The Beacon Theater
New York City, NY
Wednesday, October 29, 1997
Section Orchestra Left Center, Row J, Seat 21
$50
The thing that's so frustrating about being a Yes fan is seeing all the great ideas that get bandied about and don't come to fruition. This time around, it was a Yes art display. Yes was going to display some album cover artwork in the theater lobbies. Roger Dean was going to be there. The band would come out to meet with fans. It would all culminate in an art gallery exhibition in San Francisco at the end of the tour. As far as I know, this never took place as discussed. But the artwork and Roger Dean were there in two cities that I know of - New York and San Francisco.
The world tour of ticket sales took place before the actual tour; I even traveled up to New York to wait in line for tickets at the box office. I stayed with MaryAnn over night and then took the Long Island Rail Road into Manhattan to buy tickets. She stayed at home and got them over the phone and laughed at me. I think I did this partly to get away from home for a few days. I was restless living back with my parents. I met some nice people in line there. We decided to circumvent the slow ticket ordering process by grouping our sales together. The first guy in line was buying two tickets, so he bought an extra pair for the second guy in line, who bought individual tickets for me and the next guy. Some ticket sale places are smart and do this for us - take all our orders and print them out ASAP to get us the best seats. We took care of it ourselves. The ticket sale was announced so quickly, I didn't have time to coordinate with anyone. I just bought single tickets for myself.
Zoey and I spent most of the day of the show driving up from Hershey. We went to Mare's in Long Island and then turned around to take the train to Manhattan. Just a year ago that day, we were in Manhattan for the release of Keys to Ascension. Yes appeared on the Fox After Breakfast program and did a record signing. So much had changed in that year.
My seat was in the 10th row, third seat in from the left center aisle. I was chatting with the guy sitting behind me when all of a sudden... Roger Dean walked down the aisle. I pointed him out to the guy behind me. To my amazement, Roger and his friend turned into my row and took the seats next to me. Roger Dean wasn't strictly sitting next to me, his friend was, but still, he was right there! I resolved to behave myself. I might have gone out of my way to walk past him smiling or turned so he could see my Yes jacket, but I tried not to disturb him.
Big Yes fans come in a number of varieties. Some are normal people who happen to love Yes. Some are socially awkward geeks in different degrees who can never figure out small talk (I'm in this category) or overcompensate by being the loudest and most enthusiastic. My least favorite category is the partyers - they're there for the drinking and drugs and it doesn't even matter if it's Yes or a football game as long as they can be loud and have a good time. They've burnt out some brain cells along the way. I don't smoke (anything) or drink, so I can come across as uptight to them.
Anyway, a burnt out party guy whom I met waiting in line walked across our row. He didn't recognize Roger Dean, but thought he was sitting in his seat. He started arguing with Roger to move until the group of us convinced him that that was not his seat. He sat down on my other side. Roger Dean, if you are ever reading this, let me apologize now. I told the burnt out party guy who you were. Back to the story, BOPG got up and walked back to Roger. "Roger?" he asked. Roger Dean confirmed who he was. Without apologizing or looking the least bit embarrassed, BOPG did his fanboy thing. He must have asked 10 minutes of rapid fire questions, including mistakenly thinking Roger did some ELP album covers as well. Roger was a lot more polite than I would have been. Finally, BOPG's wife/girlfriend/significant other pulled him away. She looked sufficiently embarrassed for both of them.
I'd never seen a theater show with Standing Room Only seating. But there were a row of people just standing along the far aisle. I would honestly prefer to stand there and have space to dance instead of sitting constricted in my row of seats. I thought about offering one of those people my seat and standing in their place. But Roger Dean was right there. I couldn't leave from my brush with greatness.
BOPG continued to annoy me. He started talking to me during the songs. And then, in a non-smoking venue, lit a joint. Come to think of it, he had offered one to Roger, who turned him down. He was not smoking discretely either. It was blowing in my face. I told him to stop or I would tell a security guard. He cursed me out. Finally, my bad vibes were ruining the show for him, so he switched seats with his SO.
These shows are beginning to run together. I remember Jon announced that Paul Simon was in the audience before playing the cover of Simon and Garfunkel's America. But he said this on more than one show, so I don't believe him. He also announced that Roger Dean was in the audience. Everyone applauded that, but Roger did not stand up. I looked over at him and smiled and directed my applause right to the man.
Yeah, okay, I spent a lot of this concert looking over to see how Roger Dean was enjoying the show. Towards the end of the set, everyone stood up for All Good People. Everyone but Roger and his friend. I wonder why. Anyway, I looked over and said "Stand up!" and gestured for them to stand. They did! He sang along to this one, and looked like he was enjoying it. Some fans did the stage rush thing, where everyone runs to the front row and crowds together for the encore. I would have, but again, I was standing by Roger Dean and did not want to leave.
After the show, a few people asked him for autographs. He signed my ticket stub for me. I asked him if he was doing the artwork for the upcoming Yes albums. He did new artwork for Keys to Ascension II, but Open Your Eyes was just going to have the Yes logo on it, he told me.
I guess I had to meet up with Zoey and Mare afterwards to travel back up to Lindenhurst, but first I had to wait until the band left. There was a door on the side of the theater with a lot of people waiting. My friend John Amick, who is now the webmaster for Jon Anderson, got me and told me the band was leaving from behind the theater. We went back there and there were only a few fans waiting for an audience with the band.
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