Collecting Live Yes

ABWH -An Evening Of Yes Music Plus electric drums .

 

Wolfgangs (aka Bill Graham) Vault. Been around for years. All streaming mostly good to excellent quality.

 

I'm not sure of the bit rate for the stream, but Wolfgang's Concert Vault owns audio and video recordings, mainly from venues operated by Bill "Wolfgang" Graham, such as the Fillmore auditoriums, and some other material that his company has acquired over the years. The video material is up on YouTube; the audio can be streamed if you have a paid subscription. (You can hear 30-second samples for free.) Some of the audio (nothing by Yes, unfortunately) is also available for download in MP3 or FLAC formats, typically $5 for a concert. Available downloads include boatloads of Jefferson Airplane and a couple of Steely Dan shows from 1974.

 

New live 2CD set out in July, recorded in Philadelphia on the 50th Anniversary Tour.
Alan White has revealed in an interview in The Aquarian that they will be playing Gates of Delirium in its entirety on the forthcoming tour. No news on anything else from Relayer. I have my doubts as to whether certain members of the current line-up are able to do a difficult, powerful, aggressive piece of music like Gates the justice it demands. Lyrically it's among the darkest of Yesmusic, and Davison doesn't really do dark, vocally...too angelic for my liking.

 

Another live album showcasing what they had become...

 

I know for certain that Geoff Downes will not be able to play Gates of Delirium well. Billy Sherwood has enough difficulty playing the songs he's been playing with them for years now, so I expect him to fail, too. Is Alan even playing the drums for more than 1 or 2 songs at this point?

 

I’m sure “Gates” will be 100% Schellen, maybe Alan will double-drum on the war section as an adjunct percussionist. But he’s the only member I’d have any confidence in to play that song, including Howe.

Oddly, I may end up finding out anyway, via a free ticket, because I want to see the earlier bands on the bill.

 

I found it unintentionally telling that the first two complete-album concert CDs with Davison were both called Like It Is. With the logo underneath the title. So the overall effect warns buyers that this bunch of guys is playing "Like It Is Yes."

That said, I own those sets and listen to them. They're not marvelous but they're not terrible, and I'm okay with another excuse to listen to "Parallels."

 

They must have tapes of the band in the mid-late '70s they could package for release, but they're putting out something from every recent tour instead.

Gates of Delirium was still very good back in 2000, with Igor Khoroshev on keys. All these years later -- I don't know. Alan hasn't sounded good in years. Is he better now?

 

It sounded great in 2001 on the Symphonic Tour (Masterworks tour didn't cross the pond), but that was 18 years ago, and all of their powers and abilities are consequently diminished.
I haven't seen them since 2014 on the Three Albums Tour, and after 38 Yesshows since 1973, I felt, sadly, that was it for me: I was bored with how they were playing. And then came the appalling Heaven and Earth album. And then Chris Squire died four years ago this month...
They really should stop.

 

Wish I'd seen that tour (Masterworks). That would have been the last time I'm interested in watching/listening to their live show.

 

Especially w the two competing bands business. Ridiculous

 

Last time that happened, at least we got the Union tour out of it. I don't see that happening this time around, but I did buy the Blu-ray with the Hall of Fame induction performance. One last gasp of something resembling classic-era Yes.

 

Well, that's not true anymore, with the better of the two bands, ARW, going away.

I haven't seen any version of Yes since 2004, so I'm just basing my opinion on recordings of ARW and the present version of Yes. ARW played Yes music with real verve and passion, with the real singer. I haven't heard Yes sound good in a long time, and Jay Schellen is a shadow of what Alan White was, even the Alan White of 1997-2004, let alone Alan in the '70s and '80s.

 

Rumours abound that they will be playing Imagine on the tour starting on Wednesday, as Alan played on that album, so likely given Jon Davison the opportunity to plumb new depths of mawkish pleading.....

 

I saw Yes on their last tour before Squire passed and then ARW on their first time around. Yes had a better setlist but Squire was the best thing about them and the ARW performance I saw was excellent.

 

With some tours I can get by with one or two shows, but with others I collect everything. For example, the Moraz era. I love his improvisations, as well as his interpretations of the Wakeman and Kaye material.

 

If I recall correctly the recording comes from a BBC Radio one Friday night Rock show hosted by Tommy Vance (rip).
Again if I recall the details correctly, the Recording was from the Evening show at The Empire Pool Wembley as it was known by back then,
I went to both the ''added'' Afternoon Mattinee show and the evening show which was recorded and broadcast by the BBC. I have not listened to my recording from the the Radio show in years, but I am sure Vance said at the end of the show, ''this was a BBC recording, with sound engineered by Nigel Luby and Chris Lycett'' who If I recall also worked on the BBC's Genesis Knebworth recordings which also were first class. Lycett worked at the Beeb's Maida Vale studios and was responsible for many of the BBc's ''session recordings'' so my guess is he may have sprinkled some magic dust on what were great shows to begin with and gave us incredible production.

 

I saw a Masterworks show on my birthday in 2000, at Holmdel, NJ. There's a nice FM broadcast of most of it - Ritual wasn't aired. Kansas opened, and Chris wore a ridiculous outfit that my wife couldn't stop laughing at.

They were still good after Igor had to leave and Wakeman rejoined, but that Masterworks show was probably the best gig from '97-2004 that I actually saw. Beautiful summer night, 10th row or something like it. I knew what songs they were going to play, but it didn't matter - it was great.

 

Almost went to that show myself. I do remember being surprised it was being broadcast though. I'd have recorded it but I was in the car for most of it as I recall.

 

I'm currently listening to a 1997 show from the Universal Amphitheatre in CA. It's a combination of FM and AUD recordings and it's brilliant. I saw Khorashev live with the band a couple times, but going back and sampling his recorded legacy shows just how talented he was.

 

What's the date on that one?

 

December 7, 1997. There are a number of boots of the FM broadcast portion, but the whole show (including a decent-sounding AUD recording of the non-FM songs) is collected a boot called "Clearly to be Home."

I have no interest whatsoever in the studio recordings from this era of the band, but the live shows were killer.

 

I think the Symphonic live set live is excellent. Includes most of the classics and the orchestration offers something new.