Fragile Tour

The Fragile Tour was a concert tour by progressive rock band Yes in promotion of their 1971 album, Fragile. Lasting from 24 September 1971 until 27 March 1972, and including 115 performances,[1] the tour began at the Queen's Hall in Barnstaple, Devon, and ended at the Aquarius Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts—Bill Bruford's last performance with the band before returning for 1991's Union.[2][3] The tour was Rick Wakeman's first with the band; sources differ as to whether his first live appearance with the band was on 24 September at the Queen's Hall in Barnstaple,[4] or on 30 September—the third tour date—at Leicester's De Montfort Hall.[5]

Fragile Tour
World tour by Yes
Location
  • Europe
  • North America
Associated albumFragile
Start date24 September 1971
End date27 March 1972
Legs4
No. of shows115 (118 scheduled)
Yes concert chronology

Recordings

Three songs from the tour (from unknown dates)—"Perpetual Change", "Long Distance Runaround", and "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"—were included on the band's 1973 live album, Yessongs.[6]

The band's 3 October 1971 performance at the Hemel Hempstead Pavilion was recorded for television broadcast on BBC's Sounding Out.[4] The recording was broadcast on 10 January 1972, shortly before the commencement of the second European leg of the tour.[4]

Members

The line-up for the tour unchanged throughout its duration, though sources are contradictory as to whether Wakeman was present for the first two concerts.[4][5] The line-up was the sixth incarnation of Yes.[7] Rick Wakeman had joined the band the previous month, spending August and early September in recording sessions for Fragile at London's Advision Studios.[8][9][10]

Tour

The tour saw the band play a total of 111 concerts in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, and Belgium over four legs—two European legs and two North American legs.[2][11]

Support came from Jonathan Swift, Ten Years After, Mary Wells,[8] Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The J. Geils Band, King Crimson, The Blues Project, and Shawn Phillips. At a 16 March 1972 concert in Tucson, Arizona, the band supported Black Sabbath.

Setlist

Setlist:[12]

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue
Europe
24 September 1971 Barnstaple United Kingdom Queens Hall
25 September 1971 Devizes Devizes Corn Exchange
30 September 1971 Leicester De Montfort Hall
1 October 1971 Manchester Free Trade Hall
2 October 1971 Bradford St. George's Hall
3 October 1971 Hemel Hempstead Hempstead Pavilion
4 October 1971 Aberdeen Aberdeen Music Hall
6 October 1971 Glasgow Green's Playhouse
8 October 1971 London Royal Festival Hall
10 October 1971 Dundee Caird Hall
11 October 1971 Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Civic Hall
12 October 1971 Bristol Colston Hall
13 October 1971 Sheffield Sheffield City Hall
15 October 1971 Stockton-on-Tees ABC Theater
16 October 1971 Newcastle Newcastle City Hall
17 October 1971 Stoke Trentham Gardens
18 October 1971 Birmingham Birmingham Town Hall
21 October 1971 Warwick University of Warwick
22 October 1971 Leeds Leeds University
23 October 1971 Edinburgh Empire Theater
25 October 1971 Chatham Central Hall
26 October 1971 Liverpool Liverpool Stadium
27 October 1971 Southampton Southampton Guildhall
28 October 1971
29 October 1971 Rotterdam Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy
31 October 1971 Amsterdam Het Concertgebouw
North America
2 November 1971 Oakland United States Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
3 November 1971 Los Angeles Whisky a Go Go
4 November 1971
5 November 1971
6 November 1971
7 November 1971
8 November 1971 San Francisco Winterland
9 November 1971 San Diego San Diego Coliseum
10 November 1971 Inglewood Inglewood Forum
11 November 1971
12 November 1971 Oklahoma City Oklahoma City Civic Center
13 November 1971 Philadelphia The Spectrum
14 November 1971 Chicago Auditorium Theater
15 November 1971 Detroit Eastown Theater
16 November 1971
17 November 1971 Elyria Elyria Catholic High School
19 November 1971 Richmond William and Mary Hall
20 November 1971 Durham Duke Indoor Stadium
21 November 1971 DeLand Stetson University
22 November 1971 Atlanta Atlanta Municipal Auditorium
23 November 1971 Baltimore Baltimore Civic Center
24 November 1971 New York City Academy of Music
25 November 1971
27 November 1971 Ritz Theater
28 November 1971 Stony Brook Stony Brook University
30 November 1971 New York City Genesio College
1 December 1971 Waterbury Palace Theater
2 December 1971 Cincinnati Reflections
3 December 1971 Akron Akron Civic Theater
4 December 1971 Gettysburg Gettysburg College
5 December 1971 Plattsburgh SUNY Plattsburgh
8 December 1971 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Civic Arena
9 December 1971 Gaithersburg Montgomery Country Fairgrounds
10 December 1971 Carlisle Dickinson College
11 December 1971 Garden City Nassau Community College
12 December 1971 Newark Newark Symphony Hall
14 December 1971 Boston Orpheum Theater
15 December 1971 Cleveland Allen Theater
16 December 1971 Pittsburgh Syria Mosque
18 December 1971 New Orleans The Warehouse
Europe
14 January 1972 London United Kingdom Rainbow Theater
15 January 1972
19 January 1972 Leuven Belgium University of Leuven
20 January 1972 Antwerp Cinema Roma
21 January 1972 Brussels Auditorium Q
22 January 1972 Amsterdam Netherlands Het Concertgebouw
23 January 1972 Rotterdam De Doelen
24 January 1972 Breda Het Turfship
28 January 1972 Bristol United Kingdom Top Rank Suite
29 January 1972 Boston Starlight Room
30 January 1972 Bristol Colston Hall
31 January 1972 Manchester Free Trade Hall
North America
18 February 1972 Bethany United States Bethany College
19 February 1972 New York City Academy of Music
21 February 1972 Asbury Park Sunshine Inn
22 February 1972 Princeton McCarter Theater
23 February 1972 New York City Academy of Music
24 February 1972 Burlington Patrick Gymnasium
25 February 1972 Smithfield Meehan Auditorium
26 February 1972 Passaic Capitol Theater
27 February 1972 Waterbury Palace Theater
28 February 1972 Buffalo Kleinhans Music Hall
29 February 1972 New York City Ritz Theater
1 March 1972 Rochester Auditorium Theater
2 March 1972 Syracuse Onondaga War Memorial Auditorium
3 March 1972 Richmond Richmond Coliseum
4 March 1972 Salem Roanoke Valley Civic Center
5 March 1972 Virginia Beach Virginia Beach Civic Center
6 March 1972 Wilmington University of North Carolina Wilmington
7 March 1972 Kutztown Schaeffer Auditorium
8 March 1972 Shippensburg Shippensburg University
10 March 1972 San Francisco Winterland Arena
11 March 1972
13 March 1972 Denver Denver Coliseum
14 March 1972 Spokane Spokane Coliseum
15 March 1972 Los Angeles Inglewood Forum
16 March 1972 Tucson Tucson Community Center
17 March 1972 San Bernardino Swing Auditorium
18 March 1972 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
19 March 1972 Las Vegas Las Vegas Convention Center
21 March 1972 Chicago Arie Crown Theater
22 March 1972 Detroit Cobo Hall
23 March 1972 Cincinnati Cincinnati Music Hall
24 March 1972 South Bend Morris Civic Auditorium
25 March 1972 Columbus Capital University
26 March 1972 Mentor Lakeland Community College
27 March 1972 Boston Aquarius Theater

Cancelled shows

Wilkinson (2003) lists only three shows from the tour as being cancelled. The first, on 9 October 1971 at the Edinburgh Empire Theatre, was cancelled after the PA system failed to arrive at the venue.[8] A newspaper story at the time reported that the equipment van, travelling to Scotland from the Royal Festival Hall from the previous evening's concert, broke down in Birmingham.[8] Similarly, two replacement vans also broke down.[8] The band rescheduled the date for 23 October, with original tickets still valid. The band offered free posters to fans attending the 23 October show.[8]

The second appearance to be cancelled was on 2 November at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California—the first show of the tour's North American leg.[8] The concert was cancelled as the band's PA system was stolen.[8]

Other sources state that it was the 8 November show at the San Francisco Winterland Ballroom that was cancelled due to the stolen PA system, implying that the band appeared that night at the Oakland Coliseum (with a rented sound system) instead.[4] The concert in Richmond VA on 3 March 1972, was also cancelled, and supposedly the band played at the TownshipAuditorium in Columbia S Carolina instead. Additionally, reports exist of a show on 29 October in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that was also cancelled.[4]

Date City Country
9 October 1971 Edinburgh United Kingdom
2 November 1971 Oakland United States

References
  1. Whipple, Peter. "Index". Forgotten Yesterdays. Archived from the original on 4 November 2001. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  2. Whipple, Peter. "The Fragile Tour". Forgotten Yesterdays. Archived from the original on 21 June 2003. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  3. Watkinson, David (2000). Yes : perpetual change : thirty years of Yes. London: Plexus. p. 107. ISBN 0-85-965-297-1.
  4. "Yesgigs 1966–1980". Sullivan. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  5. Wooding, Dan (1979). Rick Wakeman : the caped crusader. London: Panther. p. 73. ISBN 9780586048535.
  6. Yessongs liner notes, New York: Atlantic Recording Corporation, 1973
  7. Watkinson, David (2000). Yes : perpetual change : thirty years of Yes. London: Plexus. p. 8. ISBN 0-85-965-297-1.
  8. Watkinson, David (2000). Yes : perpetual change : thirty years of Yes. London: Plexus. p. 105. ISBN 0-85-965-297-1.
  9. Welch, Chris (2000). Close to the edge : the story of Yes ([Updated ed] ed.). London: Omnibus. p. 114. ISBN 0-7119-8041-1.
  10. Welch, Chris (2000). Close to the edge : the story of Yes ([Updated ed] ed.). London: Omnibus. p. 115. ISBN 0-7119-8041-1.
  11. Watkinson, David (2000). Yes : perpetual change : thirty years of Yes. London: Plexus. p. 106. ISBN 0-85-965-297-1.
  12. "Fragile Tour – Tour Dates". 21 August 2007. Archived from the original on 21 June 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
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