By David O’Neill
Having been a Genesis fan since the days when Steve was in the band, this was a third time witnessing this impressive array of musicians for me, courtesy of a friend who had a spare ticket. Having attended both the ‘Foxtrot at 50’ and ‘Seconds’ Out shows, I was not going to miss another opportunity.
As in the prior cases, the first part was all Steve’s “gems”, commencing with the spectacular opener ‘The Devils Cathedral’, readily demonstrating the skills of all the musicians on the stage. ‘Every Day’ gave all the harmonic vocals a serious display.
‘The Sea Inside’ is a new track opening with a furious sea like drum beat before the vocals of Steve and Nad Sylvan gave rise to the vocals mainly sung by Steve. ‘Ace Of Wands’ demonstrated the virtuosity of all the main protagonists, especially the multi-instrumental ability (flute/sax, drum machine, keyboards) of Rob Townsend which continued into ‘The Steppes’ (minus the orchestral input obviously but nonetheless still very impressive!)
‘Camino Royale’ and the huge ‘Shadow Of The Hierophant’ finished the first part of the show-which Steve jokingly said ‘thanks and good night’ after.
Two of my favourite Genesis tracks opened the second set. First up was ‘Dancing With The Moonlit Knight’ (including the audience line after “Narcissus turned into a flower” of a chorus of “a flower!”) and ‘Cinema Show’, where Sylvan continued to demonstrate his tonal similarity to the originals – no mean feat!
‘Aisle of Plenty’ impressed me and many of the audience with Townsend continuing to impress and due to the extended piano skills of Lalle Larsson at the outro-really something to witness if you get chance on this tour.
Without drawing breath Larsson then ran into the opening piano of ‘Firth of Fifth’ before Nad powered the opening vocals with minimal effort from mid centre stage. Again, Townsend’s sax playing continued to impress, with the audience encouraged to clap along to the beat by Steve.
After these the usual ending of ‘Supper’s Ready’ apparently ended the Genesis set: or did it? No, of course not. After a brief interlude the encore included another of my favourites, ‘Dance On A Volcano’ followed by a prolonged drum solo by Felix Lehrman.
‘Los Endos’ did what it says on the tin and brought the set to its dramatic conclusion and a standing ovation from the very partisan crowd. Close your eyes and you could have witnessed early Genesis.
If you add into the musicianship the superb sound engineering and lighting display, it really was a brilliant show.
- The tour continues, with most dates sold out:
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