Steve Howe: Blue Guitar Concert, Smithsonian, Washington, DC, January 28, 1998 The following is a note I posted to the AOL Yes bulletin board: From Dian Lau (YesTor@aol.com) (2/4/98): "I went to the (Washington) DC thing last Wednesday. It was in a small but nice auditorium at the Smithsonian Museum of American History (250 seats, sold out). Story behind the event (entitled "Blue Guitars"): The Chinery Collection, a guitar foundation based in Toms River, NJ, commissioned twenty-one archtop guitars by individual guitar makers. The instructions were to create an "acoustic archtop guitar eighteen inches wide and in the color blue." The resulting guitars are on display at the Smithsonian until October 1st. Martin Taylor and Steve Howe were the artists selected for the first of a series of concerts at the museum utilizing these "Blue Guitars. "There was a preconcert talk with two of the guitar makers. Then, Martin Taylor came out and played for about 40 minutes on one of the guitars - bluesy type stuff, I enjoyed it. Then, he went off and Steve came out to play on his own for about an hour! Didn't write down the order, but among other things he played 'Ram,' 'Clap' (of course!), 'Mood for a Day,' 'Masquerade,' 'The Valley of Rocks,' 'Sketches In The Sun,' 'Diary of a Man Who Vanished,' 'Bareback,' 'Ancient' excerpt (solo leading up to 'Leaves of Green,' and 'Leaves of Green') - basically all the stuff he had been playing/rotating during the tour. He talked a bit between songs, introducing them and such. He only "sang" on one tune, a short piece in which he vocalized some sounds, not singing any recognizable words. "The thing was... despite the intent of the concert, which was to showcase the "Blue Guitars" (three of which were prominently displayed on stage), he played his OWN YELLOW MARTIN for the whole first hour!! My friend in DC who I was there with (not a Yes fan), turned to me after three songs and said, "But he's not playing a blue guitar." Yeah, I wasn't exactly sure why he did that but hell, I enjoyed it anyway. :-) "After his acoustic set, he then played several pieces on an electric, again, one of his own instruments. Then Martin Taylor came back out and they did a few pieces together. For these Steve did finally play one of the featured instruments - it was a beautiful brilliant sky blue, sounded great too. I didn't recognize any of the things they played together. The last piece they did, they have apparently recorded (using vintage guitars from The Chinery Collection) for an upcoming release on MusicMasters (?) entitled "Masterpiece Guitars." The concert was over at about 10 PM... then it was a long drive back to Philly for me... had to get up early for work the next day. "I'm really glad I made the trip. I wasn't sure what to expect, although I *did* think that I would run into some fellow Yesfans there. The only person I recognized there was L.S., Steve's assistant and driver. The crowd seemed to be a mixture of regular Smithsonian-goers and guitar buffs/musicology folks. Some of the preconcert discussion was pretty technical as it related to various aspects of guitar-making - at least it sounded pretty technical to me. The audience was very polite, reserved - they did not seem familiar with Steve's repertoire, although there *was* a smattering of applause at the beginning of 'Mood for a Day.' For the most part people were very quiet and clapped only between pieces. (Flashback that just sprang to mind: The Beacon shows where you could barely hear Steve's set amid all the shouting and racket from the  audience.) It was definitely a different kind of event. "Well, I've gone on long enough. I feel fortunate that I was able to attend. Overall it was quite a pleasant evening. And get this... tickets were only $16! What a deal!!"

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Steve Howe: Blue Guitar Concert, Smithsonian, Washington, DC, January 28, 1998

The following is a note I posted to the AOL Yes bulletin board:

From Dian Lau (YesTor@aol.com) (2/4/98): "I went to the (Washington) DC thing last Wednesday. It was in a small but nice auditorium at the Smithsonian Museum of American History (250 seats, sold out). Story behind the event (entitled "Blue Guitars"): The Chinery Collection, a guitar foundation based in Toms River, NJ, commissioned twenty-one archtop guitars by individual guitar makers. The instructions were to create an "acoustic archtop guitar eighteen inches wide and in the color blue." The resulting guitars are on display at the Smithsonian until October 1st. Martin Taylor and Steve Howe were the artists selected for the first of a series of concerts at the museum utilizing these "Blue Guitars.

"There was a preconcert talk with two of the guitar makers. Then, Martin Taylor came out and played for about 40 minutes on one of the guitars - bluesy type stuff, I enjoyed it. Then, he went off and Steve came out to play on his own for about an hour! Didn't write down the order, but among other things he played 'Ram,' 'Clap' (of course!), 'Mood for a Day,' 'Masquerade,' 'The Valley of Rocks,' 'Sketches In The Sun,' 'Diary of a Man Who Vanished,' 'Bareback,' 'Ancient' excerpt (solo leading up to 'Leaves of Green,' and 'Leaves of Green') - basically all the stuff he had been playing/rotating during the tour. He talked a bit between songs, introducing them and such. He only "sang" on one tune, a short piece in which he vocalized some sounds, not singing any recognizable words. "The thing was... despite the intent of the concert, which was to showcase the "Blue Guitars" (three of which were prominently displayed on stage), he played his OWN YELLOW MARTIN for the whole first hour!! My friend in DC who I was there with (not a Yes fan), turned to me after three songs and said, "But he's not playing a blue guitar." Yeah, I wasn't exactly sure why he did that but hell, I enjoyed it anyway. :-)

"After his acoustic set, he then played several pieces on an electric, again, one of his own instruments. Then Martin Taylor came back out and they did a few pieces together. For these Steve did finally play one of the featured instruments - it was a beautiful brilliant sky blue, sounded great too. I didn't recognize any of the things they played together. The last piece they did, they have apparently recorded (using vintage guitars from The Chinery Collection) for an upcoming release on MusicMasters (?) entitled "Masterpiece Guitars." The concert was over at about 10 PM... then it was a long drive back to Philly for me... had to get up early for work the next day.

"I'm really glad I made the trip. I wasn't sure what to expect, although I *did* think that I would run into some fellow Yesfans there. The only person I recognized there was L.S., Steve's assistant and driver. The crowd seemed to be a mixture of regular Smithsonian-goers and guitar buffs/musicology folks. Some of the preconcert discussion was pretty technical as it related to various aspects of guitar-making - at least it sounded pretty technical to me. The audience was very polite, reserved - they did not seem familiar with Steve's repertoire, although there *was* a smattering of applause at the beginning of 'Mood for a Day.' For the most part people were very quiet and clapped only between pieces. (Flashback that just sprang to mind: The Beacon shows where you could barely hear Steve's set amid all the shouting and racket from the
audience.) It was definitely a different kind of event.

"Well, I've gone on long enough. I feel fortunate that I was able to attend. Overall it was quite a pleasant evening. And get this... tickets were only $16! What a deal!!"