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On Thursday I saw Genesis perform at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow. In fact I made a complete evening of it with one of my housemates. So it was drinks, a Genesis themed dinner, t-shirts and concert.
Why the Hydro when I live on the south coast, this is a long story and I am not going to bore you with it, but in short I was scheduled to be in Scotland on the original dates that were posponed by COVID.
Meet the Band
The 2021 touring band is the core band 'Mike, Tony and Phil'. It surprised me than many people that I have spoken to though Phil wasn't touring. But he is, but in the reduced capacity of just the lead singer, no drumming duties due to his health issues.
Supporting the core members are:
Daryl Stuermer on Guitar and Bass duty. He has been with the band since the '...Then There Were Three' tour.
Nic Colins on Drums. If you are thinking is there a relationship to Phil. Yep! He is Phil's son. And he can't half play the drums and was a good choice to replace Chester Thompson who retired between the 2007 tour and this tour.
Daniel Pearce on backing vocals and percussion
Patrick Smyth on backing vocals
Genesis to me..
I was introduced to Genesis by my German pen pal's older brother in 1982. In fact he introduced me to two bands during my first trip to Germany, one being Genesis and the other the American rock group Toto.
He had three of Genesis albums; Duke, Abacab and ...Then There Were Three. And it was the last album that got me hooked. '...Then There Were Three', was the statement album that in the previous years both Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett had left the band and not there were only three core members left that would make the cross over from UK Progressive Rock Group to Global Super Group.
I have never forgotten the album cover, it was a double ablum sleeve with the picture of three shadowy figures, one lighting a cigarette and another with a light disapearing across the fold and down the an electrical network. This so capture my imagination and even today reminds me of Germany in the fall.
The album generate the single 'Follow You, Follow Me' which was the bands first single charts success in both the UK and US charts. And more importantly opened the band up to people that were not purely into the progressive rock scene of the 70's.
Eversince I have been a fan of both the band and the solo projects undertaken by the members; 'Mike and the Mechanics', Tony's solo work and Phil's solo work plus the work done by both Steve and Peter.
Enough of the History the Gig
Phil does not look well and comes onto the stage with a walking stick. But despit the fact of Phil's health the band were still on stage for 2.5 hours. With most performers you are lucky to get 1.5 hours although the norm now seems to be 1 plus 1 hour with an interlude to allow us old foke to use the facilities (the bar of course)! But this was straight 2.5 hours of pure Genesis bliss
As has been the norm, and signiture, the band opened with Dukes Intro from the album of the same name and then straight into 'Turn It On Again' also from the same ablum. The repetitive guitar strumming, followed by two power chords and the drums then coming in. That was the last time most of the crowd sat down to the end.
If you had never been to a Genesis concert before it is likely that you would know almost all of the songs that they played, although I suspect you might not have known that Genesis was behind them.
'Turn It On' is followed by a rendition of 'Mama' from the Genesis ablum where Phil sings into a red light that whites him out and makes him look quite creapy. And then into 'Land of Confusion' where the visual artist has constructed a new video based on COVID and toilet roles. Very amusing.
Tony's Keyboards
As this is a bolg about keyboards and such like I should take five minutes to report back on Tony's keyboard setup.
The Korg OASYS is the most obvious keyboard, this looks like a 61 note version based on the case size as opposed to the 88 key versions used on the last tour.
The high keyboard on the left is a Korg Wavestation (1st Gen), but I am not sure what the lower keyboard on the left is, although I am pretty sure that it is a MIDI controller as opposed to a sound generating keyboard. One of Genesis's techs has let on that only the OASYS generates sound, the rest of the sounds are generated through VST's loaded into Main Stage.
During the acoustic set Tony also plays a Roland A-80 MIDI stage controller.
Concert Visuals
It is obvious that the band had spent along time working on the visuals that accompany the music. And they didn't dispoint the audience. I have been thinking how would I describe the visuals and the phrase 'simple and immersive' really sums it up. Although there are lots of lights overhead they are used in a simple way and your focus is really on the band and the images being projected onto the large video walls that are behind the band.
For me one of the best visuals was during the 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight' track late in the set where the video screen was split up into the spines of cassettes (yes you heard me correctly cassettes). Each cassette spine then received the image of an origianal ablum cover. Over the course of the song the cassettes morphed into visuals from the bands past;
videos of the band playing, including the british weekly chart show 'Top of the pops', videos released to support the singles and concerts
videos of the band members over the years, including the touring band; Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Anthony Phillips, Chester Thompson
Album graphics
Headlines and news over the years
This was so well done it really resonated with me that this is probably the last time we will see Genesis on stage.
The Accoustic Set
As is now common with many bands, in the middle of the set the band re-arranges itseft to undertake a more personal set or the Accoustic Set.
During this set the band play three numbers that really suit this arrangement 'That's All', 'The Lamb Lies down on Broadway' and one of my favorites 'Follow you, Follow me'.
To finish
The encore is also special. One of the tracks played in not unexpected as it hasn't been played up to this point. 'We can't dance'. The second track comes from one of the older Gabriel era albums and was a great pleasure to hear them play. And no it was not 'Suppers Ready' like many in the audience chanted.
While I don't think this trio will tour again, I do secretely hope that they de-camp after this tour to the studios in Surrey and see if they can put together some more studio magic before you finally put it to bed.
So come on guys 'Turn it on again'.
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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.
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