Yes

Kings Dock, Liverpool

Saturday 5 July 2003

One of the best concerts of all time from one of the best groups of all time, and to cap it all, it was the classic line up! Yes's style of progressive, classically inspired rock music is esoteric in the extreme, you either like it immensely, or you hate it with a vengeance. Strangely they carry the Mark Gut (of Poulton Le Fylde) “Seal of Approval” because they had the courage to release a single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart,” to test themselves against the white heat of competition in the Hit Parade, something that Led Zeppelin never had the courage to do. Not surprisingly though, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was not played at the concert, and the Gut Seal of Approval didn't extend as far as attending the concert. I had a number of reservations about this concert, not only was it the most expensive, but it is an imposition to have to go to Liverpool for it: to make it worse I ended up parking on the Queens Dock car park which made it seem like I was on a course. Those were my only complaints though because everything else was perfect. The fact that it was the classic line up says a lot, although I always preferred Bill Bruford on drums. I was worried about it being in a "big top,” but the sound quality was absolutely perfect and plenty loud enough, even for me. Had an excellent view too, even if a little side on. What probably surprised me more than anything else was that there was no support act, it was Yes all the way from 7:30 to 11:00, with a short break. Thus although very expensive, it was actually the best value concert I have seen. Massive self indulgence is often one of the many crimes hurled at Yes, but unlike Robert Plant, this was the type of self indulgence that the packed audience actually expected and paid for and they thoroughly lapped up the long instrumental solos from each group member, not to mention the gloriously long ten and twenty minute epic tracks. Not only the classic line up, but pretty much the classic song repertoire was played. There were a couple of new tracks which were excellent and the bulk of the rest came from the heyday of 1970 -72 and 77-78: in short, it was primarily the stuff when Rick Wakeman was in the group. Personally I would have liked to have seen just a bit more variety, especially the previously mentioned track, but to complain over something as trivial as this would be churlish in the extreme. I was quite amused by Jon Anderson's claim that Burnley would win the FA Cup within 10 years. It is this type of fanciful daydreaming that has made Yes so marvellous, perhaps it is also indicative that he isn't quite right in the head! Off on my drive home not getting in until a while after midnight, but it was well worth every pound spent and every mile travelled to see one of my all time favourite groups and I now have a double video of a Yes concert to remind me of it, although for some reason I haven't managed to finish it yet. (29.10.03)