This issue has no Yes News. Instead we're focusing in on two Jon Anderson events: the first being the delightfully unique benefit concert Jon did for the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival; the second, the most fantastic interview Jon has given to date, a "thank you" INTERVIEW with KKUP radio DJ Elizabeth Gips, recorded on Memorial Day, May 27, and broadcast on June 11, 1996.
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Jon Anderson's recent benefit concert in Paso Robles wasn't just on Mother's Day for my friends and me. Anne Corbin, Kathy South, and friends Kat and daughter Cassandra went down to the central coast the day before to have a chance to relax a little bit before lining up for the show early on Sunday morning. What we didn't expect was a full two-day adventure!
We got down to Paso Robles and checked out Martin Brothers Winery. Chris's technician walked out of the tasting room at the precise moment that we pulled into a parking space, so we wondered if his presence meant that Chris was going to be the bass player for this event. We wandered into the tasting room. Taped onto the glass door entrance was a flier to promote the Jon Anderson/Mozart Festival Benefit with Robin Kauffman's Toltec promo picture prominently displayed on it! They had one taped to either side of the door. |
 
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Anne inquired as to where the amphitheatre was where the concert was to be held, and was told that it was about a mile and a half up the road. We left the tasting room, piled back into the van, and were on our way to check it out.
Past rows of vineyards, rolling pastures and a couple of nice ranch style houses, we arrived at another turn in the road where a sign announced Martin Bros. Wineries, so we pulled into that roadway, then went 'round the structures to the back where tractors were parked. AOL friends Margaret and Kyle were there ahead of us, and Margaret walked down the steep grassy hill to the little white-canopied stage where a crew had just begun to set up to talk to the crew. She came back up with very little to report. Kyle intercepted Chris' technician and inquired about a possible sound check. He was told that there would be a full rehearsal at 4 o'clock, so we decided to return then.
We went back to the motel, checked in and relaxed a little bit. Then it was back to the winery.
We were given permission to spread our blankets at the top of the amphitheatre, out of the sun, thank goodness. Once the musicians arrived, they got down to business right away. The first item on the agenda was to shade the stage, especially the spot where the singer was going to stand. The singer insisted on it! A small square canopy was erected in front of the center stage, placing everyone on the stage, including Jon, in the unlit shade. Good for him-not so good for the audience or photographers.
The musicians trickled in. I only recognized Kevin Dickey, who was playing bass, and not Chris Squire. As soon as they got organized, they began to rehearse their songs. They played I'll Find My Way Home first. Oh heaven. The other songs that they rehearsed were Soon, Wonderous Stories, Time and a Word, Distant Thunder, Owner of a Lonely Heart, and Change We Must.
| A number of kids, probably Jade's classmates, sat with her on the hillside to our left. Jon asked if anyone wanted to come and sing with him. He didn't mean, anyone ... he meant the choir, specifically. Anne raised her hand to volunteer, and Jon explained, unnecessarily, "Sorry, we have a choir - we do have a choir, don't we?" The choir assembled behind the musicians off to the left of the stage and Jon tried to conduct them in singing Owner of a Lonely Heart, Change We Must, and then All Good People. | 
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The choir was barely audible, at most. The musicians didn't seem to know the music too well, and Jon seemed to have forgotten some of his parts as well, but they were all working very hard. The show ought to be very entertaining, as usual!
Jon walked up to the soundboard to listen. After a couple of hours of shouting to the musicians and choir from that point upfield, someone got him a microphone. His voice was getting a touch hoarse. From there, however, he was able to judge the sound, see how it all looked, and direct the musicians as well as get the levels in balance.
They took a break around 7 pm. Anne called Tami Freed in New York on Margaret's cell phone. Tami was in agony, wishing she was there. Anne described the rehearsal and held the phone up for her to hear the song they were working on.
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When the band resumed their rehearsal, they played All Good People some more, then State of Independence, and finally And You and I. They rehearsed AYAI over and over and over again. Jon was really determined to get it right. The sun got low in the sky behind us and it cooled down quite a bit. A breeze started to come up. The mosquitoes came out. The grass got very wet.
Jon really got into the performance end of All Good People, encouraging the folks at the top of the hill (us) to dance and clap along. Still they played AYAI over and over and over again. It got dark. There were no lights on the stage but still they played on. Finally, Jon announced to the musicians -thank you very much for all your hard work, and we're going to have a great time tomorrow, and it was over. |
Kat quickly led the parade down the hill to catch them before they got into their cars to leave. I stayed behind and watched their silhouettes disappear into the darkness.
They returned within minutes, happily reporting that they each got a handshake. Jon couldn't talk to them because of his voice, badly worked during the rehearsal. (He smiled and pointed to his throat, or something like that.) When Anne handed him the gorgeous owl feather-decorated rainstick, he yelled "Wow!" and held it up to the sky. They got into their vehicle and our group hiked back up the hill. We gathered our stuff and got back into the Kat's van. Jon & Jane were still sitting in their car with their lights on, on the road down by the stage, when we left. But we went back to Paso Robles and had dinner at the diner. Everyone was famished.
Just as we were about to leave the restaurant, Roy DeRousse, Steve Staub, Kevin Hughes, and Mark Spier walked in!!! Hugs and joy all around! We left the diner and went back to our room where the guys looked at the photo album of SLO that I brought along, and Yesstories first galley, and talked about a lot of stuff. It was quite late when we retired to our separate rooms.
