Apologies for the delay, readers, fans, friends and family. I was moving. Expect a barrage of activity once the new place gets internet.
My relationship with Genesis is much akin to that of a well-liked acquaintance. Someone you really enjoy seeing and talking to when you run into them at parties, concerts, or on the street. You both say, “we should get together,” and maybe you mean it, or maybe you don’t, but neither of you puts forth the effort beyond then. Maybe you’re busy, maybe other people are higher on your priority list, or maybe that’s just the extent of your understanding.
T-Sides has written before about the predicament in reviewing classic rock artists, but nevertheless, here I am again. For the same reason that acts like Genesis are so difficult for someone my age to review is why we must – the generation in grade school now and will, no doubt, eventually discover and enjoy these musical relics, but will never be able to witness them, even at the coals and embers end of their glory. Like Astroland at Coney Island, or CBGB, such stamps of culture deserve to be appreciated throughout the duration of their existence. The size of Genesis’ dent on the musical map is debatable, but the dent is there.
Nine out of ten critics will tell you there’s not much concrete difference between the Genesis of Peter Gabriel and the Genesis of Phil Collins (I tend to prefer Gabriel, but that’s partly because I prefer his solo work). Whether or not there’s much difference between the two, on Tuesday night, the crowd was more or less led to believe that it was Collins’ show. Was the rest of the band there? Between his constant dominance of the mic and the stage, and the others’ head-nodding restraint, who could tell? This would’ve been easier to accept as standard front-man/band dynamic if it weren’t for Collins’ hokey audience participation antics that seemed to bore even him, though he continued to fall back on them for entertainment every half an hour.
Despite the band’s insistence that they felt the night was special, the audience seemed only half-heartedly appreciative, with most people just sitting down and nodding – which could be a testament to the band’s lackluster performance, the overall age of the crowd, the fact that it was a Tuesday, or more likely, some combination of the three.
Genesis: “Mama” (download)
Genesis: “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” (download)
Genesis: “Invisible Touch” (download)
Still, the evening was not without its moments – the most energizing points included the uncomfortably creepy “Mama” from their self-titled ’83 release and “Firth of Fifth” and “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” from ‘73’s Selling England By The Pound (unfortunately, “More Fool Me,” perhaps the best Collins’-fronted track, was absent). Collins proved unashamed of his aging – or perhaps just self-obsessed – when he performed his standard tambourine juggling during “Wardrobe” while a clip of him doing the same dance in his younger days played simultaneously in the background (along with other pictures from those days, including a group photo, which the shape of the screen interestingly cropped part of Gabriel’s head). The overall song selection proved diverse, but the star of the evening was Invisible Touch, as the setlist included nearly all of the tracks from that release.
Once again, musical mementos of decades past prove difficult to critique. While their performance wasn’t exactly atrocious, it wasn’t especially memorable, either. It was just hard to feel strongly about the show one way or another – but I did listen to “Biko” and “More Fool Me” on the subway ride home.
Image courtesy flickr user Lall
8 comments
Py Korry says:
Oct 5, 2007
I don’t know if you saw Genesis open the Live Earth concert, but it was the most borning performance to watch. I love Phil as drummer (back in the day, of course), but without Gabriel, this version of Genesis might as well be called the “Phil Collins Sings His Genesis Hits Tour.”
Taylor says:
Oct 5, 2007
this version of Genesis might as well be called the “Phil Collins Sings His Genesis Hits Tour.â€
precisely.
Private Beach says:
Oct 24, 2007
9 out of 10 critics can say what they like, but I’ve always felt that the Collins-led Genesis was a pale shadow of the Gabriel version. Can you imagine Collins ever coming up with something as complex and imaginative as “Supper’s Ready”?
Marcelo says:
Oct 31, 2007
I’m from Argentina, I travelled to NY and NJ just to see their show, and it was shocking, I’m tired to listen all the time Gabriel’s era is better than Phil’s,
I can’t believe you don’t highlight the volume, the accuracy and band’s performance in songs as In the Cage/Cinema Show/Duke’s travel , Home by the sea , Domino , Los Endos. In that stage was the most brilliant keyboardist and his brain (i think you don’t know his name), showing the world you can do good music.
Please!!!
you’ll never see something like that again
Bye
Marcelo
Madgirlmoon says:
Oct 31, 2007
Hello ‘Hit’ people! Well, what else would you expect coming from americans?.. I’m aware you poor and ignorant people, have never been able to assimilate anything more complex than Bruce Springsteen.. You are despising a movement full of art, expression and imagination, your little minds get perturbed with such poetry.. Do us a favour, and never repeat what you’ve just said, you should be ashamed..
Taylor says:
Oct 31, 2007
It’s not about Genesis as a band – there’s music of theirs that I like and enjoy that isn’t the “hits.” It’s about their dispassionate live performance. Technical ability is important, but so is keeping the audience interested, which they had trouble doing. I wasn’t the only one who felt this way – which is part of the reason why I link to other reviews of the performance.
Marcelo says:
Nov 2, 2007
dispassionate live performance? I repeat it: Ican’t believe you don’t highlight the volume, the accuracy and band’s performance in songs as In the Cage/Cinema Show/Duke’s travel , Home by the sea , Domino , Los Endos.
Besides, what would you do if someone near to you leave his sit in the middle of in the cage and then come two songs later with a lighted-glass Margarita? I saw that all the show.
Passion is in their music.
Let’s destroy rock and roll stereotipes
best regards
Taylor says:
Nov 2, 2007
Again, volume and accuracy are important in a performance, absolutely, and I give them credit for that – but it was clear that the band members were bored (Collins really overdid it with all of his picture-taking gimmicks), and the audience was supremely bored by their boredom (less people would have wanted to leave for Margaritas if they were being truly entertained).