Yes Manchester Arena 19th June 2004
In 2004 Yes reverted back to the classic 1970s line-up of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White. They celebrated their rich musical legacy by going out on 35th anniversary arena tour, complete with a new massive OTT Roger Dean stage set. I feared that the massive 20,000 capacity Manchester Arena would be empty, as it was many years since Yes had performed in large venues in the UK. However, I needn’t have worried. Yes fans from all over the North turned out for the occasion, and although the upper tier of the arena was curtained off, the turn-out was impressive, with the lower tier and the floor area almost full. Marie and I went to Manchester for the weekend and had seats about half way back on the floor, with a great view of the stage. I was quite excited about seeing the classic band again, and with a big show.
This was Yes on full power, with a set which took us Right through their career, including going back to “Sweet Dreams” and “Your is no Disgrace”. The show was in two sets, the second set including acoustic versions of some of the classics. An excellent concert.
Set 1: The Firebird Suite (intro); Going for the One; Sweet Dreams; I’ve Seen All Good People; Mind Drive (Part 1); South Side of the Sky; Turn of the Century; Foot Prints; Mind Drive (Part 2); Yours Is No Disgrace
Set 2: The Meeting; Long Distance Runaround; Wonderous Stories; Time Is Time; Roundabout; Show Me (Steve Howe guitar solo); Owner of a Lonely Heart; Second Initial (Steve Howe solo); Rhythm of Love; And You and I; Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil)
Encore: Starship Trooper
I saw Yes on three further occassions; in 2009, 2011 and 2014. I have already blogged about those concerts; so this concludes my coverage of Yes. I am going to spend the next few days catching up on a few bands/gigs that I have overlooked, before completing “Y” (I have Paul Young to cover) and then moving on to the letter “Z”.
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