.png)
As the UK starts to open up so does the opportunity to get out in to the local, (well localish) music venues. Last night was a trip along the cost to Portsmouth, remembering that Goodwood is hosting the Revival this weekend and that would wreak havoc on the coast roads.
For those that don't live in the UK or have no interest in motor sport, the Goodwood Revival is an event that happens in the Autumn (or fall for my friends accross the pond). Many people don't know that in the 1960's the motor racing circuit at Goodwood was on par with the Silverstone of the day. It was closed in 1966 by the then Duke of Richmond who owned the Goodwood estate and feared that a major accident might occur.
In 1998 the current Duke of Richmond (who is a motor enthusiast) came up with the concept of the Revival and it has been a fixture on the south coast since (pandemic excluded).
It has 2 basic purposes:
It hosts motor racing for vehicles built before 1966 (I think) and shows of the golden age of motor racing including Formula 1 and GT racing being driven by welll know racing drivers. In fact the racing is rather good as the track consists of long hi
ghspeed straights.
An excuse for the public to dress up in costume from the 1940's, 50's and 60's when woman wore dressed that were about 25 feet wide and men tweed jackets.
Anyway I completely digress!
Last nights trip was to see the tribute band 'Genesis Connected'. Now Genesis fans normally break into two camps. The prog rock hard liners that believe Phil Colins steared the band into pop music and the fans that prefer the lighter music following the departure of Peter Gabriel and Steve Hacket. Personally I like both erars of Genesis.
Genesis Connected play into that later phase of the band, the Bank, Rutherford, Collins era. Put basically you would not get people dancing in the isles at a Gabriel era prog rock set!
I posted on Instgram that I throughly enjoyed the evening. The front man Pete Bultitude plays the role of Collin's in being the lead signer and playing mean drums. There are sections in the show where Pete and Drummer Marty Wild go into drum duals as Collins would have done with Chester Thompson over the years when they played together as either the Phil Collins band or the Genesis touring band.
The band ran though a series of numbers from Mike Ritherford's other band (Mike and the Mechanics), Peter Gabriel and Phil Colins solo carears as well as the core Genesis. But this is not done as a string of tracks as many other tributes do, but broken with chat and humour. My partner in crime for the night commeted that the bass player Nick Smith, apart from reminding her of Bill Bailey, was a real character during the performance.
The vocal duties while in the main being undertaken by Pete were also shared with the keyboard player Chris Woods. It is at this point and given that this is a EDM blog I should state that Chris used a Roland X7 and Yamaha CP4 stage piano as the main keyboards and controllers. There was a computer visable in the background I suspect running a series of VST's in something like mainstage to mimic Tony Banks setups when the tracks were originally recorded. But as I was there to listern I really didn't undertake too much investigation.
And finally the guitar player Lee Spence can play a lick or two, probably more Darrel Stuermer than Rutherford.
It was really a shame that the performance suffered from covid empathy, in that I think people of the Genesis era are still afraid to venture out. I see this alot locally in the evening when walking past a pub that would normally be packed on Friday or Saturday evening being less that half full at the moment. But the people that were there were up in the isle dancing away and enjoying themselves.
The other thing I liked was that they played a few songs across the many of the 80's ablums that were relaese:
'That's All' from the 'Mama' album. This was my first experience of Genesis as a 12 year old, being more fully introduced to them 3 or 4 month later by my German penpal's brother.
'Turn it on Again' from the 'Duke' album. I just love the tumping repeative base on this track. You can dance to it, but it's probably not cool.
'Ilegal Alien' (some might know as 'Home by the Sea') again from the 'Mama' ablum. This has one of those repeatitive but haunting lyrics
'In the Air Tonight' the title track from the same ablum. Pete showed us that he could have been the Gorrilla in the Cadburys advert.
'Land of Confusion' from the 'Invisable Touch' album was played with full enthusiem and the isles were full.
'All I need is a Miracle' from the Mike+ Mechnics album. I saw Mike and the Mechanics a few years ago in Guildford and this rendition was equally as good.
I am a huge fan of the '...And Then There Were Three...' album. Partly because this was the album that my afformentioned penpal's brother played me in Germany in 1983 and because it is just a brillient ablum. It spawned two unexpected hits in 'Many to Many' and 'Follow You, Follow Me'. Unfortunately neither made it into the slower section. Shame, maybe next time chaps.
Anyway if you see Genesis Connected at a venue near you, pop along, not only to support live music, but also because you're have a good time listerning to good music played live.
And no they did not play 'Supper's Ready'
Genesis Connected Website: www.genesisconnected.com
About the Author
Jon describes himself as a frustrated musician with a passion for the electronic instruments that help him and other musicians be creative. He started playing keyboards in his late teens and re-ignited his passion and built a new studio following his seperation.
About the Blog
The Blog, Website and YouTube channel were started to share Jon's experiences and views on the industry at large and how these effect the small musician. Plus technical tips how to configure and maintain the equipment he owns.
Comments