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Originally Posted by Steven Cedrone
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Originally Posted by Kati Compton
Or even better, I hope they make a concert DVD so I can buy it.
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And was Chris in top form? Did he do yet another one of his great Bass solo's? Yes is just one of the few groups that sound just as good as/better live than they do in studio. They are an awesome collection of musicians! |
There wasn't a full bass solo, but there were bass-focused section. He was in top form, doing his "march" while playing, and every once in a while going into "I love being a rock star" mode with the flourishes.
The more impressive part was the music "battle" between Steve Howe on guitar and Rick Wakeman on keyboards (he had at least 10 but there could have been more - it was hard to see).
Jon Anderson gave up his flowing white tunics for a black outfit that he later wore with a sports coat with fluorescent geometric shapes and spatterings. Rick Wakeman wore a white floor-length coat (with some sparkly stuff) at the beginning, and a fluorescent yellow-green one for the second half. It was a color I don't think I've seen before. With all the black lights, he really stood out. A LOT. I told my husband he should have painted his hair fluorescent white to complete the look.
Alan White.... Heh. This concert had the most impressive drum setup I've ever seen at a concert, as well as the best lighting of a drum set EVER. His "normal" drum kit was surrounded by these eight big alien pod looking drums that he controlled from some midi pads or something. These drums were on hydraulic polls, so would move towards and away from him and "play by themselves". The downside was that I felt they were severly under-utilized, only used for small sections of 2 songs (including the end of the drum section of Ritual). The drums were semi-transparent and would glow a different color (that changed during the concert) than the rest of the set.
Steve Howe was great as usual. Not much that I can say beyond that.
Disappointments (most minor):
Underutilization of the alien drums. If you're going to have a big gaudy thing like that, use it! And they REALLY should have played Heart of the Sunrise with them.
No double-necked bass or triple-necked guitar.
Good setlist, but I think better choices could have been made for the Encore. We were missing some classics like Siberian Khatru and Heart of the Sunrise.
Anyway - about Roundabout...
I was a bit concerned to see it in the "acoustic" section of the setlist. I should not have been.
I have to say that this is the most I've *laughed* at a rock concert.
So, Jon si talking about Alan White, and how like many of them, he got is start playing at "gentleman's clubs". Alan White demonstrated the drum flourish he would use for the comedian's jokes. And then they talked about how the stripper would then come on stage. Alan pretended to take off his shirt.
Then the mike control was handed to Chris. He discussed how they were trying to figure out if they could play Roundabout in a new way. So first they played about 30 seconds of what I can only describe as "Roundabout
: Western Saloon Style". Which was HILARIOUS. But then Chris said "But we thought it should be a little more lively", and they launched into a *bluesy* version, that they played all the way through. It was great!
Let's see.... what else... The set design. It looked like what Roger Dean would design for a Spinal Tap concert. I think the theme was supposed to be underseas? There was a vaguely crab-looking thing in the middle of the stage that rose up and opened it's "legs" as it rose at the beginning. Off to the right were either deformed hands with too many figures, or sea anenomes. I have no idea what the blobs to the left were. And of course, the alien drums. It actually looked like Alan White was sitting in the middle of a carnival ride - you know, the one that usually looks ether like a spider or an octopus, and has the cars that rotate around a lot?
All in all, quite good. And the seats were quite full. This was an arena, though admittedly they didn't seat people at the back 1/3 of the arena. But still - Yes has had trouble filling seats sometimes at smaller venues, so it was good to see this. Though it makes one wonder where these people were BEFORE. But oh well.
Oh, and one last gripe -
Not all Yes fans are gigantic. The main concert shirts only came in XL or XXL! Sigh. No mediums for me. I got a baby-doll T, but even it was a "large".
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