[TinyBabyBrandon]

I think Yes, may be the best live rock band of all time, maybe Led Zeppelin might eek them out, but purely based on musicianship, it's got to be Yes. Ignore the capes of Squire and Wakeman and just bask in the tonal wonder of Steve Howe and his Es-175. I still can't figure out how played so loud without feedback issues. He used a big muff back in the day and tape delay, both things spell feedback disaster for a full hollow body jazz box, but some how he pulls it off. Check out this video and enjoy all the capabilities of the venerable 175 in the hands of a guitar wizard!!

[TinyBabyBrandon]

Also note the non traditional guitar solo/ break is pretty ballsy and at one one point he's descending with 3 octaves simultaneously. TOUGH!

[stein]

That was one WILD ride there!

That is the stuff that earned him his rep. Very possibly the 'best live 175'.

Thanks for that.

[TinyBabyBrandon]

My pleasure Stein. I have the full concert film of this on DVD, and I must say it 's a necessity for any Steve Howe or Yes fan. It's just mind blowing. Close to the Edge live is another treat as is Roundabout which has Steve rocking a Switchmaster!

[AlanC]

TinyBabyBrandon, on 30 March 2012 - 12:29 PM, said:

My pleasure Stein. I have the full concert film of this on DVD, and I must say it 's a necessity for any Steve Howe or Yes fan. It's just mind blowing. Close to the Edge live is another treat as is Roundabout which has Steve rocking a Switchmaster!

I just love Steve Howe and I've got tickets to see him play in a reformed Yes in about 2 weeks. My best live concert of all time was Yes with Anderson, Wakeman, Howe etc.

[sandy2]

I've been following Yes since 1972 and have both VHS and DVD formats of the Yessongs concert, their best recorded live show ever IMHO. I was in high school when Yessongs came out and Steve Howe has been a guitar god and inspiration to me ever since. He brought so many genres together (rock, classical, jazz, country, ragtime, etc.) and really created something unique and new. He raised the bar for what was possible to play on a guitar. BTW, I bought an ES 175 in 2005 (not because of Steve) and it really is a dream guitar.

[TinyBabyBrandon]

Yeah, I've seen Yes with Steve Howe twice, both within the past 10 years and both with the classic lineup (minus Bruford) and it was pretty incredible. One thing that struck me though is that Steve's tone at both showswas pretty close to the Magnification DVD if anyone's seen that, which is to say a lot less crunchy on the rocking stuff. Close to the Edge's intro lacked a lot of the fire and brimstone of the original and that could be said for a lot of the heavier parts of all the songs. That said I was STILL blown away and if push came to shove I think I'd have to say SH has got to be my all time favorite guitarist. He does meld all genres so masterfully to create incredible original and memorable parts and songs. It's what ever musician should strive to do!

[sandy2]

I must concur. SH was the main attraction during the 70s. Not only was he creative, but he played with fire; he attacked the guitar. He started toning down his attack in the 80s after Asia and has been playing a lot cleaner and simpler ever since. On the Yessymphonic DVD, he really scaled back his parts, playing the bare minimum IMHO. But I still enjoy his creativity and he still blows me away with his acoustic soloing. BTW, we saw Yes last year in San Diego with Benoit David on vocals and I was not impressed. Good thing I have all the albums and concert DVDs from the 70s! Not everything lasts forever...

SH is definitely on my list of top 10 all time favorite guitarists. So is Jimi Hendrix, Pat Metheny, Joe Pass, Jeff Beck, Steve Morse, Stevie Ray Vaughn...

[Nic]

In 1969 or 1970 I went to an Emerson Lake and Palmer concert in a pretty small venue in Detroit. The back up band was a completely unknown band named YES. Needless to say they were international superstars by the end of that tour.

[pfox14]

Seen Yes several times back in the 70s. Always an amazing show especially "in the round". However, I always thought the capes they wore looked a bit goofy.

[brundaddy]

TinyBabyBrandon, on 29 March 2012 - 05:50 PM, said:

I still can't figure out how played so loud without feedback issues.

Feedback is only an nuisance when your amp is cranked in small rooms. Yes always played on huge stages in giant rooms (if not arenas). The Nuge had to hit his marked sweet spots on stage in order to get his feedback, as he also played huge rooms.

I almost always play hollowbodies or semis through a cranked amp with massive amounts of fuzz, distortion, echo, etc., and feedback is only a problem in tiny rooms. It can actually be tough to get feedback on demand on big stages in bigger rooms, which is why The Nuge marked his sweet spots at soundcheck before his shows.