The announcement the Pink Floyd have finally called it a day leaves Yes as just about the last ones standing of the big British prog-rock bands from the 1970s. They've gone through so many lineup changes over the years that they've become something of a soap opera; I've lost count of how many times Rick Wakeman has left and rejoined. Fortunately he's back with them for this tour.

The sound was superb; I've never been to show at the MEN Arena before; but I've suffered bad sound in enormodomes; Wembley Arena in London was particularly horrible. But this time they got the sound balance just about right, and the twiddly bits (of which there were a great many) weren't lost in the echoes.

The band were on top form musically; especially Steve Howe. As I overheard on the tram on the way home "A bunch of granddads can show younger bands something".

The set predictably drew heavily from the band's 70s heyday, although later material wasn't neglected entirely. With such an extensive back catalogue they can't play everyone's favourites, but most of the standards were there. I won't give you a song-by-song account; the setlist seemed identical to Scott's account, except there was only time for one encore, so unfortunately we didn't get "Soon".

Some random observations:

"Mind Drive", from 1996's "Keys to Ascension II" was just awesome. It always was the standout song from their patchy 90s' and 00s' albums; Live, this epic is close to being the high point of the show.

"South Side of the Sky" always reminds me somehow of Lovecraft's "The Mountains of Madness", and this was reinforced by the inflatable Roger Dean scenery. The thing suspended above the band looked more than bit like the plush shoggoths I've seen on sale. In fact, the whole stage set looked disturbingly cthulhoid.

The acoustic set immediately after the interval showed some interesting reworkings of older songs, and Rick Wakeman on the grand piano was especially good in this section of the show. "Roundabout" works surprising well as a Chicago blues number. Likewise "Owner of a Lonely Heart", with a wonderful piano solo replacing the original guitar solo, and dramatic piano chords replacing those cheesy 80s synths.

While I've never been a great fan of "Tales from Topographic Oceans", the percussion section of set closer "Ritual" was pretty spectacular, with Chris Squire and Jon Anderson joining Alan White on percussion accompanied by synthesised swooshes from Wakeman.

"Starship Trooper" is the only possible encore, and it didn't disappoint. Overall, a superb show, and proof that, even if recent albums have been patchy, they're very far from being a spent force live.