Yes
Vina Robles Amphitheatre,
Paso Robles, CA
July 6, 2013
Lineage: CA-14 (cardioids) > CA-9200 > GAKables mini starquad > Edirol R-09HR (@ 24bit/96kHz) > Audacity (fades, amplify, export as 16bit/44.1kHz) > CD Wave (track splits) > TLH (flac level 8)
Taper: klingklang
Location: section 203
Set One:
01. Firebird Suite
02. Close To The Edge
03. And You And I
04. Siberian Khatru
05. Going For The One
06. Turn Of The Century
07. Parallels
08. Wonderous Stories
09. Awaken
Set Two:
10. Yours Is No Disgrace
11. Clap
12. Starship Trooper
13. I've Seen All Good People
14. A Venture
15. Perpetual Change
encore
16. band introductions
17. Roundabout
Notes:
First show of the 2013 North American Summer tour and my 38th Yesshow. While I don't feel this show was better than the one I saw on the Spring 2013
leg, it was still highly enjoyable simply because I love the album format of this tour. As usual, Howe and Squire were in fine form and Davison seems
to continually strengthen in his role as the singer. Also, it was fantastic to hear "A Venture" fleshed out a bit at the end, allowing Downes a moment
to shine. White flubbed a few times in "CTTE" and once in "Awaken," but he was solid during the second set of TYA (although he looked exhausted after
the show and appeared to have some difficulty walking). And despite this show not selling that well, the band seemed genuinely touched by the very loud
and appreciative crowd--especially at the end of the night. I even saw a well worn ABWH shirt and one from the Fremont shows, so it was nice to see some
classic fashion among the hardcore. And yes, some joker shouted for "Big Generator" right before "PC." Oh, and despite the relative proximity, no Jon
Anderson sightings were made.
This was also the inaugural season and first proper show at this venue. I'm going to go off a bit about this place, so please indulge me. This county
is relatively barren when it comes to large music venues. While the university in San Luis Obispo has the Performing Arts Center, that venue is hardly
suitable for most (its seasons are usually populated by whatever touring musicals have past their prime, with one token rock act squeezed in to make it
look like the season is still breathing). In the case of Yes, they haven't performed in this area since their monumental three night stand in 1996 at
the Fremont. Since that time, I've actually expected them to perform at the local Native American casino or even the dreaded Mid-State Fair, but that
never happened.
Here enters the Vina Robles Amphitheatre. This venue is situated at a winery (where else?) of the same name and was approved a number of years ago.
For a place named after oaks, rather ironically, over a hundred oak trees were torn down to make room for this venue (in this area, that action is a
major no-no, but wineries seem to easily get the approval of City Council members to do such things). Then there was the day the 2013 season went on
sale. That moment resulted in a great deal of public criticism, namely because of the ticket fees. I don't think this area is used to--nor should it
be--the $15+ service charges, along with $3.50 for parking per ticket (and despite what the venue argued at the time, I don't feel that is a standard
practice). One characteristic that bugged me more than anything was when selecting non-center section seats, the seating allocation started you off
at the wall and then went towards the center (resulting in worse seats the sooner you buy them).
Visually, the seating layout is like a mini-Shoreline, while the stage looks like the Santa Barbara Bowl's sickly cousin. And while it's obvious a
lot of money was spent on the place, on the day of the Yesshow, I watched ushers write the seat numbers in chalk on the back of the floor seats and
write the row letters on the floor. The venue is supposed to replace the floor seats eventually, so I assume this is why they haven't bothered with
a more permanent method of numbering. Another 'joy' of the evening was having to smell the food cooking from the restaurant behind the lawn. It was
like being stuck next to a BBQ pit all night long. But after the show, I discovered that the worst thing about this venue is trying to exit the parking
lot. It took us an hour to get from our original parking spot to the street in front of the winery (something that took less than a minute on arrival).
And then, once on that street, the attempt to turn onto Highway 46--yes, that is the same Highway 46 for you James Dean fans--with no stoplight is
another exercise in futility.
Now for the two best things about this venue: the workers (the ushers and concession people were an extremely friendly bunch), and the sound (granted,
it was deafening for Yes, but it wasn't distorted). "CTTE" started off weird and wasn't helped by the fact that the bass overwhelmed everything; in
fact, if I didn't know what song it was, I would've been confused. Fortunately, that all cleared up after a few minutes and the mix improved, with
the exception of Downes (he was barely audible for most of the night). The only other major hiccup of the evening was during "Clap" when a hum
developed that caused Howe to semi-stop playing and look over to the monitor engineer.
On this evening, a painfully cold wind was blowing directly into my face and the wind unfortunately affected my recording (even though my mics have
windscreens, they just couldn't handle it). The worst of the wind is from "FS" through "AYAI," "TOTC, the quiet bit of "Awaken" and in "YIND." You
will still hear wind after "YIND," but it's not as bad.
The people to my right talked and screamed a lot, but they moved further away from me during "AYAI." You will still hear the man scream in a drunken
state practically after every song and sometimes during the songs (by "Clap," his screams turned into testimonials of his manlove for Howe). I'm just
thankful he was not directly next to me. He and his woman are heard loudly talking during the quiet mid-section of "CTTE," in "WS" and "Awaken."
Besides that, I had to contend with their constant comings and goings. The phasing you hear in "SK," "GFTO," "Parallels," "Awaken," "YIND," "ST" and
"ISAGP" was caused by them (and for stupid reasons like going down to the floor to take photos or to retrieve their phone that she dropped).
There is brief clapping along to "FS," "WS," "Awaken," "YIND" and a bit more in "Roundabout." There's loud chatter by some men during "SK" and lighter
background chatter during "TOTC," "Awaken," "A Venture" and "PC." A group of rude people laughed at the beginning of "TOTC" (which resulted in a look
from Howe) and there's some talking by a nearby usher in that same song. A guard also talks loudly during the middle bit of "Awaken." There is also
a sneeze in "SK" and coughing at the end of "Awaken," in "YIND," "ST," "ISAGP," "A Venture" and "PC."
I amplified this but did nothing else to the recording, so be sure to turn it up. And if burning to cd, the suggested split is between "WS" and "Awaken"
(this will require an overburn on the second disc). Alternatively, you could make one cd per album.
To those who feel the need to remaster, matrix or alter this recording/text file, I'd really appreciate it if you would go to the show and make your
own recording instead. :)
I took photos and have included a selection for your viewing pleasure. If you'd like to see more pics from the evening, please refer to my photo set
at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kling_klang/
Please support the band by buying their official releases and merch, and seeing them live if you can.
http://www.yesworld.com
http://www.facebook.com/yestheband
http://www.myspace.com/yesworld
http://www.twitter.com/yesofficial
Steve Howe - guitars, vocals
Chris Squire - bass, harmonica, vocals
Alan White - drums, percussion
Geoff Downes - keyboards, vocals
Jon Davison - vocals, keyboards, percussion, guitar
http://fp.io/md2m1dc1/
