Yes: Live at Montreux 2003

Love this. Huge Yes fan, just went looking for live DVD's, found this. It's great. Reminds you just how unbelievably talented these guys were as a band with this line up.

I am happy to report that, for me, this mostly lives up to the hyperbolic enthusiasm of the other reviewers. More importantly, this show impressed me in ways I had not even been led to expect.I think there must be something special about Montreux as an event, with it's legacy of historic Jazz and Rock performers and performances, that inspires those honored to participate to perform at their very best.This was not the usual tired and goofy end-of-tour Yes that usually ends up on video. This was a very focused performance, with a lot of subtlety, precision and improvisation seemingly inspired and elevated by the spirit of jazz which infuses the setting.Don't expect the blistering rock of "Yessongs" or "Yesshows". For the first time in my memory, the live Yes most sonically resembled the Yes of "Fragile". A singular album in it's relatively light touch and rhythmic intricacy. If any Alan White doubters remain, they need only watch and hear this concert. White is a consummate drummer with a range of style and touch that encompasses that of even Bruford, and his dedication to a mostly acoustic kit has proven the better choice over the long run.Every band member was in top form, with the inevitable exception of some required vocal forgiveness which is inescapable at this late date. Even then, Jon's vocal performance on the new song "Show Me", without a lot of previous history to form specific expectations, was beautiful, and was far from his only shining moment in the show.I believe the night belonged to Steve Howe most of all. His brilliant solo interpretation of "To Be Over" proves that musicality and virtuosity need not conflict. He impressed technically, without seeming showy or hammy, because every effort was devoted to the music, rather than the musician. Throughout the evening, Steve maintained the perfect balance between hitting the licks we are programmed to crave, while providing enough improvisational creativity to make every song seem new again.Wakeman was no slouch in this regard either, disappointing only in his by-the-numbers solo set, which while flawlessly executed, did not carry the sense of vitality that was the hallmark of most of the evening's performances. His best solo set can be found on "An Evening of Yes Music Plus", which featured a solo piano take on "Madrigal" that I found myself wishing had been included in this show.This was perhaps my favorite "Whitefish" performance of all time, although the 9012Live CD version is a close contender. I would have to go back and check to see if they had ever previously included the beautiful extract from the seldom heard and under-rated "On The Silent Wings of Freedom" as part of "Whitefish". My only quibble is a rather abrupt and arbitrary transition back into "The Fish" at the end, especially when all of the other segues had been handled with much more subtlety. This was preceded by perhaps the most delicate and precise live performance of "Long Distance Runaround" heard to date.Instead of trying to out-do or re-create previous live performances, Yes somehow managed to play it all like they had just written it yesterday, and that is a refreshing and unexpected gift.

One of my fondest Yes memories is watching from the 14th row at Madison Square Garden circa 1977 (it was the Going For the One tour) as the band rocked out. And back then they truly were all about rock...albeit prog rock, but indeed it was about rock. Jon Anderson sang like an angel. Rick Wakeman returned to his rightful place in the band (replacing a fair Patrick Moraz) and hid behind long flowing blonde hair as he literally almost rocked his keyboards off the stage at one point. And Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White pumped out their intricate, precisely played melodies. All woven together to absolutely knock The Garden audience out of their seats...literally. Everyone stood on their seats throughout the whole show.Flash forward to 2003 where the boys are together for their first time at the Jazz Festival, and they shoot a DVD of their performance (that isn't released in the US until early 2007 for whatever reason). The guys sure have aged a bit from 1977 to 2003 (more than 25 years!!!), but certainly you'd never know it from listening to the musical performances. The setlist is in Amazon's product description, so I won't waste space cutting and pasting.The picture is crystal clear (recorded in high-def), and you have a choice between Dolby or DTS 5.1. The DVD quality lends a nice effect of being in the front row of the show instead of simply sitting in front of the TV.All that said, if you're a big Yes fan (or Yes-man), and you have to have every release that they put out, then by all means add Live at Montreux 2003 to your cart. But if you want a recent (better) Yes performance-DVD, I'd highly recommend the 2005 release of their 35th anniversary (2004) performance titled Songs From Tsongas  Yes - Songs from Tsongas - 35th Anniversary Concert  over Live at Montreux 2003.(Check out my 1/23/2006 review for Tsongas {that closely mirrors this one to the point of plagiarizing myself}, and click on my name above and see my Amazon Listmania List of The Best Rock DVDs With High Quality A/V.)

Don't get me wrong... I love this band and I am thankful that we have another DVD to capture the live Yes experience. The audio is great and it doesn't seem to be "touched up" in any way, although I only got to watch the first couple of songs last night before my kids took over the TV... If you are into close ups of Steve Howe's fingers (even during Rick's solo's), you've come to the right place. I couldn't even tell what Chris Squire was wearing until the third or fourth song. It seems like they had four cameras, with one permanently focused on each person but Chris, who is obviously the most dynamic performer of the bunch. Again, I am grateful for any recording of this band, but it's frustrating to have the camera focusing on Steve or Jon during keyboard or bass solo's. Any Yes fan knows that you need to be ready to watch Rick's fingers during the harpsichord part of Siberian Khatru, but the director (who was probably affiliated with the Jazz Festival or the original TV broadcast, not the band) seems a bit late on all of these types of parts. All in all, though, it's a great set list and a piece of history that every Yes fan should have.

I should preface this review with the unabashed admission that I am a die-hard Yes fan (as well as Pink Floyd, King Crimson, old Genesis, Tull. etc.). I was thoroughly impressed with the way all the band-members played in this concert, but I was disappointed by the production crew. Examine the production effort on this dvd and you will quickly appreciate the FANTASTIC technical clarity of the Yes Symphonic Live dvd from their concert in Amsterdam. Now THAT concert was well recorded both visually and sonically. If you don't have that one, then get it. I must confess (as the title of my review intimates) that I am a huge fan of Chris Squire, but he seems to be largely neglected in this dvd. It started to really make me mad and was detracting from the very very good performance that Yes was giving all of us. A session keyboardist named Tom Brislin got better coverage in the Yes Symphonic Live dvd than Chris Squire gets in this dvd. I think that they even turned down the gain on Chris' bass, because I had to listen more intently to hear him than I usually have to.I feel terrible not giving this dvd a 5 rating. They put on such a good show. Jon, Steve and Rick got really good coverage - I am now very familiar with Alan's back - but as I lamented earlier, where oh where is Chris Squire?

リージョン１なので日本のプレーヤーでは見られません。BESTメンバーによるコンサート悪いわけありません。「CLOSE TO THE EDGE」「LONLY HEART」をやっていない他はBESTな選曲です。

Fabulous sound and video quality. Excellent setlist! It's a perfect DVD for any Yes fan. The only thing better from a playing and "youthful" perspective is the old 1975 Yessongs DVD. But, the vid and audio quality on the old stuff isn't close to the 2003 Montreux offering. Personally, I'd get both!

リージョン１、４ゆえ日本国内向け２のプレーでは残念ながら見ることはできません。音もドルビーサラウンド５．１で文句なしです。モントルーシリーズは派手なステージの飾りつけなど一切ないですが、演奏自体は非常に丁寧かつアンダーソンの声も３５周年記念コンサートとは比較にならないほどよい状態です。シンフォニックライヴをもっていますが、やはりリックウェイクマンがいるＹＥＳが最高です！

Just a great show. The band are tight and really seem to enjoy playing. Sound was good on 5.1 surround.There could have been a little more of Chris though. I am a big Howe fan and the close ups of his finger style were entertaining. Jon's vocal are crisp, I wish he was still with them. If you are a fan of Yes especially from your youth then I would get this DVD. I had been watching it on Youtube for quite a while and decided it was time for real video !!!