House of Yes

Yes
House of Blues
Chicago, IL
Friday, February 19, 2010
General Admission / Dinner Package
$114.50

There's something about singing "Twenty-four before my love, you'll see, I'll be there with you" at a Yes concert and knowing that in twenty-four hours, I'll be seeing my favorite band again. (I've even changed the lyrics to forty-eight to make it work.) I saw Yes at the House of Blues in Chicago on Thursday night, and I'd get to see them there again on Friday. At the time the tour dates were announced, only Thursday was on the schedule. The Friday show was added later, quietly. Tickets went on sale before it was even listed on YesWorld.

For the Thursday night show, I bought a premium ticket package, which offered early entry into the general admission club. But since those tickets had gone on sale, House of Blues made a change. Their tickets were now on sale through Live Nation instead of Ticketmaster. And there was no mention of a premium package for either show. The only way I enjoy general admission standing shows is to be right by the stage, and I'm certainly willing to wait in line to get there. But if other people found out how to get premium seating and I was left out... I called the House of Blues and paid for a reserved stool. It was my fail-safe; if I couldn't stand in the front of the pit, I'd have a place to sit in a raised section giving me an unrestricted view. It cost $50 over the price of the concert ticket, but it also came with a $50 voucher at their restaurant.

For general admission shows like this, Roy and I usually have a late lunch before getting in line. That would have worked great time-wise on this trip, I'd eat at the House of Blues restaurant before getting in line. However, on Thursday, I had lunch-time lunch with an old friend. And on Friday, I needed to get some deep dish pizza. I ended up having a very early breakfast, lunch at 11, and "dinner" at 2-ish. I thought to myself that I'd be going from one meal to the next, but it worked out alright. Didn't eat a whole lot of pizza, and did do a whole lot of walking. I woke up by six each morning without an alarm, ready to see the city. I forgot to wear my pedometer, but I estimate I walked about seven miles on Thursday and five on Friday. That's not counting standing in line and standing during the shows.

Last time Roy and I were in Chicago, we ate at this pizza place Bacino's in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. The main activity of my morning was walking back there, stopping at some shops along the way. I took a cab back to the hotel to take a nap, and then walked over to the House of Blues.

I asked the lady at the box office what to do about my seat. If I could get in early enough, I wanted a repeat of Thursday night, standing in the front row. She told me that the dinner package "trumped" the pass-the-line early entry, so I'd be able to enter first. Just in case, I got in the pass-the-line line. I was the only person in line for over an hour. Later on, an usher told me that the pass-the-line line was the place to be; we'd get in before the reserved seat people. I figured that most people with reserved seats wouldn't be trying for front row, and most people in the pass-the-line line would; better to be in front of them. I did find out that the Foundation Room VIPs trump everyone. When the doors opened, one guy was already standing by the stage.

On Thursday, I waited with a guy who was friendly, but kinda intense and too clever. Someone asked us if we knew where an employee was, and he answered that we were Experienced Concert Goers and could answer the guy's questions. I cringed at being included in that, but I was reminded of it in line on Friday. The premium package coordinator spoke with the box office trying to figure out why there were no people signed up for premium packages that night. I overheard and walked over to tell him about the switch to Live Nation, with no packages on sale for this show. I would've bought one too. And Yes' tour manager (who I also bumped into during breakfast and dinner) had a question about the venue setup. The box office attendant was busy, so he came over to ask me.

I saw a couple of the band members while I waited. Alan White walked in by himself. He asked me how I was doing, and I told him I planned to be in the same spot today as last night. He told me there was an entrance in back for the band members to come in privately, but he didn't know where it was.

Benoit David went into the restaurant by himself. When he left, he saw me waiting in line and talked to me on his way up to the club level. He asked if I was coming to the show this night. (What else would I be doing here?) He asked me where I lived and how far away it was from here. "Do you remember playing the Pageant in St. Louis? I live about a mile from there." Benoit replied that he remembered playing there, and that's where he met me. I'm always touched when musicians who must meet so many fans, remember something about me, and want to show off that they remember. I couldn't correct him that I first met him in Bloomington, the night before St. Louis. After that exchange, all I could do was turn to the people waiting in line behind me, and say that guy who was just talking to me was the new singer.

I was in line by the stairs. The line behind me looped around another hallway. People just walking over couldn't tell how many people were in line. It might have looked like I was standing there by myself. One couple sat on the steps, thinking they were first in line. My friend Kurt walked over and asked me to join him and his friends for dinner. Some other people didn't realize that everyone in this line had a pass-the-line voucher, not just them, and they couldn't waltz in in front of us. When the doors opened, there was one guy already there by the stage. I grabbed the spot right next to him, right where I was standing the night before.

The wait felt different this time around. People were friendly, but it didn't have the camaraderie of the night before. All the premium ticket package people stood together, and we were all big fans. It was also more crowded, like more people were pushed up against the barricade. There'd be less room to dance in this tight spot.

The concert started, and I was right in front of Chris Squire. The previous night, I was standing just inches away from where I was now, and I got such an interesting sound mix. Lots of bass, just sounding wonderful, and lots of guitar. I was basically standing in the same spot, but the mix was different this time. More balanced, where I could hear everyone, but muddier. Squire's bass didn't pop out as much.

Steve Howe seemed like he was in a bad mood. There were a couple guys with press passes taking photos. They stood in between the barricade and the stage. They both stood by Steve at one point during Siberian Khatru. He turned around and squatted down, the effect was sticking his butt in their cameras. I wasn't sure if I really saw that, but both Chris and Benoit were laughing. They must have seen it too. Later on, Steve kicked his leg toward one of the photographers, not close enough to actually kick him. He either needs to warn people not to crowd him or stand further back on the stage if this bothers him so much. At their closest, they were standing on the floor three feet below the stage level and their cameras were several feet away from him.

When Chris introduces Tempus Fugit, he's been saying they're going to do two songs from Drama. This night, he specifically said one song from Drama. I hoped this meant they were going to add back in South Side, but nope. One song shorter than the previous night. I missed Machine Messiah. It was a highlight on Thursday night, standing out even among a whole setlist of highlights.

On Yours Is No Disgrace, I noticed how Chris punctuates bars of Steve Howe's solo with a couple bass notes, making the guitar line sound more dramatic. The guy I was chatting with on my left turned out to be a whistler. High piercing whistle during the quiet part of And You And I. Chris made eye contact with me and gave me a big smile. I don't know if he heard the whistle and saw the annoyed look on my face, but I smiled back and felt much better. We shared another smile later on in the show.

Steve did To Be Over as his solo piece. I love that song and I love his version of it, and this was my first time seeing him play it live. After the song, Chris came out and introduced it as an excerpt of To Be Over from Relayer, the first time I've heard him (or Jon) talk about the songs in Steve's solo set. It was a nice moment. Unfortunately, there was some commotion in the audience by the stage during Steve's solo and he didn't look happy about the noise.

People standing in the front row were talking during Steve's solo, and Steve looked right at them and said "Thank you" sarcastically. Then, the incident happened. Some woman walked up behind me and touched me on the back. She said "Is he yours?", I guess referring to the whistler. She then walked by the other people in the front center section, touching or putting her arms around everyone. Whistler turned to me and told me to make sure I still had my wallet. I didn't think she was trying to pickpocket; she had her hand on the barricade and I think she wanted someone to let her stand in the front. People got loud trying to fend her off. She walked back to me, and put her arm around me. I told her to go away, and she walked back towards the bar. Something very similar happened a previous time I was at this venue, enough that I wonder if it was the same person. All the touchy-feely stuff was creepy.

All of this was going on when I was trying to listen to To Be Over. Steve couldn't tell what was causing the disruption, just that the people right in front of him were being loud. Steve normally introduces the next song, Owner of a Lonely Heart. This time, he told us we were being quieter in between songs than we were during his solo. The band went right into Owner.

This show didn't live up to the night before's. I don't know if it was the mix, the crowdedness, the cumulative effect of bad night's sleep the last two nights. I hesitate to say the band was playing with less energy. It could have been my frame of mind. I wasn't even paying attention as fully. A couple times I noticed that I lost my place in the song and had to listen to some of the lyrics before I could sing along. I wanted to relive the night before and I wasn't in the same place figuratively.

After Roundabout, Yes left the stage before the encore. Whistler whistled non-stop. One shrill sound after another, right by my ear. Did I mention I didn't need to wear earplugs during this show? I finally snapped: I elbowed him and told him to knock it off. At least he was nice about it and apologized. My poor ear hurt for a good hour afterward.

The concert ended, and I wasn't sure what to do. I wasn't pumped full of adrenaline, but I wasn't ready to go back to the hotel either. I'd normally hang out and try to meet the band, but I wasn't sure what entrance they'd use, and it didn't look like anyone else was waiting. And I'd just seen them so often. I called Kurt, and met up with him. Kurt and his friend Arlene were going to the bar at the Yes hotel, so I joined them. We hung out and talked for a while. They were both more cynical than I am about Yes' performance. I wonder what they would have thought if they'd seen Thursday's show instead. I'm glad I joined them. I did this trip by myself, but I found a good balance between alone time and socializing.

I finally slept well Friday night. It was lightly snowing on Saturday morning. I went out to breakfast and then took a cab to the bus stop. I have to admit, after dealing with airports for so many trips, it amazed me that I could leave my hotel 45 minutes before my departure. I got to the bus stop with plenty of time. The bus trip was non-eventful and went by quickly enough. (I have to mention somewhere that roundtrip to Chicago, I paid only $11.50 on Megabus!) Roy picked me up at Union Station. Even though I missed him, I am so glad I went on this trip.