Yes Live: Full Circle Tour 11/08/2002 Tower Theater Upper Darby / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

You are listening to the entire 2.5 half hour show performed by the British Progressive Rock band Yes on November 8, 2002 at the Tower Theater in the township of Upper Darby just west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


The set list for dates, including this one, on the Fall 2002 Full Circle North American Tour was changed considerably from shows performed on the Summer 2002 North American Tour.

Epic Yes warhorses such as Close to the Edge, Long Distance Runaround and Starship Trooper were added while the band shuffled out previously rarely-performed pieces like America, Revealing Science of God and Yours Is No Disgrace.


The Fragile album's South Side Of The Sky (which featured a crowd-pleasing electric guitar and Minimoog outro duel between Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman), Siberian Khatru and Heart Of The Sunrise all remained as strong setlist components. Before the 2002 North American tours, South Side Of The Sky had not been offered to a live audience since two 1974 Relayer Tour dates with Patrick Moraz at the keyboards.


You can hear the Summer 2002 setlist at this very nicely-recorded August 16th show from The Backyard in Bee Cave, Texas near Austin:    • Yes Live: Full Circle Tour 08/16/2002 The ...  


The Tower Theater venue for this show was one of Philadelphia's most popular musical palaces famous for hosting an incredible line-up of talent throughout the decades. Opened in 1927 and before a transformation in 1972, the Tower was primarily a movie house, welcoming its audiences with a gorgeous interior. In its early years, it also featured vaudeville acts.


Known for its excellent acoustic properties, the venue has been used for recording live albums by many bands. In 1972, the Tower introduced David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars and Genesis with Peter Gabriel to the United States. Then unknown, Genesis played a midnight concert with a $4 admission price. Bowie and Genesis' Phil Collins would subsequently mention their Tower shows as being instrumental in introducing them to an American audience.


In September 1974, Bruce Springsteen, who had an early yet strong fan base in Philadelphia, introduced the world to his new E Street Band (with Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan) at the Tower Theater. It was the first time in his career that Springsteen earned $5,000 for a night's work. He returned in early November for two sold-out shows, a year prior to his big breakthrough with Born to Run and its associated publicity.


By the 2000s the theater continued to be active, filling much the same role in the concert hierarchy as the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The theater operated under the Live Nation/Electric Factory Concerts name. In 2018, the Tower Theater was named one of the ten best live music venues in the United States by Rolling Stone magazine. It was often referred to as "Philly's version of New York's Fillmore East" as it brought some of the biggest names in music history to its stage.


Yes performed at the Tower Theater on their 1997 Open Your Eyes, 1999 The Ladder, 2002 Full Circle, 2009 and 2010 In The Present, 2012 Fly From Here and 2014 Heaven & Earth tours.


On August 13, 2019, the iconic tower on top of the venue was removed due to structural issues with the base. The ball and lettering were donated to a local museum.    • Martino Signs Demos Tower Theater  


Unfortunately, the Tower Theater closed in 2022. Its owner, Live Nation, says it will be closed until they "can ascertain the status of other properties in the area".

Show Reviews and Notes: https://forgotten-yesterdays.com/date...

SET LIST:

1. Introduction: Firebird Suite (Igor Stravinsky)

2. Siberian Khatru (from the Close To The Edge album) 2:48

3. Magnification (Magnification) 13:00

4. Don't Kill The Whale (Tormato) 20:15

5. In The Presence Of (Magnification) 25:10

6. We Have Heaven (Fragile) 36:35

7. South Side Of The Sky (Fragile) 37:30 / Rick Wakeman keyboards / Steve Howe electric guitar duel 44:43

8. Close To The Edge (Close To The Edge) 48:00

9. Steve Howe acoustic guitar solo: In The Course Of The Day (from his 2001 solo album Natural Timbre) 1:10:15

10. "Happy Birthday to anybody" tour song 1:14:30

11. Show Me (from the 2003 compilation album The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection) 1:15:00

12. Rick Wakeman keyboards solo featuring excerpts from his 1973 solo album The Six Wives Of Henry VIII 13. Heart Of The Sunrise (Fragile) 1:18:45

14. Long Distance Runaround (Fragile) 1:35:50

15. Whitefish (Chris Squire and Alan White bass and drum solos) featuring excerpts from The Fish (Fragile) / Tempus Fugit (Drama) / On The Silent Wings Of Freedom (Tormato) / Soundchaser (Relayer) / The Fish (reprise) 1:39:50

16. Awaken (Going For The One) 1:49:30

ENCORES:

17. Roundabout (Fragile) 2:10:45

18. Starship Trooper (The Yes Album) 2:17:40