So Cheeky and I went to see one of our favorite bands, Yes, at the Ohio State Fair. Now, the way the band sounded was top notch. Very good. The problem was, that for a band with such a great catalogue, the song choices were lacking. They played Sides one and four of Tales from Topographic Oceans and the entire Drama album which was fine, they sounded very good, but only played two familiar songs, Roundabout and Starship Troopers, during the encore. With so many other songs to choose from, we felt a little disappointed, despite the excellent musical quality of the band.
I feel sort of sorry for bands like Yes.
There will be people upset that they didn't play their favorite song, there will be people upset that they didn't play all the popular songs. There will be people upset because they didn't play anything new. Basically ... people will be upset at them no matter =what= they play.
Luckily, they are still making =LOTS= of money <chuckle>
In the sixties, Fragile was one of my favourite albums!
I spent a lot of time listening to that one Gypsy, but also several other albums of theirs <g>
Yes have been rotating though different albums in full over the past few tours, rather than do the same old greatest hits sets they've probably all got bored with. They've done The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge and Going for the one in the past couple of years.
They have been promoting this one as "Tales plus Drama" in advance.
I saw Yes "in the round" fifteen or so years ago. In a four hour concert, they brought on every member of the band had ever had over the years, on a round stage in the middle of the arena, so no matter where you sat you got to see everything at some point. They also played all their greatest stuff because they were highlighting the members who didn't play every time. It was a great time. I do love their music.
Sorry your experience was quite as good as it could have been. A fair is a tough place to see any band.
That was the "Union" tour, wasn't it?
Only got to see them once in the early 70s <sigh> It was ... I think ... in support of Fragile.
Yes, the Union tour was nine musicians in the round- it was an incredible concert. I have seen this band 5 times. I came to Yes in the 80s with 90125(rabin era) and discovered all that came before. Have loved them ever since. My most recent experience was just a couple years ago, with a Canadian at vocals due to Jon's health issues. (can't remember his name without looking it up)
One and only time I saw Yes was 2004, which was the last time the classic Anderson/Howe/Squire/Wakeman/White lineup toured together.
Interesting that Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin, who were never in Yes at the same time, are touring together.
And while we're talking Yes, Welsh band Magenta are worth checking out:
http://www.magenta-web.co.uk/
Tim,
Music has always been incestuous <g> One of the things I =love= about jazz and blues (more than seems to happen in the other genres) is the promiscuous 'cross pollination' of ad hoc team-ups <g> Look up Ray Brown or Pinetop Perkins to see how many 'other albums' they have played on. And there are a =LOT= more examples that I could offer <g>
Yep, know many, many musicians who are in three or four different bands at the same time. One bass player this weekend in Cambridge played with two different bands on Friday and Sunday, and drove back to Yotk on Saturday to play another gig with a third band.
what is with those 'musicians' that don't have any 'loyalty' <chuckle>
That's the reality of the world of small bands, especially when you get one or two semi-pro musicians playing with weekend bands.
But it's also true of Yes. Current keyboard player Geoff Downes is also still the band leader of Asia.
You know, it's not what they played that I had any problems with. What they played sounded great! Absolutely spot on and even if you didn't know a single song(I knew a couple from those albums... well, from Drama actually) just the concept of hearing good music played well is a reward. I DID enjoy the concert. My feeling though is that with so many songs that people are familiar with, why not extend the encore to five or six songs? They certainly have the catalogue.
Welll ... not to sound too crass ... but how often do you 'volunteer' to put in extra hours at work for free?
'Life on the Road' for a concert musician can be =brutal=. I can understand why they didn't want to spend all night every night on stage.
That's true, but I do the work that people want me to do, not the work I want to do. Going with the overtime argument then they SHOULD play what people want to hear rather than what they want to play. I DJ'd weddings and events for 18 years and I wouldn't have worked for long if I'd said don't worry folks, no requests, I'm just gonna play what I want, what you want to hear is irrelevant.
well- YES did announce that their tour this year (The Album Tour) would be Tales from Topographic Oceans 1&4 and Drama (plus more)- as per their website and tour promotion. So, it's not like they didn't warn people what they would be getting if they opted to attend their show.
as a band they get to decide what they will take on tour, and you as a patron can decide if you want to spend your money on what they plan to offer.
Capitalism at work.
if enough people feel that they want them to do the Jukebox Tour every time out and don't go to their concerts then the voice of consumer can change things, but if they sell out venues for what they are offering...
the difference in the DJ analogy (for events and weddings)is that you are hired by someone who contracts you ahead of time to play what they want to hear. Yes isn't contracted by it's audience... it offers an opportunity to see them, a venue is rented, and people are hired, but it is the band(and the people the rep the band) that is in charge of what is going to be offered.
You don't go to an Ohio State Game and demand they play Michigan every week... it doesn't work that way. They play other teams and sometimes you won't like who they play, and so maybe you won't go.
But if you like Ohio State enough, then maybe you will show up for every game no matter what because it is supporting the team that is more important.
Thanks PP ... nothing substantive I could add to that <g>
adding to my last thought-
also, what might be of importance is simply the experience itself. the band has a large catalogue and if they play the hits all the time, then other timeless treasures would never be heard from again- not because they aren't as good, just not as popular in a mainstream audience whose fanbase for their early art has aged considerably.
but a band like Yes has a deep catalogue spanning decades and even spanning styles of music thru the eras because that fanbase has a wide appreciation for them through the eras.
this is not their first tour in the album series either- earlier this year they did Drama and Fragile in the UK and Euro tour if I'm not mistaken.
and even if they did an encore to power out some hits- a Yes song can take 5 plus minutes and that plus can get quite long too... imagine saving 'Heart of the Sunrise' for the encore (11 minutes or so) or 'And You and I' (10 minutes)- don't even get me started with trying to fit 'Close to the Edge' into the encore.
Just saying...
Three of my favorite songs of all time.
I agree PP ... bands that have have been around for more than an 'album or two' will run into the problem of 'fans with their favorite'.
Well said PP!
And I love Heart of the Sunrise - lots of memories tied in with that one.
I may not be making myself understood. I'm not saying it was a bad show. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. The fact is, I enjoyed it greatly. I'm not even saying I didn't know they were going to be playing what they played. It was good stuff. I'm just saying, it would have been more enjoyable if there had been a bit more in the way of recognizable music. Toss us a couple more songs, Yours is No Disgrace or I've Seen All Good People. Even Owner of a Lonely Heart, which isn't even a song I like, just to give the audience a happy ending. I knew the songs from Drama and Liked them. But if someone bought tickets thinking they'd hear the radio hits, they would have walked out sorely disappointed.