Yes performed on this day in 1974 at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France.
The group were at this time on their Tales from Topographic Oceans tour, undertaken to support the album of the same name. This album proved quite divisive, resulting eventually in keyboardist Rick Wakeman’s first departure from the band.
As with other concerts from this tour, the concert opened with Close to the Edge performed in reverse order, then three of the four movements from Tales from Topographic Oceans. For some reason, the second movement, known as “The Remembering”, was not performed. Encores of “Roundabout” and “Starship Trooper” closed out the concert. This means that every album the group had released with Steve Howe as guitarist was represented in some way on the setlist.
This concert is known to have been recorded and is in circulation online.
This was Yes’ first time performing at the Palais des Sports. Steve Howe had previously been at the venue while performing with Keith West in 1967. While the group had been scheduled to play there in 1971 as part of a lineup of many bands, a riot earlier in the evening forced them to cancel. I talk more about the venue here.
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