Genesis Back On The Road In The UK

Genesis returned to the road on Monday night (September 21st) to kick off the UK leg of its farewell “The Last Domino?” tour. The group — led by Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, and a hobbled and sedentary Phll Collins — was rounded out by Collins' song Nic Collins on drums along with longtime guitarist and bassist Daryl Stuermer.

The five-man band was supplemented for the first time in the group's career by a pair of backing vocalists — Daniel Pearce and Patrick Smyth. The new shows marked the band's first concerts since 2007

The concert, which included a three-song mini-acoustic set, leaned heavily on the band's '80s material — although die-hards were thrilled by the inclusion of abridged Peter Gabriel-era standards as “The Cinema Show,” “Firth Of Fifth,” and “Dancing With The Moonlit Knight.” Genesis played full-blown versions off such classics as “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway,” marking their first attempt at the 1974 favorite since 1998, and the show-stopper “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe),” which featured a snippet of 1970's Trespass rarity “Stagnation.” The show closed with an emotional reading of 1974's “The Carpet Crawlers.”

Other surprises included the Duke standout “Duchess,” which hadn't been performed since 1981, and the We Can't Dance track, “Fading Lights,” a tune that hadn't seen the light of day since the band's 1992 tour. Amazingly, despite its 40th anniversary falling earlier this month, not a single song from 1981's Abacab — the band's first MTV-era album — was included in the setlist.

Phil Collins told us not too long ago that ultimately, the band is hitting the road out love for Genesis' music — rather than looking to score a quick buck: “I think if we were to satisfy the demand that I suspect there is out there, we would be playing the Far East, we'd be playing South America, we'd be playing Asia, we would be playing more shows than we are in Europe, more shows that we are gonna be playing in America. So I think we're all loaded enough, without worrying about where the next million or two are coming from.”

Tony Banks revealed that Nic Collins and Daryl Stuermer hit the band's preliminary rehearsals with guns a-blazing: “Normally, after we come back to rehearse after a long period off, y'know, I normally have a bit of time to get my parts back together again. But with Daryl there and Nic thinking much the same, I was, kind of, behind everybody else, which was, kind of, a bit embarrassing. But the thing is with Nic, he sounds like — can sound — like Phil. And when you're doing some of these old songs, it's interesting; they go back to how they were when we did it on the albums, which was quite fun for us.”

Mike Rutherford feels the band's live show lets them show off the longer songs from their albums, as opposed to just focusing on hit singles: “Since Invisible Touch, the perception of Genesis having a huge success with singles and MTV, and the way they. . . the single overrides everything, y'know what I mean? The single makes you forget there are long tracks on the album. People forget the long songs, really. But live, the balance is very much readdressed. That's nice, I like that.”

Genesis' opening night setlist on Monday night in Birmingham, England:

“Duke's End / Turn It On Again”
“Mama”
“Land Of Confusion”
“Home By The Sea / Second Home By The Sea”
“Fading Lights”
“The Cinema Show” (excerpt)
“That's All” – acoustic
“The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” – acoustic
“Follow You Follow Me” – acoustic
“Duchess”
“No Son Of Mine”
“Firth Of Fifth” (excerpt)
“I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” – (featuring excerpt of “Stagnation”)
“Domino”
“Throwing It All Away”
“Tonight, Tonight, Tonight”
“Invisible Touch”

Encore:
“I Can't Dance”
“Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (excerpt)”
“The Carpet Crawlers”