Culture in Boca Raton

Yes
Sunset Cove Amphitheater
Boca Raton, FL
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Section C, Row 1, Seat 15
$80

I'm posting this on March 11th - my blog's third birthday!

Sunday in Boca Raton was the last show of this short tour. Roy wondered if they'd be doing anything different or fun, like we'd seen in previous end-of-tour shows. We were certainly doing this one in style. We would be in the front row again, with reserved seats this time, and we were attending the after-show meet and greet. I still wasn't sure of the point of this tour. They did about 20 shows, few different songs, playing some of the same cities they did previously. Working on new music seems like a better idea to me than potentially wearing out their welcome. Still, I can't miss chances to see my favorite band.

Roy and I drove down from Orlando on Sunday morning. We stopped in the town of Palm Beach for lunch and a walk along the beach.

We wanted to check into the hotel before the show. We missed some turns along the way, and it took longer than I wanted it to. We got to the hotel around 5:50, and the show started at 7. I was in a foul mood when I realized I wouldn't have time to rest up before the show. I was so worried about being late, I didn't even want to stop to grab something to eat first. I was right to want to be there early: it didn't take much time to get to the turn-off for the venue, but there was big backup getting to the parking lot. The only access was a long, single-lane road, with cars backed up all the way. I still needed to pick up our tickets from will call, and I was tempted to get out of the car and hike over. I found out that this traffic caused quite a few people to be late for the show.

Once we parked, things got better. There was no line to pick up our tickets, and the employees were friendly. We had a weird time getting tickets for this show, but it worked out great. By accident, Roy and I both bought tickets right when they went on sale. Roy got third row center, and I got the first row of a section off to the side. Ticketmaster had an auction for true front row center seats, complete with a parking pass and access to a meet and greet with the band. I planned to check it out near the end of the auction, but I forgot until it was too late. A month later, I happened to check how tickets were doing, and saw they had another auction going on with front row seats. There was no publicity for this. I won, with the minimum bid even. We were able to sell the extra sets of tickets. Now, we picked up our meet and greet passes and our tickets.

Roy stood in line to get pretzels while I found our seats. The front row was a good ten feet away from the stage. The security guard restricted access to this space to only the people sitting in this row. No one else could walk up to use it as an aisle or take close-up pictures during the show. Every group of two seats were tied together. I was the first one sitting in the row, so I shoved some of the other seats over a bit to give Roy and me an extra couple inches to ourselves. Even 20 minutes before the start of the show, the venue was not very full. Our seats were right in front of Oliver Wakeman's keyboards, just like the night before. According to the seating chart, I thought we'd be on Steve Howe's side, but the sections were in the reverse order.

Roy joined me. The venue was called Sunset Cove Amphitheater. We could easily see why. We stood up and turned around, facing the rest of the audience. I saw the most beautiful sunset I'd ever seen. Very vivid colors, unobstructed view. I was surprised more people weren't looking at it.

Just before the show was about to start, I looked around, and saw some friends of ours walking in. I hadn't seen Diana and Rick since we came to Florida for a Yes show in 2004. We hadn't reached out to any friends to meet up on this trip. We had a few minutes to catch up, and made plans to meet up afterward. They hadn't seen a show yet with this incarnation of the band and wanted to be surprised about the setlist. An usher came over to tell us the show would be starting soon and we needed to get to our seats.

I don't know how empty the rest of the amphitheater was. But when the show started, the four seats directly next to me and the four seats next to Roy were still empty. That's eight seats right in the front row. Later on, six of those seats were filled. I guess they were all stuck in the slow crawl to the parking lot.

Siberian Khatru was played with more energy than the night before. It set the tone for the night, happy and light-hearted. The sound was excellent. I don't know if Chris Squire saw us and recognized us or was just looking at the happy people bopping along to the music in the front row, but he looked over at us and even played his bass towards us for a little bit.

Chris really made me happy during his introduction to Tempus Fugit. He mentioned that this was the last show of their tour and that this is the 106th show this lineup has played. He acknowledged that people were still coming into the venue because of the traffic tie-up. Then he said they were going to do two songs from Drama tonight. Two! We were getting Machine Messiah back tonight! I applauded more for this than anything in the actual show. We got a shorter show in Orlando at Sea World the night before, but this one brought the Incredible Shrinking Setlist back to what I had seen the first night in Chicago. Still no South Side of the Sky though.

During Yours Is No Disgrace, the ushers brought out two chairs and placed them in front of the front row, off to my right. A woman sat down with a toddler. I knew that Chris and his wife had a baby over a year ago, and Roy wondered if this was Chris' family. I thought the little girl looked too big to be that age, but we found out later, she was. The baby sat on the chair, stood and danced a little, and then started crawling around. Chris looked down at her. This is one of my favorite songs of the night, and watching the little girl experience the concert distracted me, but it was fun to watch. They got up and left before the song was over. (The baby was wearing a lot of sound protection from the loud noise of the concert.)

I would not go to an outdoor concert in February at home in St. Louis, but I figured the people in Southern Florida knew what they were doing. After the sun set, I'd bet the temperature dipped into the 50s. I was wearing a t-shirt with a sweatshirt over it and cropped pants. I didn't notice it being that cold while the band was playing, but even bopping around in my seat, I didn't need to take the sweatshirt off. Benoit asked the audience how we were doing in the cold. He said it was warmer on stage. I saw Steve Howe frequently blow on his fingers, trying to keep them warm.

The one part of the setlist that changes from night to night is Steve's guitar solo. On this night, he played a solo piece called Second Initial and part of Vivaldi's Lute Concerto in D. The crowd was much quieter here than at the club-like atmosphere of the shows in Chicago, and Steve didn't have to berate the crowd for making too much noise. He was funny in talking to the audience, announcing the songs he played and what Yes was going to do next. The Vivaldi music was a bit of "culture, culture, culture," he repeated. "And here's culture from the 1980s" with Owner of a Lonely Heart.

I kept an eye on the rest of the front row. Would people rush up to the stage at the end? I didn't want to be left out. Benoit gestured for the audience to stand up partway through Roundabout. I saw a few people in the center left section walk up to the barricade by the stage. Ushers indicated for them to sit down, and then it seemed to be okay. Roy and I grabbed a spot. The sound was noticibly worse up by the stage, but it was fun being so close. When the band came back for the encore, Chris mentioned again that it was the last night of the tour. He named all of the road crew and thanked them for their work.

The encore was Starship Trooper. Benoit changed the lyric to "long winters colder than time can remember". During the instrumental final part of the song, he was playing a tambourine and walked towards our side of the stage. I could tell that he saw us. I waved, and he waved back. When the band did their final bows, Chris brought his baby daughter out on stage. He waved to the audience, and then she did a little wave. I don't know if Chris even saw it, because he took her arm and moved it to wave to the crowd. It was really cute.

There were many people with meet and greet access after the show. We were organized in lines based on what type of pass we had - real backstage passes, the auction winners, the premium packagers got t-shirts, and so on. There was some confusion about what we were getting. A woman came by and told us first that we'd get pictures with the band but no autographs. I hadn't brought a camera, and I was just glad to have another chance to talk to the band. Later on, it was decided we'd get autographs too, and the woman handed us a photo of Yes to get signed. We stood in line outside for a half an hour, until the band was ready for the meet and greets. That's when I noticed the cold. It would have been fine if I were dressed for it. I really felt bad for the guy wearing shorts and some women in flip flops. Some people in our group left, rather than wait a little bit longer to meet the band.


We were ushered into the meet and greet room. Alan, Chris, Oliver, and Steve were sitting at a table. Someone in line asked where Benoit was. He's being fashionably late, one of the band members replied. Benoit walked in and saw me. He walked over to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said hello, before walking over to the table. He sat between Alan and Chris. I heard Alan telling another fan that the tour lasted a month, but it felt like two, because of the snow and show cancellations.

I had a couple goals in speaking to the band this time. First was to find information about their next tour. My friend Greg spoke to a couple of band members at an earlier show and was trying to find out more information, when the shows would be and where, if they were hitting the midwest at all. I also had a question about comparing venues like this one to the all-standing shows at the House of Blues. Did the band notice the crowd being more energetic at the standing shows and where did they prefer playing?

I asked Alan the first question. He told me Yes would be playing in June and early July with Peter Frampton. Since the concert, this news has been announced on YesWorld. In Alan's words, "I have no idea where we'll be playing. I just get on the bus and show up." I'll find my way to a couple shows, no matter where they play.

Benoit surprised me by asking me a question, to confirm that I've been to four shows on this tour. He's keeping track?! That's really flattering! I confirmed it and said I've seen this lineup nine times total. The person in front of me was talking to Chris, so I asked Benoit my question about the venues. He said that yes, he noticed a difference without elaborating. I didn't have a chance to ask what they preferred before I had to move on.

I didn't have anything planned to say to Chris. I just blurted out, "You were awesome!" Chris didn't give an indication that he recognized me, but he joked back that his goal was to be awesome.

I smiled and nodded at Oliver, without saying anything. I told Steve that I thought his playing was great on Yours Is No Disgrace. Roy asked him if he felt his playing was affected by the cold temperatures.

I guess I wasn't paying attention to the rest of the people in line. We finished talking to the band, got my autographed promo picture, and headed back to the door. Alan White stood up and walked over to stop me. I then noticed that the other fans were in line again, presumably to get pictures with the band this time. I didn't have a camera with me anyway, and Alan said I probably already had pictures with the band. The woman who was organizing things said that our group wasn't getting pictures and we were done. I was glad that it wasn't too rushed.


Diana and Rick didn't have access to the meet and greets. They waited in their car in the parking lot for us. I called Diana's cell phone when we got out. Roy and I both got the autographed photo and a poster, so we gave our extra ones to Diana and Rick. It was almost 11pm on a Sunday night. We stopped at a few restaurants that were already closed before passing a Cheesecake Factory with cars in the parking lot. We ate there, catching up and reminiscing about the old days.

I was interested in getting their take on the show. This was their first time seeing this lineup, and I know for Roy and me, it took a show to get over missing Jon Anderson and to accept this version of the band for what it is. Also, Rick is a musician, and having more knowledge about music could make him more critical. But they both really enjoyed it, especially the Drama songs.

The next morning, Roy took me to Delray Beach, where his parents used to have a condo. We got out to walk in the downtown section before heading to the airport.

It's tough for me to objectively review a Yes concert. It's my favorite band, my favorite music, I'm expecting to love it. And there are so many things outside the band's performance that can add or detract from the show, distractions from people sitting around me, bad soundmix, my own mood. But there are a few changes I'd like for Yes to make on future tours:

I don't think opening with Siberian Khatru and I've Seen All Good People is working well. I know Khatru is the classic opener, and we're all conditioned to hear it after Firebird Suite ends. But the band has only occasionally been playing it with the energy it deserves. They should open with something that doesn't take half the song to warm up, Yours Is No Disgrace or Roundabout, maybe. Roy says Sound Chaser, like on the Relayer tour!

I think All Good People worked better in previous tours where they played it as the last song of the main set. People would stand up and dance to it, without the band prompting us. It works better that way, than with everyone just sitting and listening to it. As much as I want to hear more classics from the 1970s, I think this lineup would do a good job with It Can Happen.

Especially with the shortened set we'll have on this summer's tour, I don't want to wait half the show for it to "pick up" and come alive. I hope they make some change to the flow of the first half of the concert. I truly loved a number of these recent shows, and I will see multiple shows on each leg of every US tour. However, it's getting harder to get excited about so many short tours with basically the same set, even for me. I hope Yes freshens up the setlist soon.

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.

Yes is at the House of Blues!

Yes
House of Blues
Chicago, IL
Thursday, February 18, 2010
General Admission / Premium Ticket
$184.50

When a new Yes tour is announced, Roy and I look at all the tour dates to see which shows will work for us. Are they doing a local show? What shows are on the weekends? How many concerts do we want to do? We decided on two concerts, and the two in Florida would make for a nice warm trip in February. It would have been enough, except for one thing. I love being able to stand and dance throughout a Yes concert, and they were playing a general admission, standing room only concert in Chicago. I'd get that opportunity. Roy didn't want to, so I made arrangements to go to Chicago myself.

The Chicago concert was on a Thursday. I'd have to take a day off from work that Friday to travel home. Just for fun, I decided to stay an extra day up there. I could do touristy stuff. I booked my hotel and transportation. And then, Yes added another show at the House of Blues in Chicago for Friday night. Suddenly, I'm going to four shows on this short tour.

I took the bus up to Chicago on Wednesday night. I got really lucky with the weather. Thursday was the warmest day in Chicago all year so far, great for walking around. I made plans to meet an acquaintance for lunch, and I planned to get to the House of Blues by three. I was doing so much of this trip by myself, so it was good to see Jen and do something social. We both relocated to the midwest, but were out of touch for fifteen years before finding each other on Facebook. I had a light lunch, because I'd be having "dinner" at the House of Blues not too long afterward.

This was a general admission show, and I had to be in the front row. I had to be. Seriously, I'm five foot two, and anyone standing in front of me would block my view and I wouldn't be able to see. But also, given the opportunity to see my favorite band in the front row, I had to go for it. Ticketmaster offered a premium ticket package with early entry, and I had to do that. The House of Blues offers "pass the line" entrance to anyone eating at their restaurant that day. Just in case something went wrong with the premium entry, I had to be in front of the "pass the line" line too.

It was actually a lot of fun waiting there. The band was staying at the hotel in the same complex as the House of Blues, and the band members were walking right into the lobby and up the stairs to the stage area. Another fan was waiting there, who I think I met at a previous show in Chicago. He and I talked for most of the time. I was standing there for three hours, and I only read two pages in my book.

I spoke to Benoit David, the singer for this lineup of the band. I was just walking out of the restaurant and I saw him in the lobby. I called out his name, and he recognized me and stopped. I told him I was getting in line for the show, and he asked me how early it was. It was 4pm. I find it charming when musicians I'm a fan of try to show not just that they remember me, but they remember something personal about me. The last few times I saw Yes, my friend Greg was also there. Greg has a blog about an imaginary jackalope, and he brings a small stuffed animal jackalope to concerts. Benoit remembered that and must have thought of us as together, and asked if I had the jackalope with me. Between his accent and me not expecting to hear that word, I had to ask him to repeat himself. Ah, that's what he's talking about. No, that belongs to a friend of mine. (Greg and I have only met on three occasions, but they've all been recent Yes shows, where Benoit has seen us hanging out.) The next morning, I sent Greg a message about this exchange, and he replied that I made his day.

Chris Squire walked down the steps and caused a big stir. One guy got to shake his hand, another took a picture with him. I just hung back and watched their interactions. Both fans were talking about how nice Chris was. Alan White walked in with Yes' tour manager; they were talking to each other and didn't see us. When Alan walked back down, he talked to our group. He said his feet were tired and he was going back to the hotel to watch a movie. I love seeing the band in a city where the hotels, restaurants, and concert are all close by. I hope they appreciated being able to get around easily too.

Shortly before the doors opened, the premium ticket people were all grouped together. There were two levels of premium tickets - ones that came with a meet and greet with the band and ones that didn't. I bought a meet and greet package for Yes' tour in 2004, but I didn't need to for this lineup. I can usually meet them after the show just by hanging out, and I am more concerned about the front row seat. We were all together, without really being in a line. There were about a dozen people there. Security people brought us to another staircase where we stood single file. I was halfway back in line, no longer first. Security led us up to the club level, and then it got confusing. The employee leading us up walked around the perimeter of the club around the back, and people followed him. But they walked right past the entrance to the pit, the quickest way to get to the front of the stage. Was I supposed to follow the people in front of me or use my instincts? I broke from the line and grabbed the front row center spot. Everyone walking behind me followed my lead.

My goal was to stand in the center one night and in front of Chris Squire the other night. But there was a curtain covering the stage, and I couldn't see where the microphone stands were. This would be my night to stand front and center, and I could judge where to stand to be in front of Chris the next night. I made a misjudgment though, which worked in my favor. Oliver Wakeman's keyboards took up a huge portion of the stage, in front and audience right. The rest of the front-line was squished into the remainder of the stage. By standing in the center, I ended up right by Chris.

The premium package people mostly got front row positions. One couple decided to stand in the center, in the second row behind me. The guys I waited with in the "pass the line" line were also able to get front row, near where Steve was on the far left. We weren't right up by the stage. There was a metal barricade a couple feet from the stage, leaving room for cameramen and security people between the audience and the band. More nice, unintended consequences. The barricade had a metal floor going back about two feet into the audience. The people in the front row could stand on it, but there wasn't quite enough room for two rows of people on it. The rest of the floor stood back, so they weren't partly standing on the metal and partly on the wood floor. It meant we weren't being crowded and shoved up front. The barricade was also a good height to lean on and rest my arms on it. I think the people who chose the second row position regretted it as the floor got crowded. We had an hour to wait before the show started, and we all chatted. Nice group of people, all big fans.

Around 8:15, the room darkened and Firebird Suite began to play on the loudspeakers. The curtains parted and there was Yes! Seats up by the stage are great for seeing the band, paying attention to details, interacting with the bandmembers; the only thing they're not great for is sound. The speakers are over our heads pushing the sound back. What I'm hearing is coming from the on-stage monitors. (The flip side is, I could be further back by the soundboard and surrounded by people talking or constantly adjusting my spot to try to see.) I had a seat once before at a Yes concert directly in front of Chris. All I heard was the bass all night. I was expecting the same thing from this position.

Chris Squire is my favorite bass player in the world and his melodic lead lines are one of the things I love most about Yes music. I could hear every note Squire played like it was turned up for a solo. His tone was beautiful. I got to hear every bassline highlighted and played right in front of me. I thought nothing would take my attention away from Chris, but Steve also had on-stage monitors and I could hear him clearly, particularly on the solos of Siberian Khatru and Yours Is No Disgrace.

I was in my happy place for the whole show. In the zone, in the present, the music had my rapt attention the entire time. I could barely hear the vocals, but I sung along, singing along with Chris' harmony parts whenever he was singing. Float your climb! He almost came in early on the vocals during Onward, but caught it. I felt the music rather than hearing it all. I wouldn't want this mix for every show, but it was fascinating to hear everything Chris played so clearly. I later wrote on Facebook that it's not the same band I fell in love with, the balance of delicate beauty versus power is off, but they rocked. And I danced along to that glorious bass for the whole show. I was thrilled.

Here's a few funny / interesting moments that I caught being up front:
There was a waitress making the rounds of the pit carrying a case of beer up over her head back and forth through the crowd. Chris said before he introduced Steve Howe's solo that he was wondering about that Bud Light case the woman was carrying. He said it looked like weight training. Someone in the crowd asked Chris if he wanted one. Someone tossed a can on stage during Machine Messiah. Chris saw it and laughed. During Owner of a Lonely Heart, Benoit moved to that part of the stage. He saw the can, and offered it to a couple people in front, and tossed it back to someone.

Steve Howe rotates the songs he does in his solo portion of the show. For this show, he did All's a Chord and Diary of a Man Who Vanished. Some people standing near him were talking during the songs. Steve announced what songs he had played, and then said "and I wish those talkers would vanish". Aside from this part, Steve looked like he was in a great mood. Steve was more animated than I've seen recently, even smiling a few times. As he came back on stage for the encore, he did the duck walk across the stage.

One song that particularly stood out was Machine Messiah. I had never seen Yes play in until this lineup formed. I thought during the performance that if some other band in a prog festival played a song that sounded like this, we'd all be going nuts for it. The instrumental parts of the song sound so Yes-sy and fit in so well. I'm glad they're doing it again. One thing different on this night's performance was that they didn't use dry ice to fill the stage. I was standing so close, I hoped to be able to play with it.

After the show ended, the band came to the front of the stage for their bows. One guy in the audience was hoping to get a setlist, and was pointing at it to Alan. Alan saw him, but didn't do anything. Just after the band left the stage and the curtains closed again, a roadie came out to hand the fan a setlist. I don't know if Alan asked him to or if he saw the exchange, but it was a nice thing to do.

Everyone who purchased the premium ticket package got a letter from the box office, saying to meet after the show by stage left. Most people were doing the meet and greet, and got black laminates. I hadn't spent the extra $100 to do that, but I was still getting a souvenir t-shirt and poster. I remembered reading that people buying the lesser package could also be "upgraded" to the meet and greet. We were all brought up to a little room where the meet and greet would be held. The coordinator calmly went through his list and distributed the t-shirts. I thought there were more people downstairs, but at this point there were three people with the lesser package. The coordinator said if we wanted, we could meet the band too! We'd have to wait until the meet and greet was over, and wait with the people with regular backstage passes. This was wonderful!




It wasn't coordinated very well. Just as the official meet and greet ended and those people left, someone turned off the lights. We were brought into the dark room. Oliver Wakeman and Alan White were there. Oliver tried to make the best of it, going to a part of the room with indirect lighting, and offered to do any autographs from there. I went over and asked him to sign my new poster. Alan waited for the lights to come on. At some point, Steve Howe walked by, but he looked like he was on his way out, so I didn't stop him.

Usually my ideal spot at concerts is one where I can be in front, but out of the way, in the aisle dancing. I don't get a great view of Alan White that way, but I did this night. And the reverse was true. After the light situation was fixed, Alan told me that he saw me dancing along. He said I knew the words better than he does. If this had been a different lineup of the band, I would have joked that I know the words better than Jon, but I didn't want to bring his name up now. I asked Alan to sign a couple CDs for me. I brought House of Yes: Live from the House of Blues and Magnification.
House of Yes has autographs from Roger Dean, Steve Howe, Alan White, and Chris Squire
Magnification has been signed by Alan White and Chris Squire
Chris Squire came out a little bit later. I told him his playing sounded wonderful. He also told me he watched me dancing during the show. Here are two of my idols, musicians whose talent I admire so much, and they both went out of their way to tell me they saw me enjoying the show. Speaking of which, someone on the Yesfans site wrote, "Seeing you dance has become part of the Yes concert ritual for me; you so echo the joy of the music."

I couldn't get cell phone reception inside, so I went outside to call Roy and tell him what just happened. Nights like this one are a gift, and I'm so glad I was able to take full advantage of it.

FMPM 2009 Pre-Show: A Saga with Mystery

Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal - Pre-Show
Gesù – Centre de Créativité
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Friday, September 11, 2009
Section Centre, Row L, Seat 16
$55.87 CAN


It's taken me so long to publish this entry. A month after the festival, the organizers at FMPM announced that the festival would not be continuing. I'm kind of amazed that I made it to fully half of their festivals, as Montreal is far away and expensive to fly into. I loved visiting Montreal and I loved going to a prog festival in an urban center like this, with the hotel, venue, tons of restaurants, and touristy things all within walking distance. I'll want to go back to Montreal some other time, if only to have another duck breast crepe at Jardin Nelson!

I enjoyed the FMPM festival in Montreal when Roy and I went in 2007. I wasn't expecting to go again this year, but we kept tabs on the bands that would be performing. Roy noticed that Saga was headlining the preshow, and he hadn't seen that band in a long time. I was curious about Mystery, whose singer, Benoit David, sang on Yes' In the Present tour. But we didn't seriously consider going this year.

Then something incredible happened. Some minor band canceled, and the replacement was a huge deal. Three members of Gentle Giant had reunited, calling themselves Three Friends. At the time, it was their only scheduled North American show. Roy and I decided to go the day we found out. We got our tickets before the performance sold out. We were doing it. By the time of the festival, it was announced that they'd be playing Nearfest next year. And since then, one of the Gentle Giant members dropped out of the project. Nearfest will only be getting two friends.

This led to a crazy couple of weeks. We were going to ProgDay over Labor Day weekend. This was the very next weekend. Roy decided to take off the days in between the two trips. Roy is a big tennis fan, so he spent those days off at the US Open. After ProgDay, I flew home, went to work for a few days, and then flew up to Montreal. Roy flew to New York and saw some tennis. Our friend Linda was also coming to FMPM; Roy met up with her and they drove to Montreal together.

I kept seeing all these people going to the festival. Waiting for my flight to Montreal, in a layover in Chicago, I met a couple who were obviously going there. In line at customs, I saw people I knew from the prog world, as the line snaked around, Buster in front of me, Jason behind. One of the FMPM organizers, Robert Dansereau, was outside security waiting to meet some other attendees. Jason and I shared a cab to the hotel. I didn't know when Roy would arrive; he hoped to be there in time for the night's concert. I left him a note and went off to explore the city.

I got lunch, walked up to the venue, scoped out the area, tried to get my bearings in the city. I found the street where we stayed last time. I went back to the hotel before the concert to freshen up. Roy was there, half-asleep. I hadn't seen him since Monday. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, had to stay up late for tennis and wake up early to meet up with Linda, so he slept on the drive up to Canada. He needed to sleep some more, and then he'd come to the show. I left him my directions to the Gesu and headed off to the show.

The doors were supposed to open at 6pm, and the concert was starting at 7pm. I got there a little before 6. There wasn't a grand opening of the doors or anything at 6, but I went into the lobby then anyway. The venue wasn't ready for people yet. The bar wasn't open and the vendors weren't set up. I didn't see anyone I knew, but I had a really good time.

I saw someone whose face I recognized from pictures on the Yesfans site. Daniel posts more than I do on Yesfans, and it was clear he didn't recognize my name. But he was an amazing host. He bought me a drink, introduced me to some other people from Yesfans, introduced me to Michel St-Pere, the guitarist from Mystery, and Richard Lanthier, the bass player from the Close to the Edge Yes-tribute band. Daniel and I realized that his seat was directly in front of mine, and he even offered to switch seats with me if I had trouble seeing.

Roy hadn't arrived by the time Mystery started. They were scheduled for an hour-long set. There would be a break at 8pm, and Saga was to start at 9. Through the early part of Mystery's set, I was worried about Roy. He planned to wake up after 6, and I expected him to be there by this point. He really wanted to see Saga. Should I run back to the hotel and get him during the break?

It kept me distracted from the show, but I enjoyed it regardless. When we realized we were going to FMPM this year, Roy and I bought the latest Mystery album, Beneath the Veil of Winter's Face. I recognized about half the songs they played. They did a couple older ones and one newer song that has not been released yet. Benoit alternated his stage announcements, sometimes doing them in French, sometimes in English.

I was wondering if Mystery would do a cover song. I had seen Benoit five times over the last year singing with Yes, and a Yes song would go over well with the crowd. He announced that they would be doing a cover song from a legendary progressive rock band. I wildly applauded and half-expected them to go into Tempus Fugit. It surprised me when they started playing Rush' Tom Sawyer. I love this song too. I was bopping around in my seat, singing along.

Then, things got spectacularly bad.

Oh, nothing the band did. I saw Roy arrive partway through Tom Sawyer. Our seats were on the aisle near the back. The venue was a nice little amphitheater, with tiered seating, and small steps separating each row. I got up to let Roy in, moved to the aisle and tried to go down a step to clear the way for him. I either tripped or lost my balance, and fell over. Roy tried to catch me, couldn't brace himself, and fell over as well. People were looking and the usher came over to make sure we were okay. Neither of us were hurt, but I was kind of shocked. It took me a little while to be able to concentrate on the music again. I was very careful all the other times I had to enter or exit my seat all weekend.

If I had one complaint about Mystery, it was one I noticed in a number of bands this weekend. There was too little variation in the band's sound in each song. One of the last songs they did, Travel to the Night, finally had some lead keyboard lines, some dynamics, build up of the music. It went over really well and got a standing ovation from some of the crowd. I thought Mystery put on a good set. I like their music, Benoit obviously has a lot of experience on stage now, but the rest of the band put on a good show as well. I heard from Daniel that they would be playing RosFest next year, and that was confirmed the next day. I'm glad more people will get a chance to see them.

After the show, my goal was to meet Benoit. The bands usually come out to sign autographs, sometimes organized at a table, sometimes milling around. I introduced Roy to my acquaintances from Yesfans. The lobby was really crowded, too small for the number of people here. Roy and I stood by the wall, keep an eye on the Mystery vending table. Some of the band members were there. Daniel came to the rescue again, coming over to tell us Benoit had come out to the lobby and show us where he was.

Benoit was chatting with a couple people. He looked happy to see us, giving me a hug and kiss on the cheek and giving Roy a handshake. He asked us if we liked the show and if we were going to see Saga. It was nice, but kinda quick. He went back to chatting with someone in French. I was going to wait to talk to him some more. But the lights flickered to signal that Saga would be starting soon. The lobby cleared out, and more signals came. I couldn't even eavesdrop on the conversation, because it was in French. I didn't want Roy to miss Saga, so I figured we'd catch up with Benoit another time, and we went into the auditorium. It figures, that was the only time I saw Benoit all weekend and the show still didn't start for another ten minutes. I could have waited longer. I'm kicking myself over that.

I wonder what will happen to Benoit in the future, if Yes will continue like they've been or if Jon will rejoin. I'm happy with Benoit in his understudy position, singing on tour while Jon can't handle it, but I'm not ready for him to be lead-singer-of-my-favorite-band. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and he has provided a way for Yes to continue.

The next band Saga had a lot of experience. They got started in the 1970s, had songs and albums that charted, got videos played on MTV, and have a song that even still gets played on the radio in St. Louis. They don't tour often in North America now, and Roy hadn't seen them since two times in the 1980s. They have a new singer, but I wouldn't have realized it. I thought he sang the songs as if they were his own and put on a great show.

I liked the band's music, but didn't love it. But I very much enjoyed their live performance. I would group their sound along with AOR (prog-influenced) bands more than progressive rock itself, with only their strong keyboard sound pushing them into prog. Whatever the sound, their songs are good, and the band had a level of excitement and polish that would have filled an arena. It went over very well. They held my attention the whole time, even though I only knew one song, the encore of On the Loose. They played a lot of newer songs, and Roy bought their new album after the show. They met his high expectations.

After the show, we said goodbye to Daniel. He only had a ticket for the preshow, so he wouldn't be back the rest of the weekend. Roy and I walked down to Rue St. Denis and got dessert at the same little creperie we stopped at last time we were in Montreal. It was good to see him again.

Okie Dokie in Muskogee

Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame
presents
Yes
with special guest Asia
Muskogee Civic Center
Muskogee, OK
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Section 101, Row A, Seat 5
$55

There's something about Yes music that makes me want to dance to it. I need to feel every note and sing every word. Usually at a Yes concert, I make do with bopping around in my seat. But I love those shows when I can get up and dance. Oh, I won't do it if the rest of the audience is sitting and I'm blocking someone's view. My seat needs to be on the far aisle or back row. Front row is tricky, I'm right there with the band and we're all feeling the adrenaline rush together, but I don't want to create a bad atmosphere with the people behind me, standing when they want me to be sitting. I've tried to analyze why I like dancing at shows so much - part of it is that the music is moving me physically and I'm just following along. The other part is that standing up gets me away from the rest of the audience. I have a clear view of the stage with no one's head in the way. And talking, conversations, bad behavior seem so far away. It's just me and the music. And the band. I got to dance in Muskogee.

I had to wonder why Yes was playing in Muskogee. It's a small town an hour away from Tulsa. They were booked to play a small arena. I knew it wouldn't sell well. I was telling one of my coworkers about it, and he wanted to know why I was so sure. I said, because I saw them in Bloomington, Illinois last year and the same thing happened. Yes were booked in too big of a venue with an area with low population density. I hoped the show wouldn't be canceled because of the poor turnout. I was right. The venue held 3,300 people, and I guess it was a quarter full. There were people filling up the floor up to the 20th row and a few rows of people in the tiered seating. I later learned that this show was a benefit for the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. A benefactor paid for the bands, with all of the profit going to the Hall.

The location made it easy to get good tickets. The Muskogee Civic Center did not use Ticketmaster and did not hold any tickets back for VIP packages. I got front row, audience right for Roy and me. Our new friend Greg got front row, center.

The drive down from Kansas City was easy. We got to the hotel, rested up, and then drove to the venue. It was still early. We wanted to park at the Civic Center, scope out the venue, and walk around town. It was a weekday, around five in the afternoon, and the downtown was dead. We found one home accessories store that was open, so we looked around there. Muskogee had a public art program, with eight foot tall ceramic guitars painted by local artists. We saw about four of those before dinner.

I'd never been to Oklahoma before, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Roy picked up their alternative paper, with articles about concerts. The article about the Yes and Asia show was positive, but it had a whole lot of mistakes. This was the ad we found. I haven't seen one like this before - liquor and Yes. And it lists the wrong date!




None of our usual Yesfriends went to either the Kansas City or Muskogee shows, so we had dinner with some people from the Yesfans site. Everyone was so friendly, like we had known each other a long time. This was the hottest day of our trip, upper nineties, so someone gave us a ride back to the venue.

We found the probable stage door; we saw the tour manager Paul pull up in a dark-colored van and walk in a door near the front entrance. Roy and I went in and found our seats. Front row, in a group of seats tightly pushed together. The seats were connected, so I unhooked my chair and shoved some of the seats down a bit to give me some extra room. There was a huge amount of space between our row and the stage and a huge amount of room in the aisles. I got ready for the show, and I was pleasantly surprised that the bottled water was only $1.50 for a 20 ounce bottle. I'm used to being gouged for these things. Roy and I talked to another guy from dinner, originally from England but now living in Oklahoma, named Paul. He had the seat directly behind me.

The show started. When I saw Asia at the Keswick Theater in 2007, they had a screen above the stage showing their videos and closeups of the band. They didn't use it in Kansas City, but it was in use this night. This time, the screens were hanging over the audience, over the fourth row. I could turn around and see the mirror-image display on the back of the screen. I wonder if it was distracting for the band to be able to look up and see themselves. I noticed John Wetton looking at it a couple times. I don't think this was as good a performance. Wetton looked bored during most of the show. Someone described it as looking like he was mentally writing a grocery list while playing. Roy pointed out that he was very expressive during their new song An Extraordinary Life.

I was keeping an eye on the audience during Asia's set. Would people be allowed to stand up by the stage away from our seats? The front row was a good distance from the stage, and I could stand up there to dance without blocking anyone's view. I noticed people were walking to the open area to take pictures. One woman got up a few times to dance by the stage. Security seemed pretty easy-going.

There were some cool moments during the Asia set. We had an excellent angle to actually watch Geoff Downes play the keyboards, actually seeing his fingers hitting the keys. And I think John Wetton saw me bopping around to Video Killed the Radio Star when I did one of the handclaps. The sound was much better than the previous show in Kansas City. I could tell this time that Wetton sounded wonderful, especially in the "You are the radio star" lines. Carl Palmer added a gong to his drumset since the Kansas City show. I didn't like his solo in Fanfare as much this time. I'm usually not a fan of drum solos, so liking it the other night was more of a surprise than not caring now.

The really exciting part for me was towards the end of the set. My friend Greg came over and asked if either Roy or I would like to take his seat for a song, in the front row center section. I ran over there and enjoyed Sole Survivor. He didn't come back to reclaim his seat. I looked towards my real seat, and he gestured for me to stay there. The next song was the last song of Asia's set Heat of the Moment. People in the center section started getting up and moving towards the stage. I did too, and it was a lot of fun! I thanked Greg a whole lot afterwards.

The Yes show started and I was going to dance. I moved up to a spot near the stage and stayed there for Siberian Khatru. I was right by the speakers, and I had earplugs in, but the sound was really good. I said before that dancing gets me away from distractions, but I was very aware of security and other people moving up near the stage. Security at first was letting people come up to take pictures. Then, as people were walking up from their seats and taking too much time up front, security was telling them to go back to their seats.

The new singer Benoit David saw me over there. I was standing at the far end of the stage, in front of my real seat. He came over and sang part of Tempus Fugit to me. Greg captured it in this photo. I'm so glad I have this moment preserved.




I think if everyone in the audience had been cool, security would have been cool too. Someone stood up by Steve Howe for too long. I was at the opposite end of the arena, and I don't know if they were using flash on their camera or just taking too many pictures. But Steve gestured for them to move away. Security picked up after that, asking everyone to clear the area. Everyone except me. I wasn't taking pictures or in the way, so I guess I was okay. The security guy even said "excuse me" to me as he walked past to tell other people to sit down. I felt relieved to be in my happy place and have everyone be cool with it. I heard there was another problem, where some people walked up to the stage and rested their beer bottles on stage. Steve wasn't happy about that either.

I was able to dance for Siberian Khatru, I've Seen All Good People, Tempus Fugit, and the first part of Astral Traveler. I sat down during the drum solo, but part of me knew that sitting down would mean I wouldn't be able to move back to my space afterwards. It was true. I wanted to dance to the next song, And You And I. I got back up, but the security people had switched around, and a new person walked up to me and told me I couldn't stay there. I went back to my seat. I noticed that all the people in the second row behind me were already standing up. So I stood and danced at my seat, careful not to get into anyone's personal space. I guess I was distracted, because I missed my favorite part of the song - singing along to Chris' backing vocals up from Turn Round Tailor to Float Your Climb while the lead vocals are doing Coins and Crosses. Our seats were such an angle to the stage that my standing up there actually blocked Roy's view. He wanted me to enjoy the song, so he didn't tell me til after the song was over.

Chris Squire addressed the crowd a couple times, first before Tempus Fugit, where he greeted the town as Muskeegee, like a cross between Muskogee and Tuskegee. Later on, he introduced Steve Howe's guitar solo by saying, "You might think Steve deserves a break now, but we're not going to give him one. Now that James Brown is no longer with us, Steve is the hardest working man in show business." Steve played Intersection Blues and a Chet Atkins song for his solo break.

The rest of the show passed quickly. I watched Benoit the most. He was using the larger stage this night to move all around it. He looked like he was having fun. Chris seemed less ebullient than usual. He normally has a lot of stage presence, but he'd been sick earlier this year and done a lot of traveling in the last couple days for this tour. Yes played much longer on their tour last fall, when they were playing by themselves, but this didn't feel too short. It was still a full night of music.

I stood up for Roundabout. The people behind me were still standing. I was able to push my chair back a ways, so I was standing in the space where I had been sitting. Roy could see, so I was happy. I was jumping around towards the end, and amazed how my shoes were holding up. I had sandles on, but I seemed to land exactly right in them; they never went flying off or hitting my foot in a bad place. The guy to my left continued standing for the instrumental first half of Heart of the Sunrise, so I did too.

Yes came back out for their encore. People started to stage rush - gather in that area up by the stage. The security guard was still there and I was being good. I hadn't moved from my seat, but I wasn't going to let other people stand in front of me. I walked slowly towards the stage and glanced towards him. He told me it was okay now because it was the last song. I waved Roy over to join me.

I was so surprised when Yes came out and tore into ... just the final part of Starship Trooper, the instrumental Wurm, but not the whole song. We've been talking about this on the Yesfans site. I'm not sure whether this was due to the time, Steve being upset with the crowd, the band being tired, or what. I loved the adrenaline rush of being able to dance and the very good sound, but I think Kansas City was a better performance from both bands.

Roy and I met up with our dinner companions, hung out to talk for a while, and then made our way to the stage door to wait for the band. We saw Steve Howe come out of one exit, and walk around outside to enter the venue through the stage door. Later on, he was the first to leave. He didn't acknowledge us while walking to his car, but then he rolled down his window and waved to us.

The rest of the band came a little later. They started walking towards us, rather than their van. Chris and Alan both looked exhausted. I shook hands with both of them, but didn't say much. Benoit greeted me with, "Hi Dancer!" Charming! I specifically wanted to tell him something, and I got the chance. Roy and I are going to the FMPM prog festival in Montreal in September, and Benoit's other band Mystery will be playing there. He seemed excited and asked what I thought of the Mystery CD. I was put on the spot, I had to honestly say that we only just bought it at Kansas City and hadn't listened to it yet. I didn't get a chance to talk to Oliver this time.

After the show, Roy and I met up with Greg at the IHOP near our hotel. We had some after dinner munchies and hung out talking for a while. We didn't get back to our room until after two in the morning! We slept in the next morning and took our time driving home the next day. It was a good trip.

An Extraordinary Life

Yes
Special Guest Asia
Uptown Theater
Kansas City, MO
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Section Center Orchestra, Row AAA, Seat 9
$155

I like to go to as many Yes concerts as I can on each tour. For past tours, I've tried to maximize the number of shows using a minimal number of vacation days from work. I had a mental decision-tree to work out which shows to attend:

- first was a local show
- then shows on a weekend in driving distance
- then flying to shows on a weekend (favoring Philly or wherever our friends would be attending)

After booking flights on two tours that had been canceled, I announced to Roy that I changed my mind on that. I wanted travel plans that would be easily refundable, and that might mean driving to shows during the week and using more vacation time. We decided that two shows was a good number for this tour and hoped the shows nearby would still fall on a weekend. I just assumed that one of those shows would be in Chicago, or somewhere north of here and cooler, but they didn't book a show in Chicago this time.

And that is how we decided on shows in Kansas City, MO and Muskogee, Oklahoma. These shows were in the middle of the week, so I was using four precious vacation days in order to see a measly two shows. But it turned out nicely to come home from a trip and still have a full weekend to recover.

This tour was a bit different from the one we saw last fall. For one thing, "Howe Squire and White of Yes" were now just touring as Yes. And some of the band members were playing for less time. Yes was bringing along an opening act this time, so they were cutting their own set down to under two hours. I say some of the band members, because amazingly, Steve Howe played lead guitar both with Yes and the opening band Asia.

Buying tickets for this show reminded me of the bad old days. In the old days, I'd buy tickets at a ticket outlet, and have no say in where my tickets would be. I requested the number of tickets, and maybe what price I wanted to pay, and I was sold whatever tickets they gave me. Buying tickets online via Ticketmaster isn't wonderful, but Ticketmaster tells us exactly what tickets we've received. We can buy them or not. Some other ticket sites actually show me all available tickets and let me choose which ones I want. Like at most shows on this tour, the best seats were put aside for an exorbitant VIP package. The best of the regular seats were $155. I bought regular seats, but Ticketmaster wouldn't tell me where the seats were! All it would say was front left section, no Row number. I didn't want to spend this much money and not know where my seats were. Roy told me we should hold off on buying tickets until this gets resolved, but I bought them anyway. After buying them, I learned they were row CCC, third row on Steve Howe's side. Not bad. Way too stressful though.

The VIP seats didn't sell too well. A few weeks before the show, the unpurchased seats were released as general tickets. I kept an eye on the Ticketmaster site, and managed to buy two front row center seats. I also managed to sell my extras, but at less than face value. Someone I knew from the Yesfans site got the two seats next to mine. Even better, if I can't sit on an aisle, I'm at least sitting between people I know.

The trip had a bad start, but it was the only setback. The day before we left, I literally had $500 worth of preventative maintenance done for my car. Tune up, oil change, new whatever it needed. Before we even got to the interstate, the back window opened by itself, sliding down, and it wouldn't go back up again. We tried driving like that, but the road noise was too much. And it was going to rain. We stopped at a Walgreens and got duct tape to hold the window up. Not the prettiest thing to do to my car, but it stayed closed for the rest of the trip. We stopped at the college town of Columbia to have lunch and drive around, and then got to Kansas City in plenty of time for the day's events.


Roy and I also bought the Asia VIP package. The package came with access to the soundcheck and having at least two Asia members at a meet and greet. The website seemed disorganized, but said to arrive at 4:30pm. Other fans gathered there, but no one from the band had arrived yet. The guy who owned the Uptown Theater was there, and he invited us into the air-conditioned lobby to wait. We walked down the hallway and could see the roadies setting up the stage. The theater even arranged a lounge with appetizers for us. Close to an hour had passed before the VIP arrangements took place. We talked to some of the other fans.


We all got VIP passes to wear. The organizer told us Geoff and Carl would be meeting with us. Another woman who was there was a big fan of John Wetton and even brought a gift for him. She asked the organizer if he could please pass a message to John that she was there.

We were ushered into the auditorium and seated about halfway back. Steve was just starting his soundcheck. He played for about 15 minutes, this probably served as practice for him more than checking how his guitar was sounding. He played a part of All's a Chord, some piece of Topographic Oceans, Mood for a Day, and lots of bits I didn't recognize. The day after Roy and I first met, we were able to attend a Yes soundcheck and hear Steve Howe play similarly. This reminded both of us of that time. This VIP experience thing was $99 per person, but it was so worth it. Steve made one comment out loud, that it smelled like burning rubber on stage, but nothing music related.

Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes also came out, separately, to do their soundcheck. I heard Carl say Astral Traveler and Roundabout, but I don't know what he was talking about. What really surprised me is that John Wetton walked into the auditorium and over to our group. He was talking with the woman who so wanted to meet him. I didn't know if he was going to talk just to her or to the rest of us as well. I didn't know if I should approach him. He chatted with her for a bit, and then she got a picture with him. I stayed in my seat, but he did walk over to us. (There were only six people in the VIP thing, not a big crowd.)

I was wearing my King Crimson Larks' Tongue in Aspic t-shirt, and that was the first album he did with King Crimson. He walked over and said "Nice t-shirt". I replied that it was one of my favorite albums. Roy said he saw John look at his t-shirt, a Yes shirt, and then say nothing. John Wetton, the two guys sitting next to us, Roy, and I had a little conversation about King Crimson and the Red remaster that is going to be released soon. John Wetton has been in a lot of bands, but his time in Crimson is why I'm such a fan of his, so I'm glad we could talk to him in that context. I asked him if he would sign an autograph for me. He said he would, and waited for me to pull out my CD and Sharpie marker. I brought his "Hazy Monet", a live album from a show in New York that I attended. That was a magical night, but all I said was "I was at that show". I don't think he heard me. He made a comment about not doing the meet and greets or shaking hands because he doesn't want to get swine flu. I think it was so nice of him to come out and talk to us.

Here's a picture of John Wetton and me from the magical show at the Bottom Line in New York City in 1997. I'm even wearing the same t-shirt!


We never did get to see John Wetton do his soundcheck. Too bad, since he is one of my favorite bass players. Next, we were taken into a catering room with tables and a buffet set up for the bands and road crew. I could see the new singer for Yes, Benoit David, eating at one of the tables. I didn't want to bother him while he was eating. I did see him looking at me later on like he recognized me, and we gave each other a little smile and nod.

Carl Palmer came out first and then Geoff Downes. I got some autographs from Carl, but I really wanted to talk to Geoff. Like Steve Howe, Geoff played with both Asia and Yes, on their Drama album. Yes are playing two songs off that album on this current tour. It seems like such a good idea to me that Geoff play those songs live with Yes. They're his songs too, and he's here, right? But that hasn't happened. I asked him about that, and he said if he were to do it, he'd play it along with Oliver Wakeman, and they hadn't had to time work out who would play what parts. I asked him if he'd gotten to see Yes play those songs and what he thought of them. Geoff said they did a good job. Roy and I told him we saw Yes play those songs last year, which led into a discussion about what cities Yes played on each tour and what cities are considered the midwest.





Our conversation with Carl Palmer was really nice, but had nothing to do about music. I'm not a big fan of ELP, but I like him personally, as a musician in the prog world who seems like a nice, friendly person. I asked him if he liked doing these meet and greets. This is normally downtime for him, so he doesn't mind them. Carl is in very good shape, and Roy asked him about exercising while on the road. Another fan asked about his "ticker", since he had some surgery recently. The four of us had a really interesting discussion about health, eating habits, family history, hotel swimming pools.

John Wetton came out to get some food from the buffet, and some people started talking to him again. It was about 6:45pm, and we needed to get going. We had to meet the people who were going to buy our extra tickets at 7:30, and we had to get dinner before that. I stopped at the rest room and then we bumped into a friend outside. We found a great BBQ place near the Uptown Theater. They gave us a free sample of chicken wings when we stopped in earlier in the day and it was delicious. Unfortunately, they closed at 7, and we missed them. Ended up having a quick dinner at McDonald's. I sold my tickets, we got into the theater, I got my bottled water, and we got to our seats.

The stage setup was weird. Oliver Wakeman's keyboards were on stage, but covered, and they took up about a third of the stage. Asia was forced to set up in the remaining open part. I feel bad for everyone sitting on the right side of the theater - it must have felt like Asia was playing far away from them. Roy and I were sitting right in front of Geoff Downes. These were spectacular seats for viewing. All of the instruments sounded great. Unfortunately, the vocals were only coming through in the speakers above the stage - over our heads. I could hear the vocals low in the mix, but I had a tough time hearing what everyone was saying when they spoke to the audience. The same was true of Yes. Another downside was the squashed placement of the keyboards and drums - I could see Carl's drums fine, but Roy sitting right next to me, had his view blocked by the keyboards. I asked if he wanted to switch seats for part of the show, but he said no.

I had already seen Asia twice since they reunited, so I knew what to expect. They opened with two songs from their first album, Wildest Dreams and Only Time Will Tell, and then did a song from their new album called An Extraordinary Life. The show really picked up for me when they did some songs from their past bands. The fourth song was the Buggles' Video Killed the Radio Star. I like the energy in that song. And next was King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King. I told Roy I'd like to hear them do Schizoid Man or one of the songs from the John Wetton-era of the band, but this one is nice to hear and he does a good job singing it. Has Wetton's bass playing technique changed? I never noticed him playing with a pick before, but he had one taped to his thumb.

The big highlight for me was Fanfare for the Common Man. I'm not a big ELP fan, but everyone was playing great and doing great solos in that piece. I even liked Carl's drum solo, and I usually hate drum solos. John Wetton walked over to the far right side of the stage, in front of Oliver's keyboard setup and played his solo from there. The last two songs of the set were Sole Survivor and Heat of the Moment. Everyone stood up during the last song and people filled up the aisles to get close to the stage. I saw John Wetton throw his guitar pick to the woman who had been at the VIP meet and greet with us. She deserves it. This was a very good performance, and the energy level would be hard for Yes to maintain.

Roy and I were sitting next to Greg and Sharon. I knew Greg from the Yesfans website and met him at the St. Louis show last year. Sharon is a long time Yes fan, but never saw the band until two days beforehand in Denver. They were nice people to enjoy the concert with. Greg seemed to enjoy my bopping around and singing along, so I didn't need to tone it down at all. We hung out with them after the show too.

Yes started their show with the traditional opener, Siberian Khatru. Frankly, I was enjoying it, but it didn't wow me until Steve Howe's guitar soloing at the end. His playing and body language really jolted me and pulled me into the performance. Steve did a lot more rock star posturing in this show than I'd seen from him previously, standing up by the wall of the theater to do a solo and walking to the edge of the stage to lean on Benoit's microphone stand to do another solo. It was fun to see him engaging the rest of the band, rather than keeping to himself on stage. I saw Steve and Oliver making eye contact and smiling at parts. Our seats were right in front of Benoit, but I spent a good deal of time watching Steve. He was the star of the Yes performance that night.

Like last time, the front line band members took turns introducing the songs. Chris introduced Tempus Fugit, and also introduced the two new members of the band, Oliver and Benoit. I heard some boos when Benoit was introduced. I'm as big a Jon Anderson fan as anyone out there, but I don't hold it against Benoit for being the replacement singer. I understand why the rest of the band wanted to tour again. Steve introduced the two songs he didn't play on originally, Astral Traveller and Owner of a Lonely Heart. I remember reading a review from an early show in the tour that criticized Benoit for not saying anything to the crowd. This time, he spoke before Machine Messiah.

Machine Messiah led to an unintentionally funny moment of the show. The band uses dry ice to fill the stage. It's usually a few feet deep. But Chris had a fan on stage, and it woosh! blew the dry ice upwards, covering Chris. Everyone on stage was laughing. I noticed Chris being careful the next time the dry ice was used.

The setlist had a little variation in it from previous tours. Roundabout was done as part of the main set, rather than the encore. I always wanted them to do this, but it was confusing. Even people who sit for the entire show will stand up for the encore. I don't think I've ever sat down for Roundabout before! Benoit motioned for us to get up partway through the song, and I did. Chris usually does this thing with his index finger, circling around and then pointing up. I mimic him, jumping along with it. I think Benoit saw me do that.

The final song of the main set was Heart of the Sunrise. I've seen them do this on so many tours. But that song changed my life when I first heard it on Classic Yes. I hadn't seen them play it since 2002. Seven years. This was a blistering performance of it. Highlight of the night.

The encore was Starship Trooper. Some people in the audience were standing up for the encore, so I did too. I danced along. I tried to convince Greg's friend Sharon to get up as well. I noticed that the sound was awful standing up, just this huge amount of noise in with the music. I sat down for most of the song. Sharon caught my eye towards the end and gestured that we should get up then. We did, and danced, sort of together but two seats apart. It was towards the end of the jamming and just before Steve restated the melody line.

We were still standing and applauding when the roadies came out to tear down the set. I could see the setlists taped to the stage floor. I asked a roadie if he could give me one, and he did! He gave me the setlist Chris used. I've gotten these at other concerts before, but never at a Yes show. I was thrilled and people asked if they could take pictures of it. We met some other people from the Yesfans site as well, who stopped by the front row.


We also met up with some fascinating younger Yes fans. These two 20 years olds from Nebraska, a guy and young woman both named Alex, were big Yes fans. This was the first time they got to see Yes in concert and they were so excited. I saw them during the show sitting a few rows back from me. They made a banner with a Yes logo on it, and held it up during the concert. I am going to call them the "Alexes". They weren't sure if the band would think they were too fanatical with the banner or not, but we told them the band loves this sort of thing.

Earlier in the day, we scoped out the area around the venue. The band was going to exit via a door on a private parking lot. We couldn't stand by the door, but we could stand at the sidewalk and watch them leave. We told this to the Alexes and they decided to hang out with our group. Steve left first, got into his car, pulled out of the driveway... and then stopped to open his window and sign the banner. He signed a couple other things for people too. I brought something to get signed just in case, but I was having too much fun watching everyone else. Roy walked over to Steve to thank him for stopping.

The rest of the band pulled into their white van. We positioned the Alexes in front holding the banner so they'd see it. The van stopped, and Chris rolled down his window to sign the banner. The back doors opened, and the tour manager Paul got out of the van, followed by Oliver and Benoit. Alan stayed in the backseat. Chris handed the banner to Alan to sign, and he stayed back there, signing autographs for others as well. I talked to Chris, asking how he was doing. He said he was good, and I replied we were all happy he was doing better. Roy talked to Paul, telling him that we were at the Jon show last month (Paul was there too) and asked about Jon's tour in Europe. Paul told Roy he wasn't working with Jon on that because it was more like a vacation than a tour.

I stood around while Oliver was talking to the Alexes. He was joking with them that he saw the banner during the show, and saw them holding it so it covered their view of the stage. He said they should have cut holes in it for their eyes. I shook hands with him, but I'm not sure if he remembered me from last year or not. He's so friendly when meeting fans, I wish some of that could come across on-stage. Roy heard him say he's concentrating on the music and his equipment so much when he's playing that anything else is distracting. I think he's a good musician, but he needs to grow as a performer.

I was kind of following the Alexes around, because it was so much fun to listen to them talk to the band members and I wasn't trying to get autographs. They were talking to Benoit next. Benoit told them some of the same things he told Roy and me the first time he met us, that he could see them dancing during the show and singing along to all the words. He recognized me and asked me where he knew me from. I told him Bloomington and St. Louis last year. I don't think he put it together with the conversations we had back then.

The band left. I didn't get to talk to Alan. The Alexes were on cloud nine after not only getting to see the concert, but having the band all be so enthusiastic about the banner. They got autographs from all five band members. People took pictures and we said our goodbyes. Greg and Sharon waited with us until we got a cab back to the hotel. We'd be seeing Greg two days from then in Muskogee.


We weren't going to the next Yes show. They were going to Fort Worth, Texas, a nine hour drive away. I've driven home that far from shows, but I wouldn't want to travel that far on a show day. We spent the extra day being tourists in Kansas City. Then we drove down to Muskogee on Thursday.

I've been reflecting about how lucky we are, being Yes fans. I grew up in Philly, and I saw Yes ten times before I was 20 years old. I've had the opportunity to meet my idols so many times I can stand back and watch other fans get autographs for the first time. The lyrics of the new Asia song seem appropriate here:

Nights to remember and never forget
Go, seize the day
Wake up and say
This is an
Extraordinary Life