They were selling out stadiums in the 70's playing this music. Impossible 50 years later. Among the best bands of all time.

1965-1975 a decade of music that will probably never be surpassed.

Can we take a moment to appreciate how Jon Anderson's voice sounds similar to the record version? His voice is really one of a kind.

Chris Squire is my favorite bass hero. Got to meet him at a hotel bar after a show...super nice fellow and very down to earth. RIP Chris.

Chris Squire's SO impressive with the backup vocals + intense bass parts! What a talent! R.I.P.

1975: when Yes could legitimately lay claim to being one of the very best live musical groups on the planet.

Yes was my very first concert at the age of 15, now I,m 64 and still in awe of the talent that I grew up with!! I'm truly blessed!! ❤ ❤❤

These guys were absolute alchemists of tone, rhythm and lyrics. In other words Musicians.

This show, or the San Francisco Performance of this tour, was the very first rock concert I attended in my life. I was 12 years old at the time. I knew Close To The Edge by Heart at that point because my older sister had the album from when it was first released and we both listened to it every single day for what must have been two years. But of the rest of YES I knew almost nothing. I attended the show with my cousin and his mother, my Aunt. She was given the tickets by friends who could not use them. So she took my cousin, 13 at the time, and me. I was the one who begged to go when I heard the tickets wee available. The show was at at the Cow Palace & the opening act was Ace. I remember standing in the parking lot when security personnel opened a gap in the line. A limousine sped across the parking lot, through the gap in the line right in front of us, and quickly disappeared into a tunnel. We caught a glimpse of several guys with long hair in the back seat. My aunt remarked "Gee, they look just as scrawny and unkempt as the rest of these kids here." My closest encounter with YES and that remark from my Aunt are forever etched into my memory as a rather poorly matched set. When YES came on, they opened with Close to the Edge. There was a huge crystal ball above the stage that rotated. spotlights around the perimeter of the arena shone into it as it spun through the opening sequence, which filled the arena with fragments of dancing light. I was enthralled, but my cousin & Aunt thought it was just noise! Reluctantly I allowed then to yank me out about halfway through the show. I am to this day both disappointed I did not get to see the entire show and grateful for what I did see. For several years, more than I care to admit, I was baffled. The keyboard player had dark hair. How could that be? Rick Wakeman was easily identified by his long blonde hair. I couldn't figure it out because I had my years mixed up. I thought we had gone to the show in 74. It was not for many years that my cousin mentioned it was 75, not74 that we saw Yes.. Then it all clicked into place. I witnessed the Relayer Tour. Patrick Moraz would have been at the keyboard. Funny the things a kids mind turns into memories in a 50 some year old man over the years. I subsequently saw the band perform numerous times and with numerous line-ups. But what stayed with me from the early show was not so much the shredding that Steve Howe invented right there on stage & for which he gets little credit. What stayed with e was the imposing figure in the boots. I knew that was the man who made the bass sound unlike anything else I had ever heard, but with those boots and that Rick, he was much larger than life up there on that stage while I was down on the floor below. He was almost frightening. He looked so serious. I will never forget the moment I saw him walk on stage and begin ascending the scale up the neck while on stage right, Howe was shredding away. Many decades and many Yes Shows came and went and came around again, more than I can remember. That imposing figure in the boots was omnipresent, regardless of whoever else may have been on the stage. But he became a gentle giant in my mind. As a player, he was always my idol, and when I went to the concerts, he was the one I watched the most. And it was about 30 years and untold many shows later that I realized when he was onstage, He had a huge smile that rarely left his face. Even while performing the same songs, over and over again (think about how many times he must have played "Yours is No Disgrace) it became apparent to me every time he performed, he was having the time of his life. He never missed a single one. And he was the best at what he did. Thank You Yes, for a lifetime of music. And in particular, thank you Chris Squire for being the absolute best &always being there with a smile that told the audience you were there completely for them. Every time without fail for 40 years. We love you and will miss you. I hope you enjoyed this reminiscence and tribute to an icon. If you did, I am glad. If you did not, how come you read it all the way to the end? :-)

Imagine, live your 20's in the 70's....what a time to be alive

The most technically brilliant guitarist of all time

I'm a huge fan of Yes but let's also appreciate Roger Dean, the artist behind the albums and the sculptures for this concert.

Incredibly sophisticated, yet beautifully simple on the ears. I'm not sure we fully understood the talent that was Yes during this period. Only with time can we have the perspective to truly appreciate the music that they made. So glad to grow up listening to Fragile and Close to the Edge. Amazing.

The thing most younger people will never realize about Steve Howe is that he won Best Overall Guitarist like 7 or 8 years in a row, back when Guitar Player Magazine mattered and that title actually meant something. Yet somehow, he got left off of Rolling Stone's 100 most influential guitarists list (along with Eric Johnson and Neal Schon, among others). Nice job Rolling Stone. You are truly a rag and always were. Thanks for the video. Sweet stuff!

One can “spot” Jon Anderson’s singing a mile away. So unique.

Imagine being 16 in a room with blacklight posters of trippy scenes, having a little smoke with your friends and listening to this. I am fortunate to not have to imagine; only remember.

Close to the Edge is musical perfection

It's almost impossible that any band today could have an audience that big playing a 20 minute long song.

Can anyone else love this song as much as I do

Two years appart we lost Chris Squire John Wetton Greg Lake 3 bass players we won't forget. RIP.

Steve Howe’s opening volley of this song is just mesmerizing! He OWNS the entire neck of this guitar. Most guitarists would never venture that many frets up the neck yet Howe spend minutes there and is very comfortable.

You notice that the stadium is freaking full. Yes was selling out stadiums back then. Hard to believe these days, when music this adventurous and complex doesn't exactly reach huge crowds. I was fortunate enough to see Yes live during this exact tour, at Anaheim stadium in Southern California. A mind-blowing experience, to say the least. Yes re-arranged the circuitry of my brain on that summer night. In the best possible way.

This tour was my first blessing of Yes live, July 19 1975. It was Yes's 83rd stop on a 88 city tour. They were so impressive I saw Chris Squire and Yes the greatest show on earth 35 more times over the next forty yrs.

I don't care what anyone else thinks: This song is hands down the Signature Masterpiece of YES. Awaken, while superb, is a far second in my book.

I grew up listening to Yes. THE most brilliant band in the universe as far as I am concerned even to this day. NO ONE has ever come close to the song writing and musicianship they possessed. When you listen to them they take you away to another place, its hard to explain.

Can anyone imagine today a crowd like this of 150.000 people or more listening so peacefully to any kind of music like these people do?

I was 14 and completely mesmerized by Jon Anderson’s voice and the epic instrumentals of Yes. 🤤❤️

I could not afford a ticket to a concert. So, all of these great concerts are available to watch today' and I watch them every night.

I've listened to this album thousands of times over the years Still makes my spine tingle Thanks to the entire Yes crew for providing so much pleasure for so many people over so many years

What's fascinating about Howe's playing is that he gives the impression of always being "on the edge". A feeling of emergency. A matter of life and death.

A band with this level of creative genius only comes around once in a lifetime. We'll never see these types of musicians again.

Imagine learning and performing a piece of music like that from memory.. stunning to hear it again after being a huge YES fan in my teens.

I get the feeling that Wakeman is more strict with his timings than the more jazz-oriented Moraz. When you already have one player who is very "liberal" with his timings (Howe), that can be damaging to the overall groove. The same piece on Yessongs is much tighter, IMO

When "Yes appeared with Black Sabbath" at a concert in March of 1972, I was mainly there to see the headliners which was Black Sabbath. After Sabbath finished their set of songs the encore chants we're for more Yes. My friends and I agreed...that Yes stole the show in every way. They were phenomenal!

One of my favs in the 70’s and I’m 69 now and we grew up with the best music EVER❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏🎸🎸🎸🎼🎼

“Thank you. Hope you’re enjoying yourself, Yes?!” Jon says at the conclusion of CTTE while he straps on a guitar and gets ready for the next masterpiece. Yes, Jon, we are still enjoying ourselves listening and watching YES from many years ago. Thank all of you in the many incarnations of YES for creating such fabulous music that will last forever and ever. 🙏💕

frankly I'm always seriously impressed they could play their whole album list live, with all the incredible cross-rhythmic and moving-part structure of their songs

Steve Howe is a guitar God.

Isn't this music just incredible. I seen them when I was 14. I am now 58. Still love them. Probably been to 6-7 shows. Genesis, Yes Jethro Tull Moodie Blues. Seen them all plus more. This music was so complex, so intense. It had life. What happened. You'll NEVER outdo this generation of music. I was blessed to be born in the 60s. Thanks mom and dad.

Every performance of Yes always prove that Steve Howe is the nucleus of their sounds.

Just so dynamic... a song of epic proportions...... if there was a song that truly defines Yes it is definitely "Close To The Edge"....

Yes, the best progressive rock band of all times, is my opinion...........................................

First saw YES in 1972 . I'm 70 now and YES is still one of my all time favorites.i can Remember telling a friend of mine at the time that YES WAS the tightest band I had ever heard

It is amazing to see the level of musicianship by Yes and other bands of this era. Is there any groups creating music on this level today? Deep jazz influences, symphonic qualities, complex compositions. Wow.

I watch Chris Squire in total awe.

Somehow I knew even as a young teenager that 40 years later I'd still be listening to this with great enthusiasm.

That angular sense of melody, that firey and dynamic picking attack just about to go off the rails, but always miraculously stays on, and that overdrive bell-chime tone delivered with a frenzy of talent. Steve Howe is truly a maestro.

Steve Howe was tearing it up! He was the drive in this band early on... So very, very glad I got to see them In the Round on the Tormato tour in Atlanta in 1978...a HUGE band off my bucket list...Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White...one of the top 10 bands in the history of rock!

Jon Anderson an instrument in himself .

Whenever I listen to this, I feel like this is the quintessential prog rock masterpiece.

4:45 - So cool to see Chris featured as the vocals begin - his high harmonies of course were so integral to the YES tapestry of sound, but always worth noting just how perfect pitch, rock steady, and sustained his high notes were always performed. Of all the youtube videos I've seen of Yes across so many periods and decades, I never once heard anything less than superb from Chris vocally throughout those complex harmonies. As casual and flamboyant he could be while playing those awesome power basslines, I'll go out on a limb to say his perfect harmonies are equal in stature to that bass sound he's renown for. No one in the current lineup comes close.

I’m currently 21 and this is truly one of my favorite albums, this keeps getting better every time I listen to it, it is simply amazing, really wish I had been there…

Masterpiece then.....masterpiece now. Songs are rarely this epic in any era.

My first Yes concert was 77 with the Going for the One tour. Was always a big fan and finally got to see them. These guys and Genesis are 2 of the best prog of all time. One of the best songs I've ever heard live. RIP Chris. Now you are a fish out of water.

SO far ahead of their time....and Steve Howe, Mother-of-God! that first 3 and half minutes! other-worldly level of playing.

The beauty of Yes is that they were unapologetically NON commercial, unique and so creative.I listened to Close to the Edge driving to work the other day and it brought me to tears. I saw YES super early on an american tour at Gaelic park in the Bronx NY.the line-up was , in this order,YES, Humble Pie, and Mountain.I was @14.Yes was unreal! Scot Muni( famous WNEW NY dj )was the m.c. and he said " I guess we know where this band is headed." He was blown away, as was the crowd.Before Close to the Edge.The memory and chill from hearing" Ive seen all good people" live on that summer eve. is a classic concert memory that is priceless.

Seasons will pass you by. They always have and they always will. RIP CHRIS SQUIRE. THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC AND YOUR GENIUS. YOU TRANSFORMED MY LIFE AND MY HEART.

Jon Anderson's vocals never seem to falter, even to this day. What a miraculous voice

I saw them in June 1976 in Philadelphia, Pa. At JFK Stadium with Peter Frampton and Gary Wright at an all day concert event. It was my first concert as I was 14 and just getting into music and the Yes Album was the first album I ever bought. I believe they said that there was close to 130,000 people in that stadium that day and it was a long hot day but I hung tough to the end where YES played their final two songs, Roundabout and a song by the Beatles called, I'm Down and both songs were awesome and Patrick Moraz was playing the keyboards so I'm thinking it was this tour with Close to the Edge. I wish I was a little bit older to really appreciate it so much more but I try not to complain about anything anymore and just enjoy life as much as I can. A great band who I went on to go see four or five more times but all of those shows were indoors. I apologise for rambling on but I thought someone might enjoy that little bit of Yes history, peace !

Close To The Edge is a Masterpiece ! I saw this at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia June 12th 1976 ..... unforgettable ....

Watching Chris here reminds me why I'm a bass player

I read some comments below and I wonder how someone can even mither about Steve's playing. I play guitar myself for over 40 years and not so bad but I still today have really problems just to follow his playing by ears and eyes and never thought about trying to do what he does. He's one of a kind and he's the only man on earth who can play these crazy lines and chords this way. But it's not even about playing this but to create this. He invented a whole new (his own) style to play guitar (or does anybody know someone who sounds just similar, particular to this time when Yes and Steve became popular?). And this for me is clearly genius. No questions left.

I've seen them many times. The version of this song on Yesongs is the best I've heard.

This is what music in heaven sounds like

WTF?!? The intro by Steve Howe and the rhythm (bass & drums!) are out of these world in this version! Love how Howe re-works all the tiny details of the gt never playing exactly as the record yet never straying away too far either. Excellent guitar playing.

Masterpiece. Maybe the greatest prog Rock song ever written. Maybe the greatest prog Rock guitar solo ever. I agree with the poster. My favorite era for yes 69-78. RIP Chris. One of a kind bass player in a league of his own.

Amazing! Loved Patrick Moraz & all he contributed. Broke my heart when they threw him out.

When I was 14 had a bootleg 8 track tape of YES and at 60 yrs old still amazed and haven't stopped listening to the soul soothing music !✌️

I was there!!!! Looking back, the gig itself was a bit of a blur ... but I was only 16 at the time (and no alcohol or illicit drugs in my system either!) My biggest memory is the journey home from the gig with my big bro xxxxx

How many things in life bring tears to your eyes? For me it's Yes's halcyon days. Thank you, lads, for all the joy you've given me and mine. You've been a wonderful part of our life. xxx

The absolute greatest rock band of all time.

I am 51 and this was way before my time, and I am a huge YES fan. Just bliss watching this. Thank you!

70' best time in my life.

As a guitarist I just can't imagine trying to get through that incredible and demanding opening sequence right out of the gates in front of a giant stadium full of people to boot.Howe was an incredible player back then and really used a lot of power in his playing.Wrists of steel.

Steve Howe on a 335 (he played 175s also), Squire on a 4001...that's prog rock right there. No wonder Rush was inspired by these guys--EPIC!

Yes has been a favorite band of mine for a very, very long time. I was first introduced to them back around '70 or so. My best friend and I were at Tower Records on the Sunset Strip shopping and he pulled out the Yes Album and told me I had to buy it (I had never heard of them at that point) . If I didn't like it he would buy it from me. Took it home, slipped on the headphones and that was it- hooked for life. I had the great fortune to have met a girl who appreciated my passion for the band- she gave me a tank top with the band's Roger Dean designed logo on it that she had hand crocheted for my 16th birthday in 1975. We've been married for over 35 years now. Flash forward to the 35th Anniversary tour- I got to meet the band and Roger, and had them all autograph that t-shirt. I've lost count of the number of shows and locations I've been fortunate enough to have seen this band perform. They were part of an era that may have passed, but will never be excelled. Musicianship like theirs is no longer in fashion.

I love watching Patrick on the Hammond - he's having such a great time playing it really makes me smile!!

Steve Howe is SHREDDING!

Damn...Howe is seriously in peak form on this.

This song is a soul searching odyssey. A life changing experience.

Simply amazing!!!! The origins of prog rock!!!! Thank you Chris Squire for your contributions to YES and for inSQUIRing so many iconic bass players in our day!! May you rest in peace and my condolences to your family and the legions of fans!!

I think it's so awesome that some of you guys have seen these guys back in 1975 and 1976... I was born in the wrong time!

I'm 63 and still loving it my yes prog friends ❤😊

One of the masterpieces of Prog Rock

I was at the June 1976 concert with this lineup at Colt Park in Hartford, Connecticut. I was 16. There were about 30.000 people there, it was the largest ever concert crowd in the state of Connecticut. We drove down from Albany, NY. Although I have seen Yes numerous times since then, I will always remember that concert like it was yesterday. Just amazing.

If they can not get in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - - - Can we all agree that their clothes be Inducted?

As an 18-year old Freshman from Delaware at the University of Vermont in 1972, I would play Close to the Edge every Saturday morning after all the kids from Vermont would go home to their families. This was my favorite album for decades. Wakeman's organ solo in the middle used to blow me away every time I heard it. Wonderful memories.

Another prime example of a superior Yes epic. One of the greatest progressive rock epics ever!

"Now that it's all over and done with" RIP Chris Squire , a truly gifted musician.

Those guys where in a class of their own. Amazing creative ability along with a level of musicianship that just stands out. I mean, how many of the gazillion bands out there attempt to cover this gem. Tabs for Steve Howes guitar work in this piece would be a waste for most player's, its just so complex.

Patrick Moraz on keyboards. BRILLIANT!!!!

I loved Yes from many years ago. I listened to Close to the Edge when l got a severe case of hepatitus, for many months and l listened to this album every day. I had no earphones so my parents had to bear it. I really believe it helped me so much get through the awful sickness, and the later depression that came after. It was the best choice of music for me in that time. Always the best and l never saw them live. Would have killed for that!

Epic performance though sound engineer was probably stoned.

Master Steve Howe on guitar ... this is for hard core Yes fans ... LOVE IT !!

이들은 스튜디오에서 더 멋진 밴드이지만 라이브 무대에서의 집중력이나 팀웍도 굉장히 뛰어나서 19분이라는 긴 시간동안 집중도 높은 라이브를 소화할수있는 밴드인것 같다.멋진 작품 하나 감상한 느낌....

A band that showed how rock music could go far to the ultimate.

9:40 Only Yes could do this amazing ambient 'soundscape' sound as far as I know. Always amazes me this spacey blend of instruments and unique organey keyboard 'pad'. How do they do it...LOVE IT !

I had just graduated high school in '75. What an amazing time to live, musically!

It's totally impossible to explain or describe just how truly great this really is. It is so deep. Funny.. it's amazingly technical and all over the place at times, yet, the band always seems to be in tune as if it's nothing..

Classic piece! I'm a huge YES fan! (RIP Chris Squire)