UNION - LIVE

....Well yeah, I might jump to the stage to express my gratitude having seen the band plays live with almost all who have ever played in Yes except Patrick Moraz (keyboards on Relayer album and some works in Going For The One album), Peter Banks (guitar on early days of Yes), Trevor Horn (vocals on Drama album - 1980) and Geoffrey Downes (keyboards on Drama album - 1980), Igor Korochev (keyboard - Open Your Eyes).. I can see the rationale of not bringing every ex members on stage as it's too many and it might commercially not viable as they have to divide the revenues with so many people. But the idea of bringing most of them is really brilliant and it creates powerful nuance to the crowd who were there in the concert and also for me personally as one of the DVD viewers.

The moment is about right for me as I've just seen the band played live in Jakarta last month on 24 April 2012 at The Ritz Carlton Hotel Ballroom, Jakarta, Indonesia. The lineup was Jon Davison (Glass Hammer), Chris, Alan, Steve and Geoff. It was a great show despite Geoff's inability to perform inventive licks usually performed by Rick. But overall it was excellent and I could not see the significant difference with the one I watched in 2003 with ideal line-up (including Jon and Rick) in Singapore. As the mood was really Yes, I started to make countdown from 35 days before the concert date with a series of articles and reviews about Yes in my personal blog. In the middle of that mood I found this DVD from amazon - the place I used to order CDs, books and DVDs. I clicked this one and Peter Gabriel's New Blood live in London which I did not have a chance to see the DVD yet. This morning I had a chance to see this Union DVD and I was amazed by the concert filmed from 8 Aug 1991 Mountain View show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre.

I can not explain how I felt when I started to play the DVD as I was so happy beforehand knowing the eight members play together in a single concert. It starts wonderfully with their classic Yours Is No Disgrace with all eight members on one single stage. Right before watching the DVD, I thought the eight members would not play together. They would only play based on the song being performed - if it's in the era of Trevor, then he would play his part. And in fact it's not - they all share the same stage regardless what song being played with some exceptions. During this opening track Trevor Rabin play guitar at the first part of the song. But in the middle of the song, there is a wonderful guitar solo parts played by Howe at the first part and followed by Rabin. These two gentlemen play really well on each individual role. Their style is different but I really enjoy the solo parts. Trevor plays more rockin' guitar style while Steve is typical classical / flamenco influenced style.

On the Rhythm of Love there is great guitar solo by Rabin followed with Rick solo. This is something I did not predict to happen as Rick was not involved in the studio version of this song. Right after the song finished Jon takes the microphone saying "Wake up and dream! This is something we remembered ...something we forgot .." and the music enters with Heart of The Sunrise. Wow! It's a cool opening speech followed beautifully with nice music passages. The Chris Squire bass guitar solo at the beginning of the song is really amazing and I do enjoy watching his stage act. He once stopped playing his bass guitar and let the keyboard at the back played and he continued excellently. It's really an enjoyment part for me to see long bass guitar solo at the beginning of this legendary song.

Jon then introduced Steve to play guitar solo using his acoustic classical guitar. As usual, Steve guitar solo has always been fascinating especially looking at how his fingers dance dynamically at the guitar strings. He played the energetic The Clap from The Yes Album and Mood For a Day from Fragile album. On the Owner of A Lonely Heart there were no Bruford at the beginning of the song. It's because Steve needed to take a rest at the backstage after performing such a great solo. What really surprise me is the fact that Rick played his solo and he did it while walking to the crowd at the front row. Wow! At the end of the song, Bruford rejoined the band.

Jon was then communicating with the audience saying that the band had been on the road for 12 months and this performance was their last. He specifically asked the crowd to sing along when the band then played I've Seen All Good People. Right after that Jon introduced the brief history of a young boy who wanted to be a rock'n'roll guitar player. While Jon was introducing the young boy, Chris served a stool to be seated by that young boy whom Jon finally said ..."This is rock and roll guitar genius ....Mr Trevor Rabin ....". I have never seen Trevor played guitar and this is the first time I watch him playing acoustic guitar solo. It's an excellent solo and it differs from Steve's style. He played Solly's Beard with his style partly influenced by Al Di Meola, I think.

Now is Chris' turn to play bass guitar solo and he performed it really well through White Fish as well as part of Tempus Fugit. His combined work with Alan White on this bass guitar solo is really nice. Jon then introduced Rick to play solo. As usual, Rick's keyboard solo always captivating and I do enjoy with his style. He played excerpts from his legendary albums Six Wives and Arthur. It's really great! Trevor Rabin jumped into the stage while Rick played his solo to insert some guitar part.

Awaken

For some reasons, Awaken has been one of favorite tracks from Yes as it has great melody and composition including the wonderful keyboard solo at the end of the track. I have always loved Yes live records when Awaken is included in the setlist. It's not about Rick who played it but in fact I also enjoyed when Igor Korochev played this track in Yes Live at The House of Blues. Right here, Awakanen was being played excellently, flawless with great contributions from all members of the band. I really enjoy Ricks' keyboard solo at the ending part combined with Jon's triangle work.

The ritual encore part is Roundabout. This track has never been left out in any performance of Yes - or may be most performance of Yes. Overall, I am very satisfied with this DVD despite the picture quality as well as audio quality are not that superb - but it's OK to satisfy the hi-fi requirements or standard. For those who love Yes, this is the DVD that do not split the band between Howe and Rabin era as both of them are OK and you would not have a chance to think about it as this DVD is really excellent. It's a four stars PLUS as far as rating. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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