Early 90s Yes convention in NYC with Jon Anderson?

[JKL2000]

Did anyone here go to a Yes convention that was sometime in the early 90s - probably no later than 1992. It was in a ballroom at some random hotel in Manhattan, Jon Anderson appeared and spoke a bit, don't think he performed. Not sure what else there was there, but I remember it as the first time I saw Robert Wolf's table o' prog CDs, and the first time I bought a stack of non-major-label prog CDs all at once.

Anyone know what this convention was called? And what else may have occurred there?

[chescorph]

Are you sure it wasn't Cherry Hill, NJ? Hosted by Dan and Glenn Gottlieb, from Yes magazine?

[JKL2000]

Are you sure it wasn't Cherry Hill, NJ? Hosted by Dan and Glenn Gottlieb, from Yes magazine?

I think it WAS hosted by Yes Magazine, but there's no way I would have gone to Jersey for it.

[Adinfinitum]

I recall going to one in 1995 or so near MSG - 34th and 8th. I rememeber Jon playing piano for a little bit

Or i just imagined the whole thing!

[tales78]

Was one in Philly during the Union tour. Yesfest

[Scott Bails]

Was one in Philly during the Union tour. Yesfest

Yep. I went to that one. Saw an interview/Q&A with Steve Howe. Very cool event.

[Dan Roth]

Yep. I went to that one. Saw an interview/Q&A with Steve Howe. Very cool event.

Likewise, I was there. That was a lot of fun.

[PixelDelirium]

I recall going to one in 1995 or so near MSG - 34th and 8th. I rememeber Jon playing piano for a little bit

Or i just imagined the whole thing!

There was YesFest in September of 1994. It was a 2 or 3 day event with Yes playing MSG on Saturday. They had lots of vendors and some Yes cover bands. I remember Chris and Alan showed up briefly. Patrick Moraz and Peter Banks played (together if I remember correctly) and signed autographs.

Edit: Apparently Happy Rhodes played there that Friday (http://rhodeshows.com/live/HappyRhodesLiveSetList_YesFest_09-09-94.html) too.

[JKL2000]

It MIGHT have been a little closer to mid 90s but I think it was a one day event, and that Jon was the only member of Yes present. But it is all a little fuzzy.

[pinkpanther]

It was the Talk tour at the Hammerstein ballroom. Two days, Fri. And Sat. I went Friday, I don't think any members of the band past or present showed up. If I recall, there was a yes tribute band called Wondrous Stories, maybe Happy Rhodes was there.

[JKL2000]

Like I said Anderson was there, it was in a hotel, it was long before Talk. Before The Ladder I'd say too. Maybe before Union. Probably around when Union came out actually.

[Progatron]

it was long before Talk.


Before The Ladder I'd say too.

Gee, you think? :D ;)

[pinkpanther]

Sept. 9 and 10, 1994. But what do I know, I was only there.

[JKL2000]

Gee, you think? :D ;)

It was definitely before Heaven and Earth!

[JKL2000]

Sept. 9 and 10, 1994. But what do I know, I was only there.

Do you remember where it was? The hotel.

[pinkpanther]

Do you remember where it was? The hotel.

Right across 34th Street, Hammerstein Ballroom.

[Digital_Man]

Are you sure it wasn't Cherry Hill, NJ? Hosted by Dan and Glenn Gottlieb, from Yes magazine?


I was at the one in 1987 at the Hiatt hotel there. I remember everyone was excited about the imminent release of Big Generator. If they only knew then that 95 percent of people on Progressive Ears would trash that album 30 years later. :P

[PixelDelirium]

Right across 34th Street, Hammerstein Ballroom.

It was definitely at Manhattan Center but I think it may have been the Grand Ballroom and not the Hammerstein Ballroom (but I could be wrong).

[JKL2000]

It was definitely at Manhattan Center but I think it may have been the Grand Ballroom and not the Hammerstein Ballroom (but I could be wrong).

Not the Hammerstein - Wikipedia says that fits 2500 people, this wasn't more than a couple of hundred - it was a room, not a venue. Straight back chairs they set up.

[moecurlythanu]

- it was a room, not a venue. Straight back chairs they set up.

The soup kitchen on Bleecker St?

[PixelDelirium]

Not the Hammerstein - Wikipedia says that fits 2500 people, this wasn't more than a couple of hundred - it was a room, not a venue. Straight back chairs they set up.

I believe they had straight back chairs but there was also a proper stage. The vendors were setup on the sides, but it was just one big room with the chairs in the middle and the stage up front.

[iguana]

some footage from 1994. squire was hilarious. sorely missed.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RYQkTA8F1s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52TyA0ejo_k

addendum: even more hilarous. howe in pre-grumpy mode!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aLtJ3ALZuU

[Paulrus]

some footage from 1994. squire was hilarious. sorely missed.


Oh, yeah. I was at the LA thing in '94. Organized by Christine whats-her-name (in these clips), who throughout most of the 90s held the title of Alpha Yes Groupie.

[JKL2000]

Oh, yeah. I was at the LA thing in '94. Organized by Christine whats-her-name (in these clips), who throughout most of the 90s held the title of Alpha Yes Groupie.

Oh, did she do some Prog newsletter?

[moecurlythanu]

Yes she did. Ran the US TFK fan club too, if I'm not mistaken.

[JKL2000]

Ok. Man, she bugged the F out of me once. I volunteered to work the merch table at the Pittsburgh Marillion convention (after being asked) and when they invited the volunteers in to watch the sound check and stay in for the show instead of leave and get on line with everyone else she freaked. She wanted her place as queen groupie to be unsullied.

Yeah, watched that video -- that's her. Groupie.

[the winter tree]

It was in NYC in '94 during the TALK tour. Peter Banks and Patrick Moraz were also there and jammed at the end. Jon played a bit of piano and Chris and Tony K showed up also.
A YES tribute band performed a few songs.
This was where I discovered there was actually a Progressive Rock scene beginning to happen. I met some distributors and John Collinge was also there. PROGRESSION was just a few pages stapled together then.
I also bought Thomas Mosbo's book there at his booth.
It was also my encounter with the YES "inner circle" of uber fans after being a fan since the mid 70s...

[JKL2000]

It was in NYC in '94 during the TALK tour. Peter Banks and Patrick Moraz were also there and jammed at the end. Jon played a bit of piano and Chris and Tony K showed up also.
A YES tribute band performed a few songs.
This was where I discovered there was actually a Progressive Rock scene beginning to happen. I met some distributors and John Collinge was also there. PROGRESSION was just a few pages stapled together then.
I also bought Thomas Mosbo's book there at his booth.
It was also my encounter with the YES "inner circle" of uber fans after being a fan since the mid 70s...

I guess I didn't stay for the whole thing. Do you remember the hotel or general location?

Doesn't surprise me that Collinge was there -- he's everywhere. Except ProgDay.

[Digital_Man]

^John Collinge used to go to Progday every year. I guess at some point he decided he couldn't take the heat(literally) like several others.

[Dan Roth]

Ok. Man, she bugged the F out of me once. I volunteered to work the merch table at the Pittsburgh Marillion convention (after being asked) and when they invited the volunteers in to watch the sound check and stay in for the show instead of leave and get on line with everyone else she freaked. She wanted her place as queen groupie to be unsullied.

Yeah, watched that video -- that's her. Groupie.

Christine Holz. She used to work with Suzanne Cerquone in Wonderous Stories Magazine. From what I recall in the old alt.music.yes days, those two had some sort of falling out, organized and ran competing Yes fests and things seemed to get bitter. Suzanne stopped doing the Yes fests and Christine kept them going and claimed to have trademarked all of the various fest names. She really took on that queen groupie mantle that someone mentioned earlier.

[chescorph]

Are the Gottlieb brothers doing anything related to Yes these days?

[Digital_Man]

Are the Gottlieb brothers doing anything related to Yes these days?

That's a good question. None that I know of. I know they did some tour programs(even after Yes magazine). I think Union but not sure what else.

[iguana]

i remember tiz hay (?). i still have some of the magazines that she did in the 90s, pre-web. however, the adulation levels within were creepy. i tried my hand in being a contributor for a while but that sort of thing wasn't me. good job i waited for progressiveears to occur to me, innit? ;-)>

[bondegezou]

Are the Gottlieb brothers doing anything related to Yes these days?

There was talk of a book a while back, but I've not heard anything lately.

Henry

[moecurlythanu]

Christine's newsletter had a pretty generic name like Music News Network, or something like that, iirc.

[Digital_Man]

Christine's newsletter had a pretty generic name like Music News Network, or something like that, iirc.

Yeah, that's exactly what it was(MNN). I'm not sure what happened to it or if it's still around but there is a website for it.

[JKL2000]

The generic name allowed her to be a groupie for a wider variety of bands.

[moecurlythanu]

Did she help kill the Blues?

[Digital_Man]

The generic name allowed her to be a groupie for a wider variety of bands.

:D

[Progatron]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aLtJ3ALZuU

Wow, has Steve Howe ever been that light hearted and jokey on camera before or since? :O

[Scott Bails]

Wow, has Steve Howe ever been that light hearted and jokey on camera before or since? :O

I think he kicked Anderson in the shins right before this. :)

[helix]

good ol' Mike Tiano

[2steves]

Did anyone here go to a Yes convention that was sometime in the early 90s - probably no later than 1992. It was in a ballroom at some random hotel in Manhattan, Jon Anderson appeared and spoke a bit, don't think he performed. Not sure what else there was there, but I remember it as the first time I saw Robert Wolf's table o' prog CDs, and the first time I bought a stack of non-major-label prog CDs all at once.

Anyone know what this convention was called? And what else may have occurred there?

I was there and know what you are talking about----I went on the day Chris Squire brought Moraz out. If it's the same one---it was a random hotel in Manhattan.

[tozo]

Sept. 9 and 10, 1994. But what do I know, I was only there.

Me too, those were the dates..

[khalpin]

It was definitely at Manhattan Center but I think it may have been the Grand Ballroom and not the Hammerstein Ballroom (but I could be wrong).

Spot on. It was the Grand Ballroom on Sept 9 and 10, 1994. The cover band was Fragile. I only went one of the two days, but the highlight of it (for me) was that Steve sent in a video montage that was 10-15 minutes of footage of him over the years. Really great stuff. I also bought the Mosbo book that weekend and I still remember the one vendor selling the coolest Steve Howe shirt, that I would kill to have today, but was just a broke college kid at the time. Anyway, the organizers also took orders for footage of the weekend's events on VHS, which I forked over $25 for. It took forever, but they eventually sent it to me. The copyright on the VHS tape says 1996, so it was over a year. Sadly, none of the Howe footage made it onto the tape, probably because of copyright issues, but who knows. In any event, I was researching the event as there's little documentation on the web about it and I stumbled upon this thread and had to comment.

I'm in the process of having the VHS tape digitized and will upload it to the digital realm when it's ready.

[PixelDelirium]

Spot on. It was the Grand Ballroom on Sept 9 and 10, 1994. The cover band was Fragile. I only went one of the two days, but the highlight of it (for me) was that Steve sent in a video montage that was 10-15 minutes of footage of him over the years. Really great stuff. I also bought the Mosbo book that weekend and I still remember the one vendor selling the coolest Steve Howe shirt, that I would kill to have today, but was just a broke college kid at the time. Anyway, the organizers also took orders for footage of the weekend's events on VHS, which I forked over $25 for. It took forever, but they eventually sent it to me. The copyright on the VHS tape says 1996, so it was over a year. Sadly, none of the Howe footage made it onto the tape, probably because of copyright issues, but who knows. In any event, I was researching the event as there's little documentation on the web about it and I stumbled upon this thread and had to comment.

I'm in the process of having the VHS tape digitized and will upload it to the digital realm when it's ready.

Hey, it's funny to see this now because later in 2017 after posting this my company had their holiday party at the Grand Ballroom so I can definitely confirm that it was the same place.

Anyway, I'd love to see the VHS footage. Somehow I missed that because it's definitely something I would have sprung for. I have the program (autographed by Banks/Moraz) somewhere, I'll have to dig it out. I also bought the Mosbo book there! My girlfriend borrowed it from me and I don't think I ever got it back... well, she's my wife now, I'll have to go ask her what happened to it. :) Come to think of it the Yes concert at MSG that weekend was our first concert (of MANY). Crazy.

[khalpin]

Here it is:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FaH2FLMNzs

[ledsox]

^That's great. Thanks for getting this out.

[PixelDelirium]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[M Sary]

Did she help kill the Blues?

Deep cut.

[gearHed289]

So I just found out my friend Chris was the bass player for Fragile, but he and the keyboardist quit 2 months before this gig. This was apparently their last show.

[yesman1955]

Happy Rhodes! 👏 John Anderson! 🤔

[fiberman]

This is awesome, I wish I could have been there, thanks for posting. Wow, still miss Ed Sciaky and FM, WMMR WNEW, radio as it was, things were never the same. Like the old folk say "those were the days', and actually I'm referring to the early days of FM radio (not the same days as Archie and Edith sang about) because I can't help to pine for that feeling when I see Ed.

[Paulrus]

Wow, still miss Ed Sciaky and FM, WMMR WNEW, radio as it was, things were never the same. Like the old folk say "those were the days', and actually I'm referring to the early days of FM radio (not the same days as Archie and Edith sang about) because I can't help to pine for that feeling when I see Ed.

What's even more bittersweet is that these Talk-era fan-fests (there was one out on the west coast as well) happened shortly after the grunge/Nirvana explosion, and the kind of FM rock radio stations and DJs that were friendly to bands like Yes were quickly being swept away. I believe Ed Sciaky got caught up in that as well. And because this was the days before satellite and internet radio, DJs like Ed who were linked to the old guard really had no place to go once stations started changing their programming. I remember even guys like Jim "I'm BFFs with Roger Waters" Ladd had a tough time making the transition.