  May 15, 2004 was a momentous night in one part of New England, (Lowell, Massachusetts to be exact) as the 35th Anniversary Tour of Yes rolled into town and rocked the Paul E. Tsongas Arena like there was tomorrow.
Yes took the stage at 8 PM that night (gave or take a half an hour or so). The curtains opened and the colorful set was unveiled with all the lights and effects that no words can be used to describe.
The members of Yes came out and started the show off with the song "Firebird Suite", followed by the impressive "Going For The One". The show would continued on it's frenzied pace until about 10 PM, when the members decided to take what they said was a 15-minute intermission. The intermission couldn't have been 15 minutes long because I, personally, was beginning to get restless and just couldn't wait for the second half of the show... or when they play "Roundabout".
All of a sudden, the stage gets dark and out comes Rick Wakeman in his Linus Van Pelt-like piano and he started playing a little solo which brought about the excitement of the second half of the show. The rest of the band came out with an acoustic set-up and started off with "Long Distance Runaround", a great choice. They would go on and play a great acoustic set. The song that I've been waiting the whole show for did not come out as a surprise because Jon Anderson and Chris Squire were talking about how the acoustic version of "Roundabout" (that was on disc 3 of Yes' 35th Anniversary CD) came to be.
The band then started to play the bluesy version of their classic "Roundabout". It was great, but I wished they played the original version though. That was quite awesome. Much to my surprise, the group would end up playing an acoustic version of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" as well, and that was the most mind-blowing acoustic performance ever. The acoustic set ended with a Steve Howe guitar solo that sounded like bluegrass mixed with a latin influence.
It was insanely delightful. After the lengthy solo, the rest of the band would come out again in their electrics, and belt out "Rhythm Of Love", "And You And I", and "Ritual". The would then leave the stage as if the concert was over. It probably already was, but the crowd clamored for more and as luck would hav it, they came back for an encore. They would play 2 more songs, a Betles cover "Every Little Thing", and would end the show strong with "Starship Trooper".
After the show, there was a sense of wanting more for the Yes concert was a tremendously exciting, electric experience that if I had a chance to go see all over again, I definitely would. Live Yes, nothing beats it! 
