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, 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. 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, or on 30 September—the third tour date—at Leicester's De Montfort Hall.
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.
The band's 3 October 1971 performance at the Hemel Hempstead Pavilion was recorded for television broadcast on BBC's Sounding Out. The recording was broadcast on 10 January 1972, shortly before the commencement of the second European leg of the tour.
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. The line-up was the sixth incarnation of Yes. Rick Wakeman had joined the band the previous month, spending August and early September in recording sessions for Fragile at London's Advision Studios.
Jon Anderson—lead vocal Steve Howe—guitars Chris Squire—bass guitar and vocals Rick Wakeman—keyboards Bill Bruford—drums
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.
Support came from Jonathan Swift, Ten Years After, Mary Wells, 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:
"Roundabout" (Anderson, Howe) "I've Seen All Good People" (Anderson, Squire) "Mood for a Day" (Howe) "Clap" (Howe) "Heart of the Sunrise" (Anderson, Squire, Bruford) Wakeman solo (Rick Wakeman) "Long Distance Runaround" (Anderson) "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" (Squire) "Perpetual Change" (Anderson, Squire) "Yours Is No Disgrace" (Anderson, Squire, Howe, Kaye, Bruford) "South Side of the Sky" (only occasionally after 2 October 1971) (Anderson, Squire)
Tour dates DateCityCountryVenueEurope 24 September 1971 BarnstapleUnited KingdomQueens Hall 25 September 1971 DevizesDevizes Corn Exchange 30 September 1971 LeicesterDe Montfort Hall 1 October 1971 ManchesterFree Trade Hall 2 October 1971 BradfordSt. George's Hall 3 October 1971 Hemel HempsteadHempstead Pavilion 4 October 1971 AberdeenMusic Hall 6 October 1971 GlasgowGreen's Playhouse 8 October 1971 LondonRoyal Festival Hall 10 October 1971 DundeeCaird Hall 11 October 1971 WolverhamptonWolverhampton Civic Hall 12 October 1971 BristolColston Hall 13 October 1971 SheffieldSheffield City Hall 15 October 1971 Stockton-on-TeesABC Theater 16 October 1971 NewcastleNewcastle City Hall 17 October 1971 StokeTrentham Gardens 18 October 1971 BirminghamBirmingham Town Hall 21 October 1971 WarwickUniversity of Warwick 22 October 1971 LeedsLeeds University 23 October 1971 EdinburghEmpire Theater 25 October 1971 ChathamCentral Hall 26 October 1971 LiverpoolLiverpool Stadium 27 October 1971SouthamptonSouthampton Guildhall 28 October 197129 October 1971RotterdamNetherlandsRotterdam Ahoy 31 October 1971 AmsterdamHet ConcertgebouwNorth America2 November 1971OaklandUnited StatesOakland–Alameda County Coliseum 3 November 1971Los AngelesWhisky a Go Go 4 November 1971 5 November 1971 6 November 1971 7 November 1971 8 November 1971 San FranciscoWinterland 9 November 1971 San DiegoSan Diego Coliseum 10 November 1971 InglewoodInglewood Forum 11 November 1971 12 November 1971 Oklahoma CityOklahoma City Civic Center 13 November 1971 PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum 14 November 1971 ChicagoAuditorium Theater 15 November 1971DetroitEastown Theater 16 November 1971 17 November 1971 ElyriaElyria Catholic High School 19 November 1971 RichmondWilliam and Mary Hall 20 November 1971 DurhamDuke Indoor Stadium 21 November 1971 DeLandStetson University 22 November 1971 AtlantaAtlanta Municipal Auditorium23 November 1971BaltimoreBaltimore Civic Center 24 November 1971New York CityAcademy of Music 25 November 1971 27 November 1971Ritz Theater 28 November 1971 Stony BrookStony Brook University 30 November 1971 New York CityGenesio College 1 December 1971 WaterburyPalace Theater 2 December 1971 CincinnatiReflections 3 December 1971 AkronAkron Civic Theater 4 December 1971 GettysburgGettysburg College 5 December 1971 PlattsburghSUNY Plattsburgh 8 December 1971 PittsburghPittsburgh Civic Arena 9 December 1971 GaithersburgMontgomery Country Fairgrounds 10 December 1971 CarlisleDickinson College 11 December 1971 Garden CityNassau Community College 12 December 1971 NewarkNewark Symphony Hall 14 December 1971 BostonOrpheum Theater 15 December 1971 ClevelandAllen Theater 16 December 1971 PittsburghSyria Mosque 18 December 1971 New OrleansThe WarehouseEurope 14 January 1972LondonUnited KingdomRainbow Theater 15 January 1972 19 January 1972 LeuvenBelgiumUniversity of Leuven 20 January 1972 AntwerpCinema Roma21 January 1972BrusselsAuditorium Q 22 January 1972 AmsterdamNetherlandsHet Concertgebouw 23 January 1972 RotterdamDe Doelen24 January 1972BredaHet Turfship 28 January 1972 BristolUnited KingdomTop Rank Suite 29 January 1972 BostonStarlight Room 30 January 1972 BristolColston Hall 31 January 1972 ManchesterFree Trade HallNorth America 18 February 1972 BethanyUnited StatesBethany College 19 February 1972 New York CityAcademy of Music 21 February 1972 Asbury ParkSunshine Inn 22 February 1972 PrincetonMcCarter Theater 23 February 1972 New York CityAcademy of Music 24 February 1972 BurlingtonPatrick Gymnasium 25 February 1972 SmithfieldMeehan Auditorium 26 February 1972 PassaicCapitol Theater 27 February 1972 WaterburyPalace Theater28 February 1972BuffaloKleinhans Music Hall 29 February 1972 New York CityRitz Theater 1 March 1972 RochesterAuditorium Theater 2 March 1972 SyracuseOnondaga War Memorial Auditorium3 March 1972RichmondRichmond Coliseum 4 March 1972 SalemRoanoke Valley Civic Center 5 March 1972 Virginia BeachVirginia Beach Civic Center 6 March 1972 WilmingtonUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington 7 March 1972 KutztownSchaeffer Auditorium8 March 1972ShippensburgShippensburg University 10 March 1972San FranciscoWinterland Arena 11 March 1972 13 March 1972 DenverDenver Coliseum 14 March 1972 SpokaneSpokane Coliseum 15 March 1972 Los AngelesInglewood Forum 16 March 1972 TucsonTucson Community Center 17 March 1972 San BernardinoSwing Auditorium 18 March 1972 San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena 19 March 1972 Las VegasLas Vegas Convention Center 21 March 1972 ChicagoArie Crown Theater 22 March 1972 DetroitCobo Hall 23 March 1972 CincinnatiCincinnati Music Hall 24 March 1972 South BendMorris Civic Auditorium 25 March 1972 ColumbusCapital University 26 March 1972 MentorLakeland Community College 27 March 1972 BostonAquarius 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. 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. Similarly, two replacement vans also broke down. 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.
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. The concert was cancelled as the band's PA system was stolen.
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. The concert in Richmond VA on 3 March 1972, was also cancelled, and supposedly the band played at the Township Auditorium in Columbia, South Carolina instead. Additionally, reports exist of a show on 29 October in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that was also cancelled.
DateCityCountry 9 October 1971 Edinburgh United Kingdom 2 November 1971 Oakland United States
References