little record store, think I paid $30-40 for the VHS! It was indeed a holy grail, bad sound and all (first half of the show anyway).

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

For you older guys, what was it like to be alive in an age where people were so much more consciously sophisticated in their openness for embracing extremely innovative and creative music?

it was an amazing time for sure
all styles of Progressive music were emerging at once in the early 70s. Symph bands, Fusion bands, Afro Prog bands and Avant Prog bands regularly shared the same bill. Musicians from all backgrounds and cultures were doing progressive things with Rock music elements. It was a time like no other and sadly will not likely be repeated.

[Reid]

It wasn't all that hip back then. Lots of people were into disco, Barry Manilow, and The Captain & Tennille.

[SteveSly]

It wasn't all that hip back then. Lots of people were into disco, Barry Manilow, and The Captain & Tennille.

I was thinking the same thing. I was a little bit older and did not really get into prog until the late 70’s, but even though the bands were playing arenas it still seemed like a niche audience to me. I remember my first year spent in a college dorm room in 1980, there were a few people into prog, but the majority were into whatever the top 40 was of the day. I remember on my floor I was playing Yes on my stereo one day and this guy bursts into my room exclaiming “you like Yes!”. He was a huge yes head and we became friends, but we were the only two people on the floor who were into them. It still seemed like a bit of an exclusive club to an extent even then.

[bob_32_116]

It wasn't all that hip back then. Lots of people were into disco, Barry Manilow, and The Captain & Tennille.

Well, that's really the late 70's, which was about the time when (IMO) things began to go pear-shaped.At one time it seemed you had to declare yourself as belonging to one of three camps: Barry Manilow, The Sex Pistols, or The Village people.

I still consider the "Sixventies" to be the greatest period for innovation in popular music. Yes there was crap around too, but the point is that originality was accepted, even celebrated.Yes, the Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Focus... they all went to the top of singles or album charts.

[mogrooves]

I went with my 8th grade math teacher to the Fillmore East to see ELP's debut American performance. The bill was ELP, Edgar Winter's White Trash, and Curved Air

I was there, too. (Although I have no recollection of 8th grade math, let alone who tried to teach it to me).