YES - THE NEW DIRECTOR'S CUT

First of all, let it be known: Steve Howe is ON FIRE here. He deftly moves from one guitar to the next and nails his famous solos (nearly) flawlessly, all while attending to the audience and genuinely appearing to enjoy himself.

Other positives from this DVD: Great performances - these guys may be starting to look their age, but they still rock hard in their inimitable Yes style. Some different songs that you don't typically hear, and almost all are different ones than appeared on their "Songs From Tsongas" dvd from the same 35th anniversary tour. Interesting stories, backstage footage and snippets of info from the individual band members between the songs. Disc 2 begins with the best version of "Awaken" I've ever seen or heard. It is special. Great camera work and professionally done - we get close-ups of the performers from all different angles, and just enough of the audience to make you feel like you have a seat at the show. Rick Wakeman's bank of keyboards has gotten even bigger... (Is that possible?)

A few negatives: Audio was slightly out-of-sync in some spots, especially on disc 1. That's an annoyance. Drums were mixed very low at the start of the first concert. Sometimes the volume seems to dampen or compress a bit in spots.

The second disc contains the final 3 songs from the indoor show featured on the first disc, then segues into an outdoor show that has virtually the same song lineup in the exact same order. For that show, the camera angles are much more limited, there are a few distractions on stage with roadies moving and checking equipment, and there is some unknown (pretty) woman sitting behind Steve Howe and enjoying the music - another distraction for some of us... (The annoying audience member who insisted on waving his Pink Floyd flag through parts of the show was also a slight negative.)

But overall, you get great performances, excellent sound in most places (but certainly not perfect), and just an enjoyable couple of shows for the Yes fan. (...and aren't we all? ;-)