Disc 1:  And You And I (Apocalypse), Siberian Khatru, I've Seen All Good People, Ram (Howe), Hold Out Your Hand/You By My Side (Squire), Roundabout, Break Away From It All (Howe), Beginnings (Howe), One Way Rag (White), Alan White solo, Song Of Innocence, Cachaca (Baiao) (Moraz), Sound Chaser

Disc 2:  harp solo, Heart Of The Sunrise, Sweet Dreams.  Bonus tracks, Nashville, TN - June 1st, 1976:  The Gates Of Delirium.  Tour rehearsals May, 1976:  The Remembering

This is one of the most interesting Yes releases this year.  When Highland released Solo Chaser I wondered by or if someone would release the complete Roanoke tape sometime in the future.  Only a month later the cdr label Blue Cafe pulls this title out of the hat.  This tape is the complete opening night of Yes' 1976 "Solo album" tour.  Their initial plan was to feature one song from each of their albums.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) they abandoned the idea after the first week and build a set around their previous tour.  It is painfully obvious after hearing this that they made the right decision.  The set just didn't work and you can hear the impatience of the crowd by the time they reach "Heart Of The Sunrise".

Here we have a very rare glimpse into a painfully misunderstood and under represented era of Yes' long history.  The tape is fair at best, just bearly listenable.  But what we hear are the few live renditions of Chris Squire's "Hold Out Your Hand" and Alan White's "One Way Rag" (whose cd is currently out of print).  White's drum solo after his song sounds like the drum section of "Ritual" with the sythnesized drum sound and chimes banging away.  The set also includes "Roundabout" and "Sound Chaser" but in very strange positions (the former being the usual encore and the latter being either the set opener or second number).  Further there are no epics (no "Gates of Delirium" or "Close To The Edge"). 

Highland released a big chunk of this show before on Excerpts From Solo Album (HL409), but Blue Cafe offers the complete concert.  They have also included "Gates" from the Nashville show and "The Remembering" from the tour rehearsals which was previously released on Highland (Solo Rehersals HL089#Y17) and offers no significant upgrade in sound.  The rehearsal tape has usually been attributed to Millersville, Pennsylvania although other sources say it was either May 26th or May 27th in Roanoke.  T he packaging is a mediocre single printed insert with fuzzy pictures.  But that is more than offset by the historical significance of the Roanoke set and it's great to finally hear the complete tape.