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Fragile, March 16th 1999
Paradise Bar, London, UK
By Mark Nickol, with additional notes by Ed Sander
Fragile - Live at the Paradise Bar
I met up with the lovely Ed Sander & Sam last night at the Paradise Bar in New Cross - yes, such a place really does exist
-) - to see a 'Yes' tribute band called 'Fragile' (are there any other 'Yes' tribute bands ?).
Now, I like the music of Yes a lot, although I don't have much. I have 90125, which I like, Big Generator (has its
moments !), Classic Yes (wonderful), Going for the One (don't like that title track), and the Anderson, Bruford,
Wakeman, Howe spin-off, which is very good.
 Nonetheless, I recognised quite a lot of the tracks played last
night. There weren't many people there, unfortunately (are there
ever in New Cross on a Tuesday night ? -) ), but Ed was not
the only Dutch person there. Chris & Maurice were "hanging
around in London for a week waiting for the IQ gig on Sunday !"
Hope you got back to your dodgy hotel in Paddington, boys ! I
know that Ed got back to his hotel all right because he just
managed to catch the last tube from Liverpool Street.
But, I digress. The gig itself. Well, I was very impressed. As you
can see, there were some terrific songs played, and they are not
easy to play, as you can imagine. But for a band that has only
been gigging for a few months, 'Fragile' were amazingly tight. The
stage hardly seemed big enough for all 6 of them (!) - drummer,
two guitarists, bass player, lead singer, and keyboard player.
They certainly played very accurately and impressively (as all
good covers bands do), and their lead singer sings the high Jon Anderson stuff very well indeed. In short, I would
recommend this band to anyone who likes 'Yes'. Then again, I haven't got a clue how you find out where they are  playing
next. Ah ! I've just remembered, you could always
check out the DPRP listings ! (Quick plug for you
there, Ed !)
Bye for now !
Mark
Additional Notes
This was my second Fragile gig. It was good to see that the band had improved even more since I saw them one and a half
month earlier. This was the first night they played Heart of the Sunrise for the first time and besides some minor mistakes
they did very well on this one. The concert also featured some good tracks they had not been able to play during the
shortened gig in Darenth.
Vocalist Steve recently informed me that on Friday the 19th March 1999 the band performed at the Royal Standard,
Walthamstow, London E17, and were joined on stage by ex-Yes member Peter Banks (guitarist on the first two Yes
albums). Peter played Time And A Word with us and enjoyed himself so much that he returned to jam on an extended
workout of Starship Trooper.
Ed
Setlist:
Intro tape with Soundscape track from Open Your Eye CD and Firebird Suite
Roundabout
Owner of a Lonely Heart
Time & a Word
Mood for a Day
Onward
Keyboard solo/And You & I
Rhythm of Love
Tales from Topographic Oceans medley
Heart of the Sunrise
Long Distance Runaround
Drum solo/The Fish
Yours is No Disgrace
Starship Trooper
 
 
(All photos © Ed Sander) |
