Part of being addicted to Rock and Roll is the constant checking of newspapers and listening to radio for their “surprise” announcements of shows or ticket information. In the late seventies, before the Internet, local radio was usually the best way to get ahead of the crowd concerning concert information. I had two friends, David and Eric, who were very up to date on that stuff and kept most of us informed. These two guys were a couple of years older than me, and by the time I was a junior they had both graduated, but remained my live music buddies of choice. Eric was always calling radio D.J.’s to find out the scoops, the stuff they couldn’t say over the air yet because it was unconfirmed. I remember a Bad Company concert in Dallas in 1977 that David had gotten 3 tickets for, one for me and the other two for him and a girlfriend. When the girl canceled, we convinced our friend Kevin to lie to his parents, telling them he was going to work then going to the show with us. So the three of us went.

On the drive to Dallas we consumed an alcoholic beverage known as malt duck, being underage, we had discovered this concoction in a Fort Worth convenience store that wasn’t all too careful about checking I.D.’s. When we get to our seats we find some other drunk high school kids had already thrown up on the floor below our seats. So we moved to the obstructed view section behind the stage. David said it was also the “smoking section” as the cops rarely ventured there. I do not remember who the opening act was, I do recall they were greeted with loud boos after their pitiful 30 minute set. Bad Company was from England, they were not the David Bowie style glam rockers, their stage show was very plain, a little smoke, some very good laser lights, no props - no gimmicks. They gave an incredible performance. Their popular tunes “Smoking Gun” and “Bad Company” were played totally unlike the album version with long guitar solos and great vocalizing. In retrospect, those guys played one of my favorite concerts of the seventies.

One of my most disappointing concert experiences of the seventies occurred a few weeks later in Dallas’ Moody Coliseum. The Rolling Stones announced a surprise show over the famous KZEW radio station, with tickets to go on sale just two hours after they announced. A few of my friends were at work with me starting to open up a restaurant and we decided to send a delegation to buy tickets. They got four tickets after a huge mess at the Rainbow Ticketmaster central location in Dallas during which some people were thrown out of the plate glass window from outside the ticket office. This event made the evening news and riled up parents and teachers, beginning one of those periods where the educators and politicians in our small town were talking about the evils of rock and roll. Exactly what Mick Jagger and company would have wanted, free publicity. The show sucked. Maybe my expectations were too high, or Keith Richard and Mick Jones were too high, but the whole show just sucked. The sound was awful, we were tucked into these seats about 90 degrees from the stage against a mini concrete wall with a woman usher who wouldn’t let us stand up and dance or clap! At that time there were plenty of ushers who took their job too far. I remember Jagger tripping over some cables as he sashayed across the stage and screaming at the monitor guy after the song. It was a long time before I respected the Stones after that experience.

Right on the heels of that event was my first super high quality musical performance in a large venue. It was 1978, YES was touring the world performing to sold out arenas “In the Round.” This tour included famous rock composer Rick Wakeman on keyboards. YES was already a supergroup from the U.K. with the 1972 release Fragile and 1973 release Close to the Edge consistently played by the album rock stations. A couple of years later (1982) a guy at my college described early YES as “head music,” meaning it was esoteric and not gutsy enough for him. This was the early version of YES music, before 90125, Trevor Rabin and all that. The lineup for this tour was: Jon Anderson, vocals; Steve Howe, guitars (about ten different ones); Chris Squire, bass; Alan White, drums; and Wakeman on keys.

Eric put himself in charge of ticket procuring and distribution. I think he had 12 tickets obtained through different sources. In those days, being a high school student I couldn’t always afford tickets when they went up for sale. So I had to put my name on two tickets with a promise to pay Eric as soon as I could. I hereby acknowledge the impact on my music fanaticism Eric had; this was not to be the only time he bought tickets for our group and waited patiently to be paid back. After a few weeks I got my money together and my friend Brice said he would buy the other one. Brice was one of my most respected music loving friends because his mom let him grow long hair and put up Rock Posters in his room. I guess life is kind of simple in high school. I remember weeks of playing the YES album, Fragile and Close to the Edge over and over in the 8-track player of my Datsun B-210 hatchback in anticipation. Preparations for show night were carefully made, the pre- and post-show parties planned, including ‘Electric Punch” with grain alcohol as a base. Of course, the party and origination point of the evening was Eric’s apartment.

Since the show was in the round, there wasn’t really a front row, it was more like a dozen front rows as the stage revolved. Our seats were in the front row of a side section just one step off the floor with the stage about twenty feet from us! This was the first rock concert I had been to where there was no opening act due to the intricacies of the revolving stage. The sound was also in the round, I believe they advertised it as quadraphonic sound similar to Pink Floyd. The show was absolutely incredible! Chris Squire was in command of the low end from step one, with Wakeman playing low-end organ notes to match his tones and higher notes on his synthesizers in tight synchronous melodies with Howe and White. In 1978 Jon Anderson’s vocals were right on the money, he sang those high notes perfectly, executing every one with drill team precision. Of course they played “Fragile,” “Close to the Edge,” “All Good People,” “Roundabout,” “Starship Trooper,” and many other lesser known songs. They also played some new music from Tormato, their 1978 album release. One of the tunes called “Save the Whales” was so moving that I was plastered to my seat; Wakeman played synthesized versions of whale calls from the keyboards. This was years before digital sampling techniques allowed for easy re-creation of soundscapes.

They played a couple of other tunes from Tormato and the rest were from the early albums. Near the end they played “Starship Trooper” and “Yours is No Disgrace” so mightily and with such longevity. I think Starship Trooper was twice as long as the album version from Yessongs. Jon Anderson had this really tiny voice when he introduced the songs, and he was the only one who spoke to the audience the entire show. Squire and Wakeman wore their wild Englishman outfits, Squire with a white tuxedo and tails look, complete with top hat, and Wakeman wore some kind of wild flowing cape that was almost scary. The round stage was set up with three tiers, like a large three-tiered cake. Alan White’s drum kit was in the center on the top ring, Anderson had the second tier with his guitars and room to move around, and the third tier had the keyboards, basses, and guitars. Steve Howe had so many guitars on stage you could barely count them. Squire only played one guitar that I remember, but he jumped around the stage like a madman and his playing was phenomenal. In many years of watching and listening to bass players, Chris Squire is one of my favorites and his playing from the “In the Round” tour is indelibly stamped in my aural memory banks.

The experience of watching the show with a dozen or so of my best friends was so wonderful. We all helped in preparing for the partying, and traveled in four cars, caravan style. Each of us were really up for the event, and I remember several bosses fibbed to and shifts switched with friends to enable us to GO TO THE SHOW BABY. When we got into the arena and found how great our seats were it was a pleasant bonus. My friend Brice was prepared with so many different types of party paraphernalia, somehow managing to conceal them from the rather zealous security guards, he became the darling of the crowd around us. Needless to say, fun was had by all and many of us were glad we didn’t have to drive home!

John Anderson’s vocal stylings, Chris Squire’s serpent like bass lines and Steve Howe’s multi guitar playing were of such high caliber, it was the most stimulating live show I had seen at that point of my concert going. YES was probably at the peak of their collaborative powers during this “In the Round” tour which covered several countries over a two year time frame. Many years later I found a bootleg vinyl copy of the 1978 tour from the L.A. Coliseum. It is one of the only vinyl boots I ever bought that really helped re-create the moment. Their playing has this driving intensity which showcases the songwriting mastery of Wakeman and Anderson while making it all seem so effortless. They performed these tunes as if it were easy, just an extension of their musical personas; when in reality it was five immense talents, with egos so huge their unique blend of talents would only last about 10 years. Reports of Anderson and Howe disagreeing over many elements of the “In the Round Tour” seem to have more temerity with hindsight, as this line-up disintegrated in 1981.

The technical aspects to this tour must have been daunting for those that worked the tour. For those of us who experienced it, there was an element of perfection. The combination of the exquisite “surround sound” and the incredible light show made this one of the most high impact shows I have ever seen, I still rank it in my top 20.

My passion for live music was being fueled by this experience and many others during 1978. My own personal music playing was taking on new forms by winning awards in jazz ensemble for trumpet plating and learning musical composition from the band teachers. Because of jazz class I was able to see Stan Kenton’s orchestra, George Benson, Lew Tabakin, and Maynard Ferguson in Denton Texas, home to the world-reknowned North Texas State University Lab bands. The devotion to Rock and Roll continued that spring with shows from Judas Priest, Jethro Tull and U.K, Ted Nugent, Steve Miller, Rush, Boston (on their debut album tour; which sucked). One of the highlights of that year was a little-known dude from New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen. That experience will be the subject of the next version of Number One Fanzine’s Making of a Fanatic.