“They were fantastic shows with each night showing improvement. America really rocked on Monday and Awaken was perfection on Tuesday. Starship Trooper smoked on Wednesday. It had to be the best series of concerts I have ever seen. Rivaled the GFTO tour in intensity. A friend has said that this compared to the time he saw The Beatles as a kid...**INCREDIBLE**.
“Emotion was quite evident in the audience all nights with Wednesday being very strong. I couldn’t help but continue to think about how I saw “Yessongs” in this very same theatre almost 21 years ago. My friend, Mike, had never seen Yes in concert before the Wednesday show and midway through Awaken he looked at me and said, “This is really magical.”. Then midway through Starship Trooper, he looked quite mesmerized saying, “I’ve never seen anything like this in all my life!”
These words do about sum it up. Yes is alive and well in 1996!! Great to see everyone again! My thanks to all of you who made it to 1865, this was a dream come true!”--Steve Staub, Santa Clara, CA
by Adam St. James
SLO Telegram-Tribune
March 5, 1996
Progressive rock, art rock—call it what you will—it lived and breathed Monday night at the Fremont Theatre on Monterey Street, a full 20 years after being declared dead by the Sex Pistols.
In a grand reunion of classic ’70s rock superstars the band Yes thrilled a rapt audience of approximately 650 with a three-hour concert that blurred the line between rock and symphony.
The concert was special because it marked the reunion of the five musicians many loyal fans consider the ultimate of the three-decade old band’s several incarnations. Vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White hadn’t performed together since the late ’70s, with the exception of an early ’90s tour that also featured members of other Yes lineups.
They came together at the Fremont Monday for the first of three concerts being recorded for a future album and video release. Anderson moved to the Central Coast last summer, and the band has been rehearsing in town for several months. Loyal fans traveled from across the country to attend the performances.
Anderson, the group’s principal songwriter and spiritual leader, sang with his unique soprano voice sounding as clear and brilliant as ever. Howe, clearly second-in-command, staged a virtual clinic for string players, switching repeatedly between various electric and acoustic guitars, pedal steel guitar, and more exotic instruments. The two led the five-member band through album-faithful renditions of often obscure material and the rare radio-friendly Yes track. Casual fans may have been left confused by songs like Siberian Khatru, Close to the Edge and Time & A Word, but casual fans were in the minority. Nearly every song was received with a standing ovation.
Lengthy solos—primarily by guitarist Howe—and complex, syncopated rhythms, such as in the 18-minute Close to the Edge, showed the band to be rehearsed and in control.
Background vocals by Howe and Squire blended harmoniously with Anderson, especially on I’ve Seen All Good People, played early in the set. Surprisingly, keyboardist Wakeman kept largely in the background most of the evening, his batttery of electronic keyboards serving mostly as padding for Howe’s solos.
Anderson, dressed all in white with a flowing white linen coat, appeared at times almost priestly as he chatted between songs, explaining some of the band’s origins and the meaning behind some of his lyrics. At one point in the show, after telling a humorous tale of how he first met bassist Squire, he announced that it was Squire’s birthday, and the crowd joined him a singing ‘Happy Birthday.’
The venue itself, the beautifully restored Fremont Theatre, built in the 1940s, was the perfect setting for the band’s artsy music.
Before leaving, Yes closed with rousing versions of two of the band’s most well-known songs, Roundabout and Starship Trooper.
Throughout the performance the musicians showed no sign of having lost the virtuosity that made them so popular two decades ago. Their technical mastery was matched, however, with just enough heartfelt emotion and enthusiasm to make their fans’ long wait all worthwhile.
Band brings plenty to see them, and they spend lots of money
by Carol Roberts
SLO Telegram-Tribune
March 6, 1996
The biggest Yes fans could turn out to be the motel and restaurnat owners here who are playing host this week to hundreds of concertgoers from all over the United States and Canada.
Eddie Lee, who became a fan as a kid in Hong Kong, came all the way from Honolulu.
Erich Toll, who makes eductional films, flew from Boulder, Colo. He brought along his wife and son and picked up his mother in Los Angeles. “Thanks to Yes, my son is getting to visit with Grandma,” he said.
Paul Seale, a lawyer from Vancouver, B.C., arrived Tuesday with is wife, Sheryl, a Canadian “Mountie,” just to see the rock group.
Lee, who manages a small company on Oahu, was staying at the Lamplighter Inn and looking forward to getting together with other fans he’s met for dinner at 1865 Restaurant.
Toll and his family were staying at the Apple Farm. The Seales were booked into the Madonna Inn. They were enjoying the decor. “We cracked up at our fluorescent green room,” Paul Seale said. “It’s really quite a place.”
All were among the fans who crowded into the Coffee Merchant downtown Tuesday to see where they would be seated for last night’s and tonight’s concerts at the Fremont. They paid $55 a seat, ordered through a Yes magazine, the Internet or a Yes newsletter.
They bought their tickets but didn’t know where they’d sit until their names were drawn out of a hopper by three men who had told fans far and wide about the performances.
Mike Tiano, who works for Microsoft in Seattle, manages the main Yes fan magazine on the Internet. Glenn Gottlieb of Long Island puts out a slick Yes magazine from there and Nic Caciappo of Modesto edits a Yes newsletter. They handed out a block of 150 tickets for Tuesday’s concert thatSome of the fans’ hosts at local restaurants and motels knew of Yes but were more excited bout the influx of guests than the rock group.
“Yes was a little before my time,” said Tom Sherwood, the 23-year old desk clerk at the Lamplighter.
John Fayre, a bartender at 1865, said he was a fan in the 1970s, but had no plans to attend the concerts.
Larry Ward, the president of Heritage Oaks bank in the county, said he firSome of the fans’ hosts at local restaurants and motels knew of Yes but were more excited bout the influx of guests than the rock group.
“Yes was a little before my time,” said Tom Sherwood, the 23-year old desk clerk at the Lamplighter.
John Fayre, a bartender at 1865, said he was a fan in the 1970s, but had no plans to attend the concerts.
Larry Ward, the president of Heritage Oaks bank in the county, said he first saw Yes in Denver in 1974. He lamented Tuesday that previous plans would keep him from the concerts here. But the bank, he said, has done a little something for the group.
Heritage Oaks was scheduled to open its second SLO branch in a leased building on Santa Rosa Street soon. Yes has been using the building, owned by Rob Rossi and others in the Santa Rosa Group, to record an album for the past few weeks.
Yes wants it for three more weeks, Ward said, so the bank has agreed to wait until after that to start its remodeling.
Yes fans are nothing if not accommodating.
“We’re good guests,” said Eric Melleby, a postal worker who came from Dayton, Ohio, for Tuesday’s concert. “We’re friendly. We’re clean. We’re sober. We just love the music.”
“Isn’t this a beautiful theatre, isn’t it? The guy was definitely on acid when he did it. Look at that ceiling! I’m just waiting for the proverbial ... proverbial, that’s an English word ... and it goes like this. It’s sort of a backwards piano thing there and it goes like this ...”
(Jon introducing Roundabout on Wednesday night)
by Claudia Perry
San Jose Mercury News
March 6, 1996
YES AGAIN: “Progressive rock”: The very label sounds like something you’d hear in an engineer’s garage or on his $40,000 custom-built stereo.
And it’s no coincidence that Silicon Valley is one of the last bastions of this musical genre, which merges the breadth and intricacy of classical music with computer-generated sounds to create lengthy rock opuses.
Prog-rock groups have as much in common with Stravinsky as with Chuck Berry.
“It probably is so strong here because of the engineers in this valley,” says William Ash, manager of the CD Warehouse in Sunnyvale, which stocks an extensive section of prog rock. “You don’t hear it on the radio, but a lot of people are into that style. Engineers just seem to like that genre.”
Bands such as King Crimson (which sold out two sets of shows here last year), Tangerine Dream, Porcupine Tree and Camel have huge followings here.
Well, I’ve got great news for prog rock and fans: If you are willing to take a drive and pay a scalper, you may be able to see the original members of Yes performing their most complex works, including Tales From Topographic Oceans, at a small movie theater in San Luis Obispo.
This is an amazing story; I didn’t believe it at first.
On Saturday, I got to see the band rehearse, while a block away hundreds of fans from all over the country were camped out, waiting for a chance to buy tickets for an added show.
The band has been rehearsing for a month in a former bank on the city’s main street. The show it added was Monday night. It plans to record two shows before 800 people at the Fremont Theatre (1025 Monterey St.). The first of those was Tuesday night. The second is tonight at 8.
Many SLO locals have taken little notice. Few have shown up to hear one of the top prog-rock bands of the ’70s blasting through the bank’s walls.
“The college students just think they are some old guys,” says Monica Fiscalini, feature editor of the city’s daily Telegram-Tribune. But a worldwide community is heading to SLO for the shows. Tickets were sold on the Internet at $55 via the Yes fans’ message groups. A couple of hundred were held back for locals.
All this came together because Yes singer Jon Anderson, who, like the other members of the group, hails from England was passing through town, when he saw a police car giving a push to a VW van to help the driver get it started.
Anderson, 51, decided this was the place to settle with his wife, Jane. He said the city combines the best of what England, the south of France and Kauai, his other favorite places, have to offer.
He persuaded his band mates—Alan White, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe and Chris Squire—to rehearse and put on the shows there.
Anderson, who also records solo projects for Menlo Park’s Windham Hill Records, told me this was a chance to give fans “master” versions of classic Yes songs by a more mature band. Two-thirds of the shows consist of old material.
“When we recorded Close to the Edge, people said to me they’d still be playing it 10 years later,” said Anderson.
“I just said, ‘Naaah.’ It’s 23 years later, and we’re STILL playing it. I’m as confounded by it myself.”
He says the full band will tour later this year; so if you miss the SLO shows, you may have another chance to see Yes.
A two-hour rehearsal, during which they covered the first side of ‘Topographic, Awaken, a new song, and Siberian Khatru showed the band hasn’t lost anything over the years.
Email Claudia Perry at ClaudiaPer@AOL.com
“In the whole part of the dream, we would like to continue making this kind of music into the Turn of the Century. It was a wonderful time when we started making music in a very different place than England. We went to Switzerland for about a year, and never learned to ski. But we made some really nice music but one of the songs was a crazy, crazy wild rock’n’roll song. We are going to go crazy, crazy wild right now and do it, okay?” (the audience counts out 1, 2, 3, 4!)--Jon introducing Going for the One
March 8, 1996
What was originally planned as a night for “dressed rehearsal” became the debut show for the newly reformed classic Yes lineup of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White. The band hit the stage at San Luis Obispo’s Fremont theater, performing for nearly 3 hours.
Concert staples such as Roundabout and I’ve Seen All Good People were performed with such enthusiasm and vigor that the entire capacity crowd was up and dancing in the aisles. But it was the intense performance of Paul Simon’s America that whipped the already exuberant crowd into a frenzy. Feeding back on the energy from the crowd, guitarist Steve Howe seemed to be jolted off the ground. Fingers flying about the guitar, Howe began hopping across the stage like a cross between Chuck Berry and Roger Rabbitt. Howe’s energy and obvious enjoyment pushed the crowd higher. This give and take was one of the nights most exhilarating moments. The song drew a thunderous standing ovation, as did the band’s mesmerizing performance of The Revealing Science of God.
Jon Anderson, in particularly good spirits and fine voice, introduced Revealing with a story about how the tune was the one song he insisted the band learn for these shows. Jon brought Revealing to the table with the idea of shortening and revising the epic, but Steve Howe insisted the band learn and perform the tune in its entirety. It was the first time Yes perfomred the song in over two decades.
Jon coaxed the crowd into singing Happy Birthday to Chris Squire, who was celebrating his birtth with a few hundred friends.
The shows became more and more polished with each performance, and the set list remained the same. By all counts, the third and final show was the tightest, and most intense. Fortunately, the video crew had stepped up to the higher end equipment for the final night, adding additional crew members as well. The band delivered a fantastic performance. All three shows were recorded and video-taped for what promises to be a stellar live album.
Please check back with the Yes Magazine web page! YES Magazine will debut a selection of the 1,500+ color photos we took over the course of the week. We’ve got some amazing shots of the band on stage and behind the scenes, as well as photos of the crowd, the town, the fans -- the whole event.
Yes Magazine will be devoting Volume 6, Issue No. 1 to this incredible week. Look for it in the spring.
From Frank Velleca (3/10): “It’s really an incredible story. I tried getting a ticket from Notes, no luck. I called Boo Boos when they first went on sale, no dice. I tried again Boo Boos again on 3/3 for tickets for 3/4, sold out again. So now it’s Tuesday morning, I’m sitting at work in Connecticut. There’s no way I’m going to get to SLO to see the event I’ve been waiting 17 years for. But wait. I find a note on AMY saying that Boo Boos is selling some extra tickets. I call again, sorry sold out. They suggested I call the radio station who is promoting the show. I called and they said there’s not much they can do. They suggested I talk to the KOTR program manager, Bruce Howard (one super nice person). I tell him my sad tale of Yes woe. He says, “I’ll talk to Alex Scott(Yes manager) and see what I can do”. Now it’s 6pm on Tuesday night. It’s very hard for me to believe I’m going to be in on the other side of the country seeing Yes in 24 hours. I call Bruce back at 7pm, I’ve got a ticket!!:):):):):):):):):):!!!!
I had book my flight and it’s going to be very close. If there are any delays, I probably will get to SLO too late. I had one close call when we had to de-ice, but I made it to my connection with about 10 minutes to spare. It suddenly became real when the plane was about to land in SLO and I saw those beautiful mountains! It’s really a wonderful place. I made it!!! Plus, I got on the local news when I was standing in line to get my ticket. The show was great!! I’ll post more about that later. My only regret was that I could not meet up with all you Prodigy folks. Maybe next time I’ll have the luxury of knowing a little bit more in advance.”
“I was grinning throughout both shows, but my biggest thrill was meeting Jon at the sound check on Tuesday. Me and my brother got our picture taken with him. It was almost like getting up in front of the company when doing a presentation. That is how nervous I was. My life is complete now. I thought the best was TRSOG by far. I was numb hearing that.“ --Mike Tokarczyk
By Roxi Cook (3/10): “We thought Tuesday’s “full moon” show was the best—especially since we saw that “UFO” after the show from the back of the theatre, etc., etc.
But Monday’s show, emotionally, was the best personally. I was blown away by every song. America was OUTRAGEOUS! Awaken ... well, it reminded me of that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Ark is opened and the spirit shoots through all observers, but the effect on us was completely magical...
And GFTO was an INCREDIBLE surprise since it wasn’t on the rehearsal list. TRSOG was unbelievable.
Our online connections brought us all close together in the first six or eight rows. Blessings to all those who worked with management to get us such fabulous seats. I looked across the theatre often, and recognized soooo many many Yesfriends, new & old. We got smiles from the band as we sent our dancing energy from left section to right section and back again during GFTO ... dancing, swirling, jumping, shouting, waving, loving.
And all under the most surreal canopy of an art deco theatre. We were in the Emerald City watching the Wizard(s) putting on their magic show.
Outside on Thursday morning, a red tailed hawk screeched together with a rather large chicken hawk as they circled above our cars as we prepared for our departure.
Michael and I took the Coast Highway back up to Santa Cruz. When we were about 60 miles south of Monterey, we noticed small groups of people at the turnouts, binoculars in place, looking, looking, looking. Well, we looked too, and found their point of interest ... WHALES!!! Dozens of pods of WHALES. We stopped at our favorite spot along the coast drive (Jade Cove—surprisingly, there was no one else there, so we had it all to ourselves), and watched the “geysers” coming out of the ocean, amazingly close to shore (for their northward migration, they usually swim farther out). Not just one spout, but 3 or 4 or SIX spouts at a time, all UP and DOWN the coast for miles! They must have heard the music.
I have lived in California for 27 years and never seen a whale, but on this day, we saw perhaps hundreds! With my 500mm lens on the camera (we forgot our binoculars, duh), we could clearly see their spouting, then their backs as they dove, and then their tales ... it was so AWESOME!
And thanks, too, to Tami & MaryAnn & Anne for making Friday such a particularly wonderful day in Yesland.
Peace & love, always & all ways,” Roxi & Michael
From Mike Ploski and Alison Karner (3/10): “The three shows were a slice of heaven on earth tetering on the Pacific plate’s edge. The venue was an art deco type movie theatre built circa 1920. Capacity aprox. 600 ascending souls. The full Pisces moon outside complimented Chris’s 49th. birthday. A three day event I presume as we sang to him every night. The towne is located 200 miles south of Frisco with jagged mts. circling the valley, with green grass and grazing bovines it looked like a humble Roger Dean painting. Many good hotels, stores and restaurants could be found catering to diverse ethnic tastes from thai to indian to mexican to Vegetarian. Now on to the Maestros. As Igor’s firebird suite started the lights flashed and people ran for their plush and primo seats. They opened with a blazing rendition of siberian khatru, Howe smoked.. then on to the 22 minute close to the edge. It sounded just like the c.d. Was eddy offord present? And you and I completed this majestic work live. Then on to side one of tales- well rehearsed and a thrill to see live. Going for the One released endorphins in all.
Awaken with Jon on harp and Chris playing a triple necked bass was a sight and sound to behold. Paul Simon’s, “America” show cased Howes rock talent. The newest song they did was onward from Tormato. The Yes standard encore consisted of round a bout and starship trooper both loud and rocky. My ears are still recuperating.. same show three nights.. YES...27years and still jamming. into the next millenia and beyond...” --Mike Ploski
“Hi it’s Alison...well my friend summed it up pretty well here. Between him and things you guys have already said, there’s not much more to add. To me it was almost more of a coming together thing rather than a show thing; all aspects were wonderful. The town was beautiful. During Roundabout(x 3) all I could think of was the REAL mountains when Jon sang, “they stand there”. We climed a mountain while there. Coming back to Chicago Fri. morn was a rude AWAKENing @ 5 degrees. Yikes! (and 8 inches of snow in some parts)
Wed. night was the best show performance wise in MHO, BTW. :) Mike thinks so too. The energy was high that night you gotta admit. And Jon’s dialouge and interaction w/ the audience was nice,too. Very funny at times. I can hardly wait to see the vid and am glad those of you that didn’t make it will have it. Never fear, there will be more shows! For Sue M. and I that means lots of continued work on Opio Foundation...thanks to all of you that supported us,purchased stuff, and just hung out with us and helped. We will have a great write-up in the next Opio newsletter..” ***Alison***
From Sue Morris (3/14): “What an amazing week in the magic mountains of SLO. Jon hit it on the head saying the landscape was filled with Roger Dean images! A perfect setting for The Masterworks of Yes to be performed. I had so much fun meeting everyone-Roy, Stan, Roxi & Michael, Sarah, David, Steven, Muffy, Kevin, Linda, Tami and Robin!! It was paradise for me to be amongst some of the best most awesome people on the planet!
Thank you all for your incredible support of The Opio Foundation! Thanks to you we did really well. Jon told us (Alison & I) that the Gods would provide and they did through the generous donations we received from many of you! Tami and Robin thanks again for your -at a moments notice- help by providing the beautiful photographs that made our display happen! We look forward to doing more shows as the tour manifests itself.
The shows were intimate and empowering. Sublime at times- the intro to Time and a Word, and trancendant- The Revealing. Going for the One and America rocked the house I hope they keep them on the set list and Onward blossomed on stage. High moments included when Jon sang the line “Highest colors touching others”, The Dawn of Light Chant and Jon’s harp solo from Awaken (actually all of Awaken)! The best Jon commentary- the line about “acorns to oak trees”, The first intro to America where he said “We are all searching for the real America a multi cultural America“; how he called Time and a Word a message to himself- very cool and the bit about not listening to the critics and being Close to the Edge of Realization instead of Close to the Edge of disaster.
The whole event had a feeling of being a family reunion of sorts and that feeling was really what made the event so special. All in all for me it was the best Yes event ever!! Thank you all for making it happen! On the time line”- Sue Morris
From David Westbay (3/6): “As one of the first ones back from SLO, I was charged by those still staying there (you lucky dogs!!) with posting one of the first reviews. Since I am pretty tired from the whirlwind of activity over the last 36+ hours, I will be brief. If you are sick of hearing about this whole thing, please feel free to skip this note.
The show Tuesday night was, IMHO, awesomely, stupendously, mind-blowingly ***INCREDIBLE*** (used by permission - right, Robin?)!!! After a couple of minor glitches, the band picked up momentum and was simply unstoppable. Everyone in the band seemed to be having a great time, and it showed in their performances. I won’t print the set list here, but if anyone wants it I’ll be happy to E-mail it. There is, as you may already know, talk of more shows, starting with an outdoor show in SLO later this spring, so be prepared to make plans to see them if at all possible; you will NOT be disappointed!!
Sarah Dowless E-mailed me that half the fun of the trip for her was meeting so many terrific people from Prodigy and other Yes fan groups.(The other half had something to do with some concerts she saw.
Then we went off to get ready for the show. When I got to the theater, I was very impressed. The Fremont is an older theater that has been very nicely restored. The interior is beautifully decorated and painted, very colorful but not gaudy (IMO). It is used these days for showing films, so there was some modification done to accommodate a concert, most notably putting up a stage for the band to play on, and lights to allow us to see them. The light show was simple by previous Yes concert standards, but I doubt seriously that anyone felt cheated by that. The show finally got started around 8:20 or so, and we were off! If you’ve gotten this far into this note, maybe you are interested in the set list; I’ll make it the last page of part two of this note, so you can skip it if you don’t want to know.
After the show, a lot of us ended up back at the La Cuesta, where most of the Prodigy contingent were staying, not to mention some other interesting people...We ended up in Stan Hendrix’s room (I think - was it yours, Stan? :) ) We had quite a crew in and out of that room until I had to go back to my motel down the street so I could get some sleep before driving back to L.A. that morning. While we were there, I was fortunate enough to run into Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe in the lobby and get them to autograph the sign I made to hold up during the show. But theirs aren’t the only autographs I got on my sign; I also got just about everyone who came to the party to sign the back of it, and those signatures are as valuable to me as the ones on the front. If the sign should show up on the video, it looks like this: it’s the newer Roger Dean Yes logo, the one on the cover of the YesYears booklet, with different colored letters on a light background. I had originally thought that I would just chuck the sign after the show, but once I got the idea to use it for autographs, I realized that I will be keeping it for a very long time to come.
As I said before, this was an experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life. And it was all made possible by my subscription to Prodigy! Otherwise, I would not have heard about it in time to get tickets, if at all! Ain’t life on-line GRAND?!?!
I would like to send greetings, thanks, and love to everyone I met in SLO, either for the first time or as a renewal of our acquaintance. I will probably leave someone out, but here are a few of just the Prodigy folks: Tami, Sarah, Sue Morris, Robin, Roxi and Michael, Linda Shulman, Roy, Kevin, Stan, Steve, Alison, Mike T., Muffy, Eddie, Mark, oh God I know I’m forgetting somebody so just whip me with a wet noodle later, OK?
Following this page is the set list, for the curious.
SET LIST, TUESDAY MARCH 5, 1996
* Someone in the audience yelled out “Happy birthday, Chris!” - it was the previous day, March 4 - and Rick immediately started playing “Happy Birthday”, so we all sang it to him. That was great fun!
Encores:
A killer set by any standard! Anyway, I hope you all weren’t bored out of your skulls by my ramblings. Thanks for letting me share it all with you.”
“I was talking with the guys from Episode, who drove down from SF, and they said that it felt like a family reunion to them. It’s great to see professional musicians who are also great fans like them! “--Roy DeRousse
“Well what happened was, we went to Switzerland, in the mountains; and it was kind of amazing being in the mountains and waking up in the morning ... a little bit like here! It’s beautiful here! We just needed a little bit more snow (laughter). So here’s a sort of crazy, crazy wild rock‘n’roll. Shall we call it wild rock’n’roll? So I’m just saying, does Alan White count this one in?” “Yes,” someone replies. “Mr. Alan White on drums!” Jon shouts.
“Between songs Jon invited the audience to sing “Happy Birthday” to Chris, which led to a humorous moment. Upon its ending, Chris shook hands with Jon, Rick, and Alan; however Steve was busy tuning his guitar for the next number, his back to the others and oblivious to what had just taken place. Chris looked towards Steve and seeing that Steve was not going to join the others, blew him a kiss, causing the audience to howl.”––Mike Tiano
“This song we are going to do now goes way way way way back, a zillion years ago. All I can remember was really the first time that I met this guy. You see, I was in this bar. You are always in a bar, and so you meet some body. Usually, a UFO experience or something like that! Maybe it was! But this friend of mine said,you go and talk to this guy at the end of the bar. He’s a bass player. Get on with the guy. He’s a nice guy. You can start a band. So I wandered along to the end of the bar and I said (reaching up, almost bending over backward to shake hands), ‘Hello, Chris,’ and he said, (bending down to about a foot from the floor, offering his hand), ‘Hello, little boy. What do you want? Clean up the glasses,’ you know? which is what I was doing at the time. The first thing I said was what kind of music do you like? And he said, Simon and Garfunkel. I said, “Me! Me! I like that too.
“When Chris ... wrote this next song, it was a time we were going through over ten years and we hadn’t even stopped to think about it. We were getting very tired. It’s just one of those songs that came over so beautifully on the album, and sometimes I’ll get a letter from people who use this as part of their wedding ceremony, and I now understand it a lot more as a song.” (Onward)
When I got to SLO at about 1:55 PM Tuesday, I went immediately to The Coffee Merchant, the site of the ticket distribution. Right away, I found a few of the people I had met before at Yestival, YesFest ’94, or the unofficial “MorazFest” in Colorado (that would be you, Roy). I proceeded to meet lots of others whose names I knew but hadn’t seen in person before. I felt like I was among family already. After about a half-hour delay, the ticket distribution got started. I got lucky and had my name drawn fairly early on, getting a second row, aisle seat right in front of Steve Howe. YES!!! A very good omen. After the ticket thing was over, we all adjourned to our hotels to prepare for dinner. The gathering at 1865 was another highlight. Having so many new friends in one place was amazing, and so much fun! We talked about everything, but mostly about Yes, but that’s why we were there, right? Like Mark Spier said, it was like a school reunion, where all the attendees are people you wish you had had for classmates! Or maybe a family reunion, with no black sheep showing up! Oh yeah, the food was quite good too, when we finally got it. I must commend our waiter, Todd, who took care of our entire party of 26 or so by himself and quite efficiently too! 
Suffice it to say that with few if any exceptions, the entire audience was transported to various other planes of existence by the experience we all shared. Some songs were very pleasant surprises (to me), either in the way they were done or that they were done at all. At the end of the last song of the show before the encores, I was so blown away that I had to lay back in my seat and recover for a few seconds. Then I was on my feet, joining the standing ovation that the rest of the theater was giving the band - not the only one of those that evening, I can tell you. We all stuck around for quite a while after the encores to try to bring them back, but to no avail. I can’t blame the band - they were probably as drained as we were after that high-energy performance. 
As I was driving to L.A. Wed. morning, I heard a SLO radio station talking about the contest they would have that afternoon to give away tickets to that night’s show. They wanted to find out, “What outrageous thing would you do for Yes tickets?” I could only think, (a) there isn’t much of a limit to what I would do for tickets to a show like the one I had seen the night before, and (b) whatever anyone did, no matter how far out, it would be worth it. If anyone who stayed for Wednesday’s show happened to see what happened at the contest (it was supposed to be held at a gas station downtown, I think), I’d be curious to hear what stunt won.
“It’s great to be with you this evening here at this majestic theatre here in San Luis Obispo. Welcome! We are going to take you on a journey through maybe a zillion notes and as many lyrics. I still get so excited singing that song [Close to the Edge]. When we first released Close to the Edge, in the local music papers in London they said it was Close to the Edge of disaster, but here we are twenty years later, still Close to the Edge of disaster, but I don’t think so! It was always in our hearts; it was always Close to the Edge of realization. It’s very simple.“ 
“Just before that song [Time and a Word] was made, I was sitting around writing a very, very simple song, and I wasn’t quite sure why I was writing this song, and as years have progressed, I realized why I wrote that song. Every time I sing it, I feel the same way about the lyrics, they’re very simple. And you’re going to have a wonderful, wonderful introduction: Mr. Rick Wakeman.” 
When we started to rehearse this next song, [And You and I] Steve, as it would happen, started playing it just like the recording. We were basically tuning up and started to track and then feedback came. And of course, we said, ‘Engineer, turn that ... down please’ with a big smile. You always tell the engineer to turn that ... down please! Here it comes, we are going to play this, just like the real thing....” 
Jon comments: “It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was first brought to this part of the world, as we call it, San Luis Obispo. I was brought here by my wonderful lady, Jane. The remarkable feeling I got was that everywhere I looked, it looked like Roger Dean-ism. There’s so much power in the mountains! So I was on the phone to Chris: ‘C’mon, let’s try and get together and work together here,’ and in a deep feeling of wonder, they all came! It’s fantastic! One of the first things we talked about was doing this next song, or the next piece of music, shall we call it. And as I keep thinking about starting this song, I’m going to take 1000 breaths to get ready for it. It’s a very special piece of music for all of us. Because I think all of us here tonight understood a lot of things at that time that we are [still] learning now, in many ways. So here we go ...” 
Happy Birthday to You....
[Jon comments after playing Going for the One] “... it’s just some crazy rock. At the same time, I remember sitting down with Alan; he had a chalet up in the mountains there; it was so far away from anywhere. Nobody knew where he was half the time. Is Alan there? You could hear him yodeling up in the mountains. Yodeling! That’s all he did was practice yodeling; he had this thing about it. There’s a song we started together which turned into, I don’t know, just sort of a song, a story at the same time. And a ... [Rick mumbles something] What’s that? [Jon starts to laugh] I’m trying to do my speech! It’s always, I got to tell you, ... it’s the quiet ones that are the worst. And the quietest guy on stage by far is Rick Wakeman! [cheers] And these little comments come over, floating over the stage. He’s writing a joke book, I know that[ gesters that the size of the book will be very small]. 
So here’s basically the song we finished up doing, it’s a romantic kind of song, about a sculpturer creating a real live human. It’s kind of a Greek thing, probably. Here we go now. It’s called Turn of the Century.” 
The crowd shouts out: Happy birthday, Chris! Jon says, “C’mon, let’s sing happy birthday to Chris again. Let’s stand up ... c’mon!”
“It’s going to be a long birthday, I can tell you that!” says Chris.
Let’s get a band together.’ So it’s been nearly 30 years ago, that’s what I’m talking about. So it definitely must be love! Mr. Chris Squire on bass guitar! (cheers) talking about that, one of the first times we toured ever America we started to realize really what America really is a melting pot of so many different kinds of people from all over the world. And we are all looking for America. And that’s why we are going to do this song for you right now. Here we go. Here it comes! 
“I would like to introduce again a great tap dancer, a juggler, a joke teller. He would love to tell you a joke! Do we have time for a joke?
Big cheers!
Chris: “He says he doesn’t know a clean one.”
Jon: “That’s why I’m always proud to call him Mr. Rick Wake-Up! 
“The shows were better than I could have ever imagined! And I didn’t realize how much seeing it with all you guys from here and AOL would add to the experience. I don’t ever want to see another Yes show w/o you guys! :) I had the best time dancing during Trooper on Tuesday night! I snuck back around to the other side of the theater right before the encores so I could hang with everyone, (thanks to Stan, who told me there was an empty seat!) and dance in the aisle. I’ve waited all my life for a moment like that.....:)” --Sarah Dowless
Stan Hendrix, Sarah Dowless, Kevin Hughes, Anne Corbin, Steve Staub, David Westbay,
Michael Osterhoudt; [front] Tami Freed, Roy DeRousse
Krista Wallhagen & K.C. McBride
Linda Shulman, Coral Mosbo, Tami Freed, Thomas Mosbo, Michael Anthony, Eddie Lee
“The love was overwhelming!!! The most amazing shows I’ve ever experienced!”—Anne Corbin, Santa Clara, CA
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