Close to the Edge Tour


The Close to the Edge Tour was a concert tour by progressive rock band Yes in promotion of their 1972 album, Close to the Edge. Lasting from 30 July 1972 until 22 April 1973, and including 97 performances, the tour began at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, and ended at the West Palm Beach Auditorium in West Palm Beach, Florida. The tour was Alan White's first with the band.
Recordings from the tour—both film and audio—were included on the band's 1973 live album, Yessongs. The filmed performance was recorded at the December 1972 shows at the London Rainbow Theatre.

Recordings

Eleven songs from the tour were included on the band's 1973 live album, Yessongs—the excerpt from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, "Siberian Khatru", "Heart of the Sunrise", "And You and I", "Mood for a Day", excerpts from Wakeman's The Six Wives of Henry VIII, "Roundabout", "I've Seen All Good People", "Close to the Edge", "Yours Is No Disgrace", and "Starship Trooper".
Film footage of the 15–16 December 1972 shows at the London Rainbow Theatre was the source of the 1975 film Yessongs. Fans determined that "Close to the Edge" and "Starship Trooper" from the film were the same versions from the 1973 album. With the release in 2015 of the box set containing concert recordings from between 31 October and 20 November 1972, in Canada and the United States, it became possible to identify the dates of most of the remaining performances from the album.

Members

The line-up for the tour unchanged throughout its duration; the line-up was the seventh incarnation of Yes. Bill Bruford left the band on 19 July 1972, after the recording sessions for Close to the Edge had finished. Alan White joined the band by the end of the month, after a number of dates had been cancelled in the wake of Bruford's departure. As he played on the album but was replaced for the tour Bruford was contractually obliged to share album royalties with White, and claims that Yes manager Brian Lane enforced a compensation payment of $10,000 from Bruford.
The tour saw the band play a total of 97 concerts in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia over seven legs—three North American legs, two European legs, an Asian leg and an Australasian leg.
Support came from Eagles, Edgar Winter, Lindisfarne, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Gary Wright, The J Geils Band, Wild Turkey, Badger, and Focus.
Setlist:
  • "Siberian Khatru"
  • "I've Seen All Good People"
  • "Heart of the Sunrise"
  • "Clap/Mood for a Day"
  • "America"
  • "And You and I"
  • "Close to the Edge"
  • Keyboards solo
  • "Roundabout"
  • "Yours Is No Disgrace"
  • "Starship Trooper"
At the 19 March 1973 show at Brisbane Festival Hall, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe played short renditions of "Waltzing Matilda" and "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport". "Colors Of The Rainbow" from the musical The Roar Of The Greasepaint- The Smell Of The Crowd was played once as well.

Cancelled shows

The tour's first four scheduled shows were cancelled in the wake of Bill Bruford's resignation from the band. When Alan White was confirmed as a member, the tour began at the fifth scheduled show on 30 July 1972.
A whole leg, covering South America, was cancelled. Dates and venues were never released, except for the scheduled performance at the Salle University in Acapulco on 1 May 1973.
DateCityCountryVenue
26 July 1972EdwardsvilleUnited StatesEdwardsville Amphitheatre
27 July 1972LouisvilleUnited StatesLouisville Convention Center
28 July 1972MemphisUnited StatesMid-South Coliseum
29 July 1972Little RockUnited StatesBarton Coliseum
29 March 1973AucklandNew ZealandWestern Springs
30 March 1973WellingtonNew ZealandAthletic Park
31 March 1973ChristchurchNew ZealandTown Hall
1 May 1973AcapulcoMexicoSalle University