My name is Taraleigh Weathers and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the band Yes. Let me explain:
With hearts in his eyes, a man bought tickets to a Yes concert 45 years ago hoping his love interest would attend the concert with him. He just started dating this woman and boldly asked her to join him at the concert that was happening months from the time of his big ask. Freaked out that this man she just met was planning their future together already, she said yes anyway. After the show, she decided that she liked this man a lot. So much in fact that she’s been happily married to him for 44 years, they have two beautiful daughters and three grandchildren. Those love birds were my parents and the concert they went to was Yes. On September 30, 2017 I sent them (Joe and Renee) to see the band again. Here are their thoughts:
Flashback to February 26, 1972, Google isn’t a word, Amazon is a fierce woman warrior, we used rotary phones, the internet didn’t exist, we used encyclopedias and we had a President who was detested by many. Fast forward to September 30, 2017 and we use Google every day, Amazon is our favorite shopping site, the internet is part of our daily lives, we all carry smart phones and we have a President who is detested by many. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
What do these two dates over 45 years apart have in common and what are the differences? A key difference, of course, was that in 1972 tickets to the concert were about three dollars and today they cost about 90. On both dates, we had the pleasure and great experience of seeing and hearing the iconic rock band Yes. Both the lead singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist extraordinaire Rick Wakeman were on stage for both concerts. Jon is one of the founders of Yes and Rick was on board for many of the iterations of Yes over the years. Trevor Rabin was not in the original lineup but performed with Yes many times from 1982 to 1995.
Yes has stayed true to its roots with long and classically structured songs. Their music was not aimed at the two to three minute commercial hit songs played on the radio at that time. In fact, their concerts that last over two hours included 10 songs during the 1972 concert and 12 songs in 2017. One notable song performed at both concerts was Roundabout. The rest of the set list was made up of different, but still memorable Yes songs. Many of the songs performed in 2017 were not yet recorded in1972 since Yes was destined to have a long and illustrious career. In 1972, the band were rock stars, but in 2017 Yes is a rock legend with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
When you close your eyes in 2017 and just take in the music, you feel like you are transported back to 1972 with Jon’s hauntingly beautiful vocals and Rick’s amazing keyboard and synthesizer work. We would also be remiss if we didn’t mention Trevor’s incredible guitar licks. When you open your eyes, you are impressed with their youthful exuberance and yes, they still have their hair. With eyes wide open, you also couldn’t help but be impressed with their light-show which was an integral part of their performance then and now.
There is also one major difference between the 1972 and 2017 concerts. The 1972 concert was the first concert date of Renee and Joe (authors of this review). Renee stuck with Joe because still buys great concert tickets to this day and without this first Yes concert, they wouldn’t be celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary next year. If Yes had not helped, there would not be two talented daughters who have made their mark on the world as well as several wonderful grandchildren. So thank you Yes for your making beautiful music and having such an important impact on our past, present, and future.
Hi! It’s Taraleigh again. Thank you Yes for being the catalyst for my existence. I think it’s super cool that 45 years later, my dad is still buying my mom concert tickets way in advance.
This is my parent’s first appearance in the HuffPost. Congratulations Renee and Joe!!!!
The magic in me sees the magic in you,