A Musical Interlude with Genesis, Steve Hackett and The Musical Box

 It has been an interesting month and a half for my concert attendance. October was supposed to be filled with Genesis music: two Genesis concerts in the UK and then Steve Hackett in Newcastle, followed by Genesis in Chicago and The Musical Box in St. Charles, Illinois. Whew. Except it didn't happen like that. The two UK Genesis concerts were cancelled/postponed due to COVID in the band. Sadly, it's not possible for me to just pop over in March for the re-scheduled show, however, all was not lost in my unending quest for Genesis music.

O2 City Hall, Newcastle, before Big Head sat in front of me

I did get to the Hackett show, featuring the entirety of the Seconds Out live album, in Newcastle, England. He and the band put on an amazing show, and even though my view was blocked by someone's very large head (hence, no photos), I still had a great time. If you're a Genesis fan and you haven't seen Steve Hackett, I totally recommend catching one of the shows he is doing this year and in 2022 in Europe and around the US and Canada. There is nothing like watching him bend the strings on "Firth of Fifth" or "Cinema Show" or listening to singer Nad Sylvan go to town on "Supper's Ready". The band Rob Townsend, Roger King, Jonas Reingold and Craig Blundell are totally up to the task for Genesis as well as music from Steve's catalog.

The only reason I wasn't totally devastated by the Genesis cancellations and throw myself into the Thames (mildly dramatic, I agree) was that I knew I was going to see them in Chicago with fairly decent seats. I'd seen Phil Collins several times in several venues on his Not Dead Yet tour, and he didn't look great, and he had a massive band to dance around and help out with the vocals, so I wasn't sure how a Genesis show would be. If you've seen Genesis in the past, you know he was an absolute dynamo on stage, singing, running around and of course, playing drums on the instrumental interludes, and of course, now, due to some serious nerve damage, he isn't able to do that. Intellectually I knew this, but this is my favorite band and very probably the last time I would get to see them and hear just a sampling of their vast catalog. Honestly, the two things that disappointed me: they took "Duchess" out of the set and it wasn't another 2 or 3 hours (I am so selfish). Phil sounded good and Mike and Tony, augmented by Nic Collins and Daryl Steurmer and two backing vocalists, Daniel Pearce and Patrick Smyth brought back fabulous memories of previous Genesis concerts and listening hours on end to their albums (when people listened to albums). Here's the setlist from that night. Two of the highlights for me was a re-working on "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight". I really wished I had tried to get a ticket and stay another night for the second show in Chicago, but sometimes one has to exercise restraint and respect the budget. However, if they change their minds, and extend the tour to the western part of the US, you can guarantee that I will have no restraint at all.

According to my spreadsheet, I have seen The Musical Box 8 times; I feel like it's more, but Excel doesn't lie, does it? Their usual performance is a re-creation of performances from the early Genesis years, with Peter Gabriel as lead singer. The shows I have seen are Selling England by the Pound and Foxtrot and then this most recent endeavor which is known as a Genesis Extravaganza, a collection of songs from the early Phil Collins years and then going back to the Gabriel era. When they do the re-creations, which also incorporates the costumes that Gabriel wore, the set lists, even the stage banter, it is really fun, especially for those of us too young at the time. The Extravaganza goes without the costumes and has more interaction and commentary from lead singer Denis Gagne. There are always songs you want to hear, but never do, it's the nature of the beast, but I was super happy to hear two old songs from Trespass, "Stagnation" and "Looking for Someone" (here's the setlist); the doorknob behind me kept yelling for "The Knife", actually not one of my favorites, so I was glad he was deprived of his fun. The band is so good, displaying tremendous musicianship. Sebastien Lamothe takes on the Mike Rutherford role on bass, bass pedals, twelve string guitar; Francois Gagnon is in the Steve Hackett role and all the soloing and string-bending that entails; Ian Benhamou is Tony Banks on the keyboards, but also backing vocals, which are not a Banks' strength; and lastly, is Antoine Baril as Phil Collins on the drums, I did try to get video up close of him on a few of the major drum parts, but they didn't really show what he was doing, which was amazing. This is another experience you should have if you are a Genesis fan and missed (or miss) the days of masks and costumes and songs about Greek myths or English gangs fighting it out in Epping Forest. I can't wait until 2022 with the promised return of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, which I have never seen in its entirety. I'll see you in St. Charles.