AN EVENING OF YES MUSIC PLUS (DVD)

the concert opens with a few words from Jon, then he wanders through the crowd doing pseudo-unplugged sing-a-longs of 'Time and a Word', 'Owner of a lonely heart' and 'Teakbois'. All very nice.. There then follows some typical yes solos from Steve and Rick, and the band fall in together with 'Long Distance Runaround' (shying away from 'The Fish', understandably!).

There follows a long line of old and new from classic Yes and ABWH. There is little variation or reworking from the originals, which is true to form. I find this sometimes a little irritating, I love to hear new music derived from the old, but there we go - I still enjoyed it!

The quality of the playing is exceptional, as one would expect, and Jeff Berlin holds his own on the bass. He does vary in places from Squire, which is refreshing. Apparently he learnt the whole set in just 3 days, and performs flawlessly, which is a tribute to his talent and professionalism. He is kept pretty much in the sahdows tho' along with the other session players. The overall sound is of the period, the quality of reproduction is excellent, but (as I found at the gig I went to), there wasn't a huge amount of actual body to the sound. The late 80's/early 90's seemed to either be too loud and boomy, or too digital and having no character. This tour, and consequently recording, falls into the latter. There is little presence, unlike the Yessongs concert which is full of vibrancy.

The quality of the filming is good, but with some questionable editting. The concert was filmed for TV, rather than as an entity in itself. As a consequence it may be that it was produced by those who weren't fully experienced in the medium. There are some sudden zooms which are very reminiscent of bad psycedelic era films, and some odd angles. For the most part tho', it is acceptable, the band can be seen, and the reaction of the audience is there.

There was something about this tour tho', and seeing the video confirmed that it wasn't just in London. There wasn't much of a sense of intimacy, despite Jon's walking through the crowd, and the attempts at banter between songs didn't really draw one in. It was one of those gigs where leaving the houselights up might have made you feel more part of it all. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed both the gig, and the video; but there was something lacking - the sound lacks punch, the lights lacked imagination, the set was very bare and this seems to translate into the whole atmosphere. It was as if the heart has been sucked out. I would have hoped that playing together again after so many years might have produced something more, but later finding out that Bill was essentially a session player who's name appears on the main roster, and that Rick's appearance in the project was similar does lean toward why this was the case a little.

I saw the Union tour a couple of years later, and altho' it was a bit of a circus, the atmosphere was much better, and there seemed to be more of a meeting between band and crowd.

I'll give this three stars, it IS good, but isn't essential. The essence of the night was captured rather too well, and highlights a flaw in the tour; but it is well worth watching to see them all together and have a sing along. As an aside, I would suggest hearing the CD/s which accompanied the video (there was a single and double CD release) which being stripped of the visual does give a different impression of the gig, altho' he problem of characterless sound still persists.

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