The Long-Lost Roger Dean Stages
What happened to the stages we once knew so well?
by David Watkinson
In the world of YES there are still some mysteries to be solved and eventually put to bed if possible.
There are questions about what happened to some long-lost YES items, such as
- the film tapes for the 1976 USA tour (Yessongs 2)
- the Top of The Pops TV appearance video
- was there ever a tiny film clip of YES performing at the Cream concert
- did anyone take a photo of the first ever YES show
- …and what happened to the fantastic Roger & Martyn Dean stage sets?
Tracking down answers to these puzzling questions has been a bit of an obsession for me, and the key to it all is persistence – to always keep looking. I thought I was near to finding the Yessongs 2 material in Canada a few years ago, but alas it faded away. BBC film of old music programs was found only a couple of years ago, there was no YES items included but discoveries still happen a lot. Old YES gig videos have materialised in the last two years too, so hope should always be there, I think. A stage prop from ABWH’s promotional video came up at auction at one point, and so it is a, now you see it, now you don’t moment! YES, items can crop up in the unlikeliest of places, so keep those eyes peeled, as I recall when I was living in Brighton in the 1980s catching a glimpse of a front of stage light pod from the Tales From Topographic Oceans tour on the front lawn of Roger Dean’s house, as it was then in Beaconsfield Villas. Just sitting there, larger than you think, dark green and a little worse for wear. It seems that storage was always an issue, so why not have it in the front garden?
Recently, prompted by a photograph, I began my detective work once again on some of the long-lost Roger Dean stage sets that I had looked for some years before. I drew on the urban legends of “it was in Alan White’s Lake,” and “it’s somewhere in Wales in the UK.” I did some (actually, quite a lot of) investigation. It appears that normal bits of YES stages are spread about the world, with some in London, Devon, Sussex, and North America. You would think that all these historic items would be treasured enough, valuable, iconic, to have all been kept together, but no, it turns out, they have not.
This article comes together from sources such as newspapers, family members, internet searches, Facebook, archives on the net, obituaries, fanzines, cuttings and sometimes coincidences and remarkable tip-offs. I am motivated to do this because they are iconic items in YES’ history. I feel joy at the thought of these visionary sound and lighting landscape works of art, that represent an era that was unique for YES, being found and restored.
Now for the first time I can relate the journey of some of these long-lost stages and the story of a special YES fan who owned them.
Firstly though, exactly which ones are we talking about here from the many years of touring? Well, some of the key classic ones, such as, the YES stage sets for Tales From Topographic Oceans of 1973/4, Relayer 1975, Going for The One 1977, and the UK Drama tour of 1980.
The Topographic Oceans set then, designed and built by Roger and Martyn Dean with the help of a dedicated team of Clive Richardson, Felicity Youette, and A & B Welding. Also, part of this were the light and sound crew of Al Winters and John Timperley, and the perennial YES legends, Clair Bros, Mike Roth, Adam Wildi, Michael Tait, Ian Peacock, Andrew Barker, Alistair Robinson, and Roy Clair.
The stages were always dramatic and fresh, unconventional, sublime, mind-blowing, familiar yet confusing, all those things I hear you say? Yes of course, just remind yourself with these images on their greatness, so what happened after the tours were done?
Chris Squire’s Garden
Following a few important YES tours and events (including Tales From Topographic Oceans, the Reading Rock Festival, Going For The One and the UK Drama tours), the storage solutions for these large and impressive structures became an issue. I am uncertain whether it was an open-arm-happy-to-store-them gesture from Chris or Alan, or just a needs-must situation that arose, leading to some of the sets being stored in his large garden of his home (called New Pipers) in Surrey. The photo below is from the music newspaper press in the UK, a photoshoot taken around Chris’s house and garden, this one though being the only one showing the wonderful stage creation, as possibly the world’s greatest garden seat.
Chris commented on the stage design changes in an interview in the Melody Maker in 1977, “What’s coming out lately is some of the best music we’ve ever played (GFTO). In the past we’ve had rather elaborate, complicated stage sets but this time that side of it is much simpler although it’s probably more effective. Our lighting men have found ways of creating illusion with very little.”
Fans could always argue which was the best stage design, but most would agree that all the stages through the 1970’s were fantastic. A musician around this time thought similar and as a YES fan, Chelsea Sykes from LA, USA, reflects on moments working with Chris Squire in his studio and seeing the gardens grand additions.
“We were doing funk stuff that leaned heavy upon the bass. So, we went into the studio with Chris and Andrew Jackman, producing. Then we did the overdubs at Chris’ place in Virginia Waters, Surrey. I was there while he was doing his solo album Fish Out of Water. I was literally sitting there watching him sing ‘When your saviour lets you down…you will find….’ We had fun, jamming, getting stoned, roaming through his garden (forest) with the giant mushrooms from the stage sets.”
Confirming date-wise again where at least some stage sections had been stored in 1975/6.
Alan White’s Garden Lake
Six years later in 1981 more YES stages found their way to Oxfordshire, UK, after the important, classic, yet divisive 1980 Drama album tour. In the early 1980s several types of the stages were in the back garden and lake of Alan White! In 1982 in the ninth edition of the UK YES fanzine Relayer, in a write-up called ‘Observations from a Mill’, the editor wrote about rock giants attending Alan White’s wedding reception in Oxford, 23 May 1981, such as Chris Squire, Jimmy Page and Trevor Horn. The key though was that he also said, “Roger Dean wasn’t there, but half of his stage sets were.” Thus, giving us a date to go on as they still owned them, and would have been visible and not deep under water, but where did they go next?
A YESfan’s Dream Garden
It is hard to say out of the list I made at the top of the article which fans would think would be number one in finding, but these stages, surely must be near the top. And now for the reason for this article. From a chance observation a unique story evolved around a YES fan called Colin. From my research and interviews with his brother Terry talking about Colin, I think Colin and I would have had so much in common and would have been good YES friends for sure, as a similar path we have trodden. True elevated levels of geekiness made him do the right things to finally find the ultimate collectables, and I think many a fan would have been jealous of Colin by owning them.
Colin was well-liked by friends and family, his YES interest gained him even more friends who were farther away than the small Welsh town he lived in, in the UK. He was given exclusive access to plenty of YES events which lead to Colin owning the king of memorabilia pieces. Colin’s brother Terry speaking in November 2023 relayed the beginnings: “It all started with Colin becoming a YES fan after I went to a YES concert in Cardiff in the early 1970’s promoting their Tales From Topographic Oceans Album. I bought the album and played it a lot at home and Colin used to listen to it, a lot, and that’s when he got into YES.”
Some interesting facts about Colin:
- he was a drummer in a local band
- after going to America to watch YES, he and Alan White became friends
- the band used to call Colin ‘Dinky’ because he was small
- he enjoyed rare access to Chris’s studio
- Colin was at Jon Anderson’s wedding, not as a guest, but as an observer
Great timing helped Colin, as Alan White was open about the stage sets and their condition, when Colin rang him for one of his ordinary chats. Finding out they were still around but in a poor state, he asked if he could have any. Alan eventually said yes, made the decision to let Colin have anything he could find, and had it sent down to Colin’s house in Cardiff. This is all sounding quite normal behaviour, but it had never happened before in YES’ history, and it must be said, it was an incredibly special event to happen.
Colin also visited Chris Squire’s house in Virginia Waters in Surrey, with a mate Phillip, he chatted to the family and built a nice fan relationship up. Colin was a person who kept himself to himself really but came out of his shell when talking about YES. Anyone who had never heard of YES would, of course, not know what the stage set was all about as such, or its significance to fans, but Colin’s enthusiasm would carry people along, even to non-YES heads. Colin loved his music and being a drummer was his way of life, he played in a few local bands which unfortunately did not go anywhere other than local clubs etc, but he loved to play. His daytime job was as a printer in his local town. His hobby though, he loved all things YES.
Way back in the olden days of YES fandom, around 2001, there was YesNet, which was part of the growing internet presence of Yesworld.com. It was a place for all things YES now that the fanzine world of information was fading away. It was here, that on a rare occasion, Colin went on record speaking about the YES Dean stages, that had been in his garden a year or so and he was now ready to chat about it all.
Colin explained, “Back in 1994 on a pilgrimage to the homes of the YES members, and a meeting with Nikki Squire (wife then of Chris Squire) I ended up at Alan’s Oxfordshire home. After a chance meeting with him, and several telephone calls later, I was suddenly the proud owner of several parts of the Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Drama stage sets which were in Alan’s Garden. With a close friend Darren, we managed to transport the Roger Dean creations from Alan’s country home to my semi-detached property here in Cardiff. Incredibly what looked bulky items in an oxford garden suddenly took on gigantic proportions when set up in the back yard.
“The full set was put together and illuminated and when switched on the whole garden became magical. Underwater barnacles as big as melons glowing in green and orange, ships funnels sinking below the icy waters of the Drama set and, centre stage, the lung fish and crab that once were set above Alan’s drum kit, exploding to life every night as YES played Ritual from the Tales From Topographic Oceans album. The first night of switching on was enjoyed with several friends and was incredibly cosmic, minds exploding like mother earth on the Fragile album, and we were all blown away like Anderson’s Moorglade
“Unfortunately, when I acquired the stage set from Alan, one of the lungfish from above his drum kit was missing—where was its partner? Although the one I had was beautifully painted in the form of a huge butterfly, it did look as if it was missing its partner. Back to Oxford. There were no clues to its existence and maybe it did not now exist and further, the new residents in Alan’s former home had no sightings of the missing fin. After a few fruitless hours of searching Roy and I stood to view the lake at the side of the house and there like a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster (‘Nessy,’ a Scottish folklore of a creature that lives in the lake) we observed a curved tip an inch or two above the surface. In we went for the catch and although in poor condition from its time below the Topographic Lake—it was the missing fin!
After speaking with the band, we realised that there was some interest in the stage set from fans as well as the band members. By chance we were also fortunate enough to meet Roger Dean who – when told of the illuminated YES set being in my garden – said that he had heard about it and exclaimed that ‘you must be mad.’”
In November 2023, Darren, the long-term partner of Colin, spoke enthusiastically to me about Colin’s YES passion.
“Colin started drumming and getting into YES about 1977, swiftly becoming known at the YES shows, he went on to be friends with Alan White and his family. This also led to meetings with Chris Squire and subsequently Colin’s drumming was noticed. He was allowed to play drums around the time Nikki Squire made her band’s album Esquire, though not appearing on the album in the end he did enjoy his visit there.
“In the 1980s Colin went to as many YES gigs as possible going backstage to parties and to as many events as possible. He drummed for local bands including well known artists such as Dianna Doors and Shirley Bassey.
“Colin went to view the stage sets a day or two before he arranged a big box-van to collect them up. Colin, Darren, and a friend carried the stages through the lengthy gardens by the lake.
“The stages had been sat a good while and were covered in moss, leaves and were in a very weathered state. Next door to the stages was a large tatty, broken traditional greenhouse. With all its windows broken and was in a near falling down state, however surprisingly it was full of touring equipment such as speaker cabinets, cases, equipment, and amplifiers, again in a weathered state. They would be left and puzzled over while the main task of removing the stage continued. The stages were slightly different in their construction with the bigger items having internal structural supporting frames, whereas the barnacles centre piece was all fibreglass. It all was packed into the van as carefully as possible and covered with blankets.”
Having picked it all up, and a friendly wave goodbye given from Alan’s place at Kirtlington in Oxfordshire, another friend Alan who was Colin’s lodger for a while, offered to help. All of them were younger and skinnier and aged about 25 years old, in the mid-1990s. Colin was always known for getting his own way, apparently, and roping in others to help was what he could do with ease. Everyone had to clear the back garden of trees and bushes and build a platform for it to sit on. Underneath the centre pod stood a pond, with goldfish and Koi carp, very Topographic Oceans, but it had to be worked around to make it all work.
The hardest part of the move was getting it through the two houses and lifting it over eight-foot fence pillars. Although the weight was in the framework rather than the fibreglass moulds, it was still a full-on lift. Colin’s newly acquired road crew left it all intact with as much of the fittings and lights as was possible. The rest was re-wired later with great care and thought. They also re-affixed the barnacles in the centre piece which had fallen off due to wear and tear.
Right: This stage section at one point had the shed under it, this was removed, and a drum kit set up so that Topographic Oceans could be played along with the light show. (Photo: Darren Allen/David Watkinson)
Right: YES, on the 1980 UK tour, showing the lighting rig and stage set. (David Watkinson collection)
Right: The YES UK Drama tour at the Deeside Leisure Centre, photos showing the dramatic sharp edged kryptonite icicles stage design, and funnel, tubes, sound speaker type pipes. Along with the jagged edged lightning strike backdrops. (David Watkinson Collection)
When it was clear weather, the crew of mates came back to the garden to fix up the aging stages. They climbed into them with their bare arms showing, during that summer and wriggled about inside the tunnels, causing burns and itching from the materials. But they all agreed it was worth fixing up for Colin. They were getting excited about the project just as much as he was.
Another friend of Colin’s from Wales, Alan Baker, was one of the key helpers who also went to Chris Squire’s and Alan’s homes. He spoke in 2023 about the rescue and repair of the Dean sets.
“I helped to get the set out of the baking sun. I thought what the heck does he want to do with this lot! Colin showed me an old video of YES and said he wanted to do that! I was a DJ so sorted the wires out, patched it up, painted the fiberglass, replaced some fittings and a lighting controller, and knew how to get it to work. They were falling apart when we dug them out, all a bit sad.”
Among the finds, the large 1977 roof hung, mirrored laser screens. These sections were seven feet square, and Colin had three of them from the tour. They were made from the same material as a mirror ball: concave in shape and constructed from many mirror-ball pieces stuck together. One panel was in poor condition, but two were good, having a steel frame with a plywood backing and fiberglass all round it. All of them had mirrored bits added. One day in summer the sun reflected the strong rays off them, and it started to melt a plastic chair in Colin’s back garden, it acted like a parabolic magnifier! Magnification in progress no less.
The spectacular YES tour for the Going for The One album holds a special point of interest: the dreamy section of harp and organ work, called Flight Jam featuring Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, and the middle section in the track Awaken. This is when the lasers shone and were bounced off the panels to create a sparkling dancing moving effect, which moved as the notes were played. I saw this in the UK, and it was a magical moment of beauty, a perfect cojoining of thousands of light points shining, glistening to the music. Some video is available of this on YouTube but being at a show it was spectacular.
Right: Colin outside the Chris Squire household called ‘New Pipers.’ (Photos: The South Wales Echo/Reach and Allen Baker/David Watkinson).
Chris Berry was a friend of Colin’s, and he too was a YES fan. His love for YES began with him enjoying Rick Wakeman’s albums. Then one day, as many did in the UK, he turned on the BBC to listen to the Friday Rock Show with Tommy Vance and what caught his ear this time was the song Awaken. This led to him buying some YES albums. Chris loved it all, the music and the album covers. He went to his first gig, ABWH at Wembley in 1989, which was the year he moved to Cardiff.
Chris read an article about the YES stage sets which were in a garden in Cardiff. The author, Colin Ellaway, invited interested fans to go round and see it. As it was an easy distance from his home, he persuaded his wife, Rosie, to go with him to have a look one Saturday afternoon. Chris arriving at the house explained that there were some french windows with a view to the lawn, and there against the back fence was the YES set. Mind blown by this oddity and madness they went out in the garden, and Chris persuaded Rosie to go up on the stage so he could photograph the set up. Colin had put lights inside some of the glass fibre structures by then and they gradually lit up as dusk set in. Chris said it really was magical.
Changes!
A number of difficult circumstances befell Colin which meant a hasty sell up and move away from his home in 2003. A friend moved the stage sets away, and it was stated that at that time they were in much better condition than they had been for decades. Friend Alan added, “We had to move fast away, and it was a shame that it all could not be taken, Colin would never have it thrown it all away, whatever happened. It came from a YES geek’s house, and I hope it has gone to another one.”
In November 2023 on my search for the lost stages, I spoke to a good friend of Colin’s called Carl, he had a pivotal role in storing the YES stage once it had been moved from Colin’s home.
“I only stored it for a matter of weeks, (six weeks or so) but I did look after it for a while when Colin was relocating. I returned it to him when he was settled. I cannot recall how many pieces there were, three or four.
“It was shipped back to Colin on a truck by some friends of my sons who did removals. I didn’t take any pics or video of the set at the time, it was simply covered and stored till returned.
“I can however confirm that there was some of the YES stage sets in the garden at Chris Squire’s New Pipers house (last visit), and it wasn’t the items Colin had. It was part of the same set but not anything Colin had. I understand, in view of the limited room though, that Colin let a friend have the set although I don’t know who this was.”
Colin moved from Cardiff to a village called Gilfach Goch, but with his new homes garden being too small for the stages, they moved on in the next part of the journey.
Long Distance Runaround
A few stories and leads came out over the years about what happened next. One is that Colin put it all up for sale on eBay. This was true and I have a vague recollection myself of it all up for just a couple of days. This was then taken down from eBay, with Colin having been advised to do so by those close to the band. Colin also offered it up for sale to several YES fans, but there were no takers, maybe due to the cost and its size.
Another version of the story was that it was sold or given to another YES fan before it disappeared once again. Having looked for diaries and contacts of Colin’s to see who would be the one most likely to have made the effort to retrieve them, pay the money, truck them away to storage, and never to talk about them again, then I am afraid I will need a little more luck for an answer.
At this stage then while we ponder on the above story let us have a quick overview of other YES stage’s whereabouts. The ‘Edge’ glitter disc, maybe the first stage prop for YES, I presume is long lost. Some of the Roger Dean front of stage pods are believed to be in store, the Chris Squire, garden barnacle stage is still missing, the three headed 1976 show is thought to be in the USA, some of the Roger Dean backdrops are believed to be stored in Sussex in the UK. Roger Dean remembers the backdrop for the three headed Relayer tour was cut up early in the tour as there was a mix up with the health and safety requirements. Lasers were cut out of the tours also for similar reasons. YES’ management commented on the classic stages saying, “Some were stored and decayed over the years. Some lost.”
The YES balloon, although not a stage prop, it was important, but has never been found, only a section saved and in private hands now. I would guess the 1977 wooden stage work would be gone as would the decoration for the Tormato and Union in the round shows, with the Olias of Sunhillow podium centre. Stage props for the 1980’s YES shows had been minimal, unless you count the lighting rigs, and of course ABWH in 1989 where Roger Dean’s work came back, I am unsure on the whereabouts for the back of stage lighting design he made.
The 1990’s YES shows were all about lighting rigs really, but the later blow-up stages are believed to be in store, but the self-playing drums, umm, maybe in store? Into the 2000s then, and the fabric hanging stages I would guess would have not survived their time on tour being too delicate and light in colour. From the late 2000s YES moved to present themselves with single screens to multiple high-resolution screens along with standard lighting rigs, so nothing to save or restore as such. Logistically this was an easier way to standardise each gig, and it was noted that YES in 2024 will own their digital screens instead of hiring them, so there could be some stability for the band going forward in presentation. It would also appear that a return to a simpler build stage design, like the GFTO stage would be incorporated in the 2024 tour.
Your Move?
I shall be forever curious about these YES stages and others. Although I have had a long-distance runaround trying to locate them, and I really thought I was within grasping distance a few times of doing so, there is going to be, I am afraid, an open ending to it all.
For these classic YES stages then, last seen in Wales quite some years ago, the trail may have dried up, and I have run out of people to ask about them, and everyone has said all they can to me, but all is not lost – what! It just can’t be, can it?
To put it into perspective, as far as I can tell with the work I have done, key old school YESfans, family, friends, the local tip, newspapers, YES, serious collectors, people around YES, nor management know where the Colin stages are.
Could they be with a very private YES collector in Wales or outer Scotland, the U.S.A or did they get shipped abroad or even thrown away and smashed up? I am guessing with publishing this very article, it could bring in the final details at last, which I would be happy to know, good or bad. I have tried hard to locate them, as I wanted to save and share them all with fans again, and to tell this fascinating story.
I hope along the way that you have either learned a little more, or thought it was a fun journey following a YES fan called Colin, who did have a special time saving and enjoying these iconic Roger and Martyn Dean YES stages.
Keep Yessing All Good People
Click here to read more of David’s articles & essays on YEShistory.