Yes - UK & Euro tour 2020 - Relayer

[happytheman]

They played Roundabout nightly and Parallels some nights-including the night I saw them.

Ooops forgot that one.. it's been a while since I've heard any shows from that tour.. did he play Wakeman better in 1980 than he does in 2022?

[bondegezou]

How long can they go on with dwindling crowds all the venues they have played have been half empty?
The last concert I attended Sheffield City Hall 2018 all the people in the balcony's which included me were brought into the stalls to make it look fuller at the request of Yes. As a fifty year celebration the concert was really poor.
Attending York tonight as a ticket gift from my daughter but sadly have no excitement for it.

I'm not certain I recognise that narrative. Sales seem to have been fairly flat in the years before the pandemic. It's hard to tell what happens now from the current tour leg, with residual COVID fears and just a few UK/Ireland dates, doubly delayed and with a changed focus... plus now lots of strike action. But sales seem similar to 2018?

I've been reading lots of tour reviews, particularly of the show I attended last night. Reviews from people actually there have been pretty positive. I think the band are playing better than in 2018.

I'm confident that Steve Howe with the Yes name will go on selling more tickets than 90% of prog acts. The name alone remains a draw, almost regardless of who's playing or quality!

[bondegezou]

I guess the last tour I saw them would have been 2019? Summer tour.. outdoor venue.. 1/2 empty then.. The selling point of this tour was suppose to be Relayer played in it's entirety..

All of Relayer was the plan for 2020 dates, all cancelled by COVID. That wasn't the selling point in 2019.

[andypashley]

Yes, I agree with most of that! Good show. I think they're performing better than 2016-8. Good set list. I preferred before the intermission just because after the intermission is material that's so familiar. Howe and his soloing on, e.g., "Yours is No Disgrace" was a highlight. I thought The Quest songs worked well in the set (but, yes, "The Ice Bridge" goes on slightly too long). There's a bit in "I Get Up, I Get Down" where I thought Downes a bit heavy-handed on the keys, but that's a minor complaint. The big orchestral bits in "NONNEN" and "Dare to Know" were tapes.

The strikes were a nightmare. Lots of stories of people who just couldn't come. I had long convoluted journeys there and back with lots of walking! I'd hoped to get there earlier to meet people, but ended up with not much time before the show.

Attachment 16093

Here's me (gosh, my beard needs trimming), Steve Sullivan of ForgottenYesterdays, Simon Barrow of "Solid Mental Grace: Listening to the Music of Yes" (new edition out Aug) and Keith Hoisington (Yes Music Podcast) after the show.

Keith Hoisington? Pretty sure that's Kevin Mulryne.

[bondegezou]

Keith Hoisington? Pretty sure that's Kevin Mulryne.

Of course it is! Sorry, Kevin, I was cutting and pasting something without thinking. Will edit.

[bondegezou]

Excerpts from reviews of last night. Can you detect a theme?

Well I did manage to get to the Albert Hall, by driving in, and I'm so glad I did. The concert was excellent, much better than I expected based on the low quality you tube clips, and the low quality people comments!

The band was on fine form, especially Steve. When he's still playing this well, why should they stop. Geoff and Jon were great, and I think the best I've heard them. I don't understand the criticisms of Geoff, based on what I saw last night. Yes, Jon D is not Jon A, but he's really grown into the role now, and keeps getting better.

I drove up from Portsmouth because of the rail strike, and the show was much better than expected. I was up in the circle, and the sound was clear and powerful, especially bass and drums. Billy has grown into the role, and has so much more confidence now - Does It Really Happen was a prime example. I really liked Wondrous Stories though ! I actually preferred the first half of the set to the second.

Brilliant evening! Couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. Wonderful! Thank you Yes.

[happytheman]

All of Relayer was the plan for 2020 dates, all cancelled by COVID. That wasn't the selling point in 2019.

I should have emphasized "this" to mean the current tour..

[bondegezou]

I should have emphasized "this" to mean the current tour..

Ah, I see. Yes.

[Top Cat]

1
3) All the comments regarding how Downes can't seem to pull off Wakemans bits.. go back to the Drama tour.. AYAI was the only Wakeman song they played on that tour.. My point is he pulled off the Kaye material without a problem. Perhaps they should drop the Wakeman material from their setlist and play to Downes strengths.. just a thought..

I think you make some great points regarding Downes, as I've said I love his keyboard playing, choice of textures most of the time, and love Drama and FFH.
But the fans WANT the classics, to focus on other material is not gonna happen.

Excerpts from reviews of last night. Can you detect a theme?

I am happy to read Yes are putting on a great show and performance.
It's good for the fans, and after a rough start, it sounds like they put their big boy Prog Star panties on. lol

[IMWeasel]

Excerpts from reviews of last night. Can you detect a theme?

Again the same pattern I've seen from this band since I started following them, lol. The 1st show usually has some warts, people come in here and freak out, then a show or two later they are fine. lol.

[Top Cat]

Again the same pattern I've seen from this band since I started following them, lol. The 1st show usually has some warts, people come in here and freak out, then a show or two later they are fine. lol.

It's not unusual for even the top tier bands to have kinks to work out.
We saw it with ARW, the Genesis Rehearsal Video, etc

If people can't freak out over Yes why are we here on this planet? what's the meaning of life? lol

[Steve983]

Has anyone noticed that the end of Close To The Edge has been performed in the correct key for the first time?

[Koreabruce]

Has anyone noticed that the end of Close To The Edge has been performed in the correct key for the first time?

In recent interviews, Steve has made a big thing of the band doing this, apparently for this first time (or at least for the first time in a long, long time).

[malgeo]

Here's video (at the 17:20 mark) from the Glasgow show that seems to confirm it is now in the original key (though I'm no musician, so I could be wrong):

https://youtu.be/enHYAV48TdA

[Paulrus]

The question now is, if Jon Anderson DOES pull together a tour with Band Geeks, how does that stack up compared to Steve's version?

[Top Cat]

The question now is, if Jon Anderson DOES pull together a tour with Band Geeks, how does that stack up compared to Steve's version?

When we saw Jon's solo tour pre Covid, a lot of the Classic Yes songs were pretty close, but they did change them up a bit, and I liked what they did, especially Starship Trooper was arranged a bit differently and we loved it. Very powerful,and made the same repetitive, note for note versions we've heard for years from Yes, sound a bit old in the tooth. Having said that, I can put on the album version of the song and never tire of listening to it. But over the years it just became too long and tedious for me(it concert it's way too long and too much of a good thing).

The Geeks have the chops, so it wouldn't surprise me if they play with the arrangements a bit, and for me, that's a good thing.

[Sunlight Caller]

Yes, I agree with most of that! Good show. I think they're performing better than 2016-8. Good set list. I preferred before the intermission just because after the intermission is material that's so familiar. Howe and his soloing on, e.g., "Yours is No Disgrace" was a highlight. I thought The Quest songs worked well in the set (but, yes, "The Ice Bridge" goes on slightly too long). There's a bit in "I Get Up, I Get Down" where I thought Downes a bit heavy-handed on the keys, but that's a minor complaint. The big orchestral bits in "NONNEN" and "Dare to Know" were tapes.

I don’t like to be too critical, but I totally concur with the heavy handed keys on I Get Up I Get Down, in fact it is the lightness of touch, finesse and timing that Rick brings to the party that are lacking. Geoff is obviously a good player, but in comparison he comes off poorer. Then again we are comparing different eras and different ages of players, and youth has advantages.

I have to say though that Steve Howe must practise tirelessly to still be so on his game, he is the consummate professional and understand the importance of leading from the front.

[jrw]

Ooops forgot that one.. it's been a while since I've heard any shows from that tour.. did he play Wakeman better in 1980 than he does in 2022?

Of course that was almost 42 years ago. My memory is that the Kaye material, YIND and Starship Trooper was better than the Wakeman material.

[bondegezou]

The RAH Yes show is now on Dime at http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-d....php?id=732490

[Aquatarkus]

Of course that was almost 42 years ago. My memory is that the Kaye material, YIND and Starship Trooper was better than the Wakeman material.

Drama was my first Yes concert, and my first prog show of any kind. Not old enough to drive yet but we talked one of my close friend's older brother into taking the three of us who couldn't get a license yet. We bought his ticket ($9,75 US at the LA Sports Arena) and dinner after the show because he was five years older and had seen Yes every tour going back to 1976 and was less than thrilled with the new lineup so he was going to skip until our offer. My memory of that night is of first off being in awe of Alan White's drumming and Squire's bass and vocals, especially on the classic material because he was doing his best to fill in the cracks at the higher end of the vocal register that poor Trevor Horn was really struggling to sing. I thought Trevor Horn was fine on the Drama numbers however and they were great live, especially Machine Messiah. The only thought I remember having about Downes that night was that he didn't seem to be trying to be faithful to Wakeman's parts and that this was probably by design. I thought the vocoder sounded cool live. Howe was my hero at that moment in time as guitar (and earlier piano) was my instrument. The older friend who drove us had remarked going in that he thought Howe could be sloppy live at times when he had seen the band, but on the Drama tour that I saw I enjoyed Steve's parts. Another friend that night who was a guitar student thought Howe's soloing bits on Drama were a bit lazy but I liked them then and still do. At dinner we all talked about having enjoyed the show and the new songs live but that it didn't appear that Horn could be a guy who could tour endlessly given his vocal limitations. At that time, we only knew the Buggles in name and had heard the Video Star song a couple of times on KROQ but that was about it. All three of us younger guys who were musicians hoped we would get another studio album out of the lineup. I think Drama is still pretty remarkable, especially when you know its complicated genesis!

[Aquatarkus]

It's an interesting comparison. I have two notes.

Hackett has spent many, many years building up his reputation as a solo performer, live and on album. Had Steve Howe spent the same time building reputation in his name rather than touring as part of Yes, maybe he'd be in a similar position, but why would Howe have been interested in doing that in 2004 or 2012 when he was in a Yes full of other "classic" members?

For a long time, Hackett was playing mainly his solo material to smaller audiences, but he made a choice, almost reluctantly, to foreground the Genesis connection. Genesis got more prominent mention in tour promotion. The set lists began including big chunks of Genesis material played as on the albums. That boosted his tour attendances. He doesn't -- and can't -- call his band "Genesis", but he's still definitely trading on the name, on the nostalgia, and he's doing that to support the rest of his career, which is forward looking.

Good points Henry. I agree in that as long as Squire was living and playing in Yes there would be little reason for Steve to take the Hackett route. In that same 70's period, I don't believe Howe experienced the 'getting my material on the band records' frustration that Hackett experienced. Genesis and Yes appear to have been very different musical entities in terms of creation in the classic period of the 70's. Hackett's prodigious output over the decades since he left Genesis is a testament to his enduring creativity as a writer. It's only very recently that I read about the ABWH/Union period of Yes history where Director Anderson thought Howe basically all washed up after Asia and GTR. I can't say I thought of him that way at the time although my same musician friends and I who loved classic Yes with Howe in the prior decade we were all pretty disappointed in the 80's material by both. After reading about Howe in the Union period especially, I've been trying to listen with new ears to what he brings musically to the table beginning in 1989 and through 2000, which for me is Yes's dodgiest period on record. I appreciate your website for allowing me to research this topics (and others) more thoroughly.

[Steve983]

From the London show, this is a very good performance to my ears

[Scott Bails]

Wow. That sounded great. Everyone seemed to nail their parts.

[Sunlight Caller]

It was one of my favourites from the night, and nice to see it up close as I was up high in the circle.

[Mister Triscuits]

From the London show, this is a very good performance to my ears

Oh man, now that’s more like it! Solid version. New Jon did a fine job. Now on what song does he play the green bell pepper?