Fragile Tour Explained

Concert Tour Name:	Fragile Tour
Artist:	Yes
Type:	World
Album:	Fragile
Start Date:	24 September 1971
End Date:	27 March 1972
Number Of Legs:	4
Number Of Shows:	115 (118 scheduled)
Last Tour:	The Yes Album Tour (1970–71)
This Tour:	Fragile Tour (1971–72)
Next Tour:	Close to the Edge Tour (1972–73)

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] 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.^[3]

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.^[4] Rick Wakeman had joined the band the previous month, spending August and early September in recording sessions for Fragile at London's Advision Studios.^{[5] [6]}

• 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.^{[7] [8]}

Support came from Jonathan Swift, Ten Years After, Mary Wells,^[9] 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:^[10]

• "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

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. 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.^[11] 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.

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Whipple . Peter . Index . https://web.archive.org/web/20011104071513/http://forgottenyesterdays.com/index.asp . dead . 4 November 2001 . Forgotten Yesterdays . 29 June 2012 .
2. Book: Watkinson, David. Yes : perpetual change : thirty years of Yes. 2000. Plexus. London. 0-85-965-297-1. 107.
3. Book: Wooding, Dan. Rick Wakeman : the caped crusader. 1979. Panther. London. 9780586048535. 73.
4. Book: Watkinson, David. Yes : perpetual change : thirty years of Yes. 2000. Plexus. London. 0-85-965-297-1. 8. registration.
5. Book: Welch, Chris. Close to the edge : the story of Yes. 2000. Omnibus. London. 0-7119-8041-1. 114. [Updated ed].
6. Book: Welch, Chris. Close to the edge : the story of Yes. 2000. Omnibus. London. 0-7119-8041-1. 115. [Updated ed].
7. Web site: Whipple . Peter . The Fragile Tour . https://web.archive.org/web/20030621160230/http://www.forgottenyesterdays.com/tour_listing.asp?s=5&tname=3&SortBy=tDate&so=asc&navb=4 . dead . 21 June 2003 . Forgotten Yesterdays . 29 June 2012 .
8. Book: Watkinson, David. Yes : perpetual change : thirty years of Yes. 2000. Plexus. London. 0-85-965-297-1. 106.
9. Book: Watkinson, David. Yes : perpetual change : thirty years of Yes. 2000. Plexus. London. 0-85-965-297-1. 105.
10. Web site: Fragile Tour – Tour Dates . https://web.archive.org/web/20030621160230/http://www.forgottenyesterdays.com/tour_listing.asp?s=5&tname=3&SortBy=tDate&so=asc&navb=4 . dead . 2003-06-21 . 2007-08-21 . 2013-10-04 .
11. Web site: Yesgigs 1966–1980. Sullivan. 30 June 2012. 20 August 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110820094603/http://m-ideas.com/sullivan/Yesgigs.html. dead.