I attended the New York City stop on the Yes 35th anniversary tour at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, May 13, 2004. I have no particular recollection of this Yes concert but unbelievably this will make 2024 the 55th anniversary; time waits for no one. I recently saw the Steve Howe version of Yes at the NYCB Theatre in Westbury which was sadly not sold out that evening. In the 70’s and early 80’s the diehard Yes fans among us would order our Yes tickets months in advance for the Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum shows with the anticipation building as the shows came closer. After the “Going for the One” tour, and the return of Rick Wakeman, the succeeding worldwide Yes treks were performed “in the round”, which was genius as each musician in the band was brilliant in his own right; while the stage revolved in center orchestra you could concentrate on an individual member’s performance and fully take in their individual contributions for a song or two.
Yes “ in the round” at Westbury was obviously not quite the same as the old days, and it was a stark reminder of how much time has passed since Yes had been in their heyday; thankfully the music has held up through the years and the current touring versions of the band can bring us back to the memories of those glory days.

Roundabout

Rock on!

GQ