[atlantaprog] Re: What did you think of Yes at Philips??

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sean-TopographicYes" <topographicyes@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <atlantaprog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2004 5:57 PM
Subject: [atlantaprog] What did you think of Yes at Philips??


> Just curious how those of you that went liked it.

I really enjoyed the unplugged set they did after intermission -- seeing the
guys joking, loose, and having fun was a kick.  I don't go to Yes concerts
anymore for cutting edge prog rock, it's more about seeing a bunch of really
good musicians playing good old songs and enjoying the vibe, and the
unplugged set was the high point of that.  Other than that, obvious high
points would be "Yours is no Disgrace" and "And You and I".  I liked that
they did "Turn of the Century", but I thought the audience was pretty
disinterested and restless for the first half or so, which undercut it a
little.  "Ritual: Nous Sommes du Soleil" was a bit uneven for me -- the big
percussion climax was cool, and it had some lovely moments, but launching
into a half-hour mostly-instrumental piece 2.5 hours into the concert was a
bit taxing (especially since I find the songs on Topographic sort of
over-long, unlike say Close to the Edge).   I'm not sure what I think of
"Going for the One" as a concert opener, or the tag end of "Gates of
Delirium" as the closer.  Obvious though it may be, I think if you replaced
them with Siberian Khatru and Starship Trooper, you've got a better concert.

As far as the players, they were mostly in fine form.  As Sean was saying,
this was a real return to form for Steve Howe.  I didn't think Alan White
was particularly on his game, though.  Maybe I was spoiled by seeing Ian
Wallace a few days earlier.

-- Jack

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