Full Circle Tour

Sydney 2003

By Paul Rogers:

What a difference a day makes. After the mixed bag of Melbourne, Sydney turned out to be an absolute ripper. Prior to the show start I'd had to taxi across town to liberate two mates from the arms of "The Toxteth" so a little drama to start the night. That turned out ok though and we made our seats to catch the Sebastian Hardie set. An excellent one it was too. Well done Mario and the lads.

As they finished and folks headed to the restrooms and bar a buzz started circulating that the break would only be ten minutes. Needless to say, I bypassed the bar queues and returned promptly to my seat five rows from the front, centre stage.

From that vantage point the sound and sight was superb. We'd truly landed in a sweet spot.

As the firebird reached its conclusion Yes came onstage to a raptuous reception, proceeding to promptly tear the place down with a blistering performance of Siberian Khatru. Howe was literally incendiary. If his fingers wern't bleeding after that solo then they must be made of an asbestos and steel hybrid!

And so the set proceeded as Yes delivered every song in the set with a fire and velocity that I have never witnessed before (not that my Yes concert experience is vast, mind you. I've only seen five shows in total). Two and a half hours passed in an avalanche of emotions and experiences served up by five of the best in the business. The camaraderie they exhibited on stage extended itself warmly around the 6500 in attendance and we were there with them. A great feeling.

Any niggling doubts after last night in Melbourne evaporated as the band tore through the set with an almost obscene confidence.

Every song was a highlight: The reverence and intense, respectful quiet afforded to Howe whilst he performed To be over was tension extended to the extreme. Many folks chose to clap along to 'Clap', as you'd expect; Xena2 was in the audience, as was Steve Howes brother, Phillip (hey, didn't he film Yessongs?) and the chap at the soundboard confirmed that the show had been recorded. So....c'mon Yes Inc. Please release this show via Yesworld!

Another highlight that has to be mentioned was the absolutely stunning version of SSotS. Rick and Steves battle at the end was easily twice as long as any boot version I've heard from the 2002/Full Circle tour. Steve was leaping around like a jack rabbit firing salvos at Rick and vice versa. Both ended the dual with huge grins on their faces.

Rather than go back through the set and do a song by song analysis I'll just repeat what I said earlier. Every song was a highlight.

Backstage after the show was a whole different vibe to the the night before with happy smiling band members more than willing to chat and pose for shots. There's nothing like knowing you've done a good job.

There's also *nothing* like a Yesshow.