Genesis Appreciation/Discussion

[DTA]

Wow, definitely gonna try to make Philly happen.

[HOF]

Not a concert guy to begin with, but I can’t say I’m all that interested in seeing them at this point. I do think it’s cool that Nick is getting to do this with his dad though. They should get Simon to come do the double drummer thing with him.

[KevShmev]

I'd consider going if they were coming to STL, even though going to a concert where the singer has to sit in a chair because he is too old to stand sounds kinda boring, but there is no way I will travel for this. 

[OpenYourEyes311]

Boston ending the tour. I'm pretty emotional about this. I got into these guys over 10 years ago and never thought I'd get the chance to see them. And now I get the chance to see the possible final show? I cannot wait. Gonna be a long year. Hoping to stay spoiler free, which is gonna be tough.

[Stadler]

Nick is the wild card here.   No offense to him, but he's the unknown.   Even if Phil is in a chair, he's not Bruce Dickinson.   This is a drum-centric band, though, especially up through the self-titled.   Can he carry a band of this stature?  I don't know.   I know I personally lament the lack of the double-drumming aspect (one of my two favorite things about Genesis, the other being Tony Banks), but that's offset by seeing them in an arena.  I'm not a stadium guy, so the allure of seeing them in the Garden, is STRONG, even if the band is not at the level of sharpness they were in 1987 when I saw them last.

[romdrums]

Would've been nice to have Simon Collins along as well.  He's a solid drummer, and seeing Phil's kids do a drum duet would be pretty cool.

[HOF]

I will say, I was really impressed by Nic in this interview. He knows his stuff and seems super poised to be performing at this level at his age. I think he’ll be able to handle the material just fine from what snippets I’ve seen of him playing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx2MVwFO6jQ

[Lupton]

Nic will be fine. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays the music closer to the record than Chester ever did. Tony's still got his chops. Daryl does this stuff for a living. Mike'll probably settle in as the tour goes on.

The only "wildcard" I see here is Phil -- as the only guy in this group that notably struggles to capture a semblance of his old self. Also, as the focus of attention, his performance could either make or break the gig...and let's face reality; most of the people paying to see this show will be only familiar with the 80s hits -- many with the all too common view that Genesis is merely Phil's backing band.

[ytserush]

I watched some of that the other day.  Horrible cut removing half of Supper's Ready (including Apocalype in 9/8) and jumping suddenly to the end.  I switched to something else at that point.  Why have a "long version" if you're gonna chop up the songs anyway?

That was weird, wasn't it?

[ytserush]

Not a concert guy to begin with, but I can’t say I’m all that interested in seeing them at this point. I do think it’s cool that Nick is getting to do this with his dad though. They should get Simon to come do the double drummer thing with him.

I felt that way back in '86 (Probably should have seen them then though based on most of the DVD." Non-starter as far as I'm concerned. Can't see a scenario where I would even like half of the set.

[Madman Shepherd]

Ticket buying process was a fiasco. I got 11th row and a friend that happened to be logged in around the same time got worse seats and paid 1/3 more for them.

[KevShmev]

It is gonna be awful when trying to get tickets for any mainstream artist in the next few years, even worse than before. TM and Live Nation already love to gouge their customers, and after a year and a change of seeing their revenue stream coming to a screeching halt, they need to play catch-up and sticking it to concert-goers will be goal number 1. And I don't expect most artists to do anything meaningful to stop them from doing it. 

[Madman Shepherd]

It is gonna be awful when trying to get tickets for any mainstream artist in the next few years, even worse than before. TM and Live Nation already love to gouge their customers, and after a year and a change of seeing their revenue stream coming to a screeching halt, they need to play catch-up and sticking it to concert-goers will be goal number 1. And I don't expect most artists to do anything meaningful to stop them from doing it.

They did a fan presale where you had to verify you're a real person several (stressful) times by sending codes to your phone. I guess this helped weed out bots and scalpers. I almost don't mind paying an inflated amount to ticketmaster (as much as I hate their guts) as opposed to paying some slimeballs that don't even give you a chance to get good seats without going on the black market.

[Trav86]

When it comes to these types of concerts, it’s the one time I hate living in Texas.  North America = East Coast + a couple of Canadian cities.

[ytserush]

It is gonna be awful when trying to get tickets for any mainstream artist in the next few years, even worse than before. TM and Live Nation already love to gouge their customers, and after a year and a change of seeing their revenue stream coming to a screeching halt, they need to play catch-up and sticking it to concert-goers will be goal number 1. And I don't expect most artists to do anything meaningful to stop them from doing it.

I looked into getting Zebra and Oysterhead tickets (two different shows) but I was done playing their games even before Covid. It sucks, but it looks like I'm done.
The process to reach my enjoyment level just isn't there anymore.  Maybe it's an age thing now but at this point I'll have more fun just walking into club or small theater and just hear some good music without that process.

[Stadler]

Zebra as in Randy Jackson, "Take Your Fingers From My Hair" Zebra?  I can't believe that's a high-price ticket.
Oysterhead as in Stewart Copeland, Les Claypool Oysterhead?   That's another I can't believe is an impossible ticket.  They played Toad's Place, a 750 seat club when they came around in '01.

[ytserush]

Zebra as in Randy Jackson, "Take Your Fingers From My Hair" Zebra?  I can't believe that's a high-price ticket.
Oysterhead as in Stewart Copeland, Les Claypool Oysterhead?   That's another I can't believe is an impossible ticket.  They played Toad's Place, a 750 seat club when they came around in '01.

You would think that, but Zebra is playing the Westbury Music Fair (Ticketbastard has billed a 40th Anniversary show) Only gig as far as I can tell. They don't really do traditional tours anymore and Oysterhead is headlining a jam band festival in Scranton on 4th of July Weekend which was supposed to happen last year. My problem. I get it. Just done with the games is all.

[Harmony]

So no comments on the documentary yet?  It isn't the finished product and has some glitches but I found it very interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPSpxCnVgTM

[Stadler]

I'm still watching it - not going to lie; it's hard to see Phil like that - but quick question:  about 9:00, 9:30 there's music in the background and it sounds like Duchess, but I don't think it quite is.  Does anyone know if that's just an instrumental track of the actual song, or new music, or what?  (Needless to say, I'm LOVING that music). 

[Zydar]

Ooh nice, I'll watch it this weekend then.

[Harmony]

The first 3/4 had me feeling very sad to watch Phil.  His pitch is not great.  His dysarthria is hard to listen to.  I'm not surprised his range is limited given his age and the notes he has had to hit all of these decades.  Plus being stuck in a chair when he used to command the stage.  It's depressing.

But the last 1/4 changed my mind.  Domino especially was spectacular.  The band still sounds GREAT.  And Nic is a nice surprise.  What a chip off the old block.

[HOF]

I'm still watching it - not going to lie; it's hard to see Phil like that - but quick question:  about 9:00, 9:30 there's music in the background and it sounds like Duchess, but I don't think it quite is.  Does anyone know if that's just an instrumental track of the actual song, or new music, or what?  (Needless to say, I'm LOVING that music).

Just listened, and that's definitely Duchess, just being played a little differently. Sounds pretty cool.

[SoundscapeMN]

So no comments on the documentary yet?  It isn't the finished product and has some glitches but I found it very interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPSpxCnVgTM

I actually saw it on a private Vimeo link over the weekend. I liked it a lot, although it is not easy to watch Phil. But given i'm not seeing the tour (seeing The Monkees instead), this was a nice alternative.

Also this BBC featured was done the other day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7FgxKUrqGQ

[Stadler]

I'm still watching it - not going to lie; it's hard to see Phil like that - but quick question:  about 9:00, 9:30 there's music in the background and it sounds like Duchess, but I don't think it quite is.  Does anyone know if that's just an instrumental track of the actual song, or new music, or what?  (Needless to say, I'm LOVING that music).

Just listened, and that's definitely Duchess, just being played a little differently. Sounds pretty cool.

I'm loving it (I'm loving ALL the background music so far).

[ytserush]

I'm still watching it - not going to lie; it's hard to see Phil like that - but quick question:  about 9:00, 9:30 there's music in the background and it sounds like Duchess, but I don't think it quite is.  Does anyone know if that's just an instrumental track of the actual song, or new music, or what?  (Needless to say, I'm LOVING that music).

Just listened, and that's definitely Duchess, just being played a little differently. Sounds pretty cool.

I noticed it about 7:00 minutes. In a way it kind of reminds me of Pete Townshend's e cola mix of Let My Love Open The Door.  Not that it sounds like that. But just the different arrangement.

[Stadler]

I wonder if they did this on purpose, but Phil's vocals get progressively and noticeably better as they move through the documentary.   I wonder if that's an acknowledgement of the work he's putting in or if it was just a by-product of the sequential nature of the discussion?   

[Lupton]

I actually got depressed watching that PBS documentary. IIRC Throwing It All Away is the last tune, and it's the only one with anything approaching a passable vocal performance from Phil. Of course it's ruined with about 4 X the usual "Edddalaayeeeeaaaay!", "Eddalllaayyyeeeeaaay!" stuff than usual. I mean, it's nice to hear but they really fucking overdo it with that call and response stuff.

[edit: Wanted to add so I'm not a total downer - I thought the music sounded excellent! Nic's killing it as I knew he would. Tony sounds like 3 keyboard players at once. Great band.]

[sfam2112]

I wonder if they did this on purpose, but Phil's vocals get progressively and noticeably better as they move through the documentary.   I wonder if that's an acknowledgement of the work he's putting in or if it was just a by-product of the sequential nature of the discussion?   

I noticed that too. It was a bit depressing and discouraging hearing him sing "Turn It On Again" at the beginning and "That's All". But, I thought he turned in passable performances of "The Last Domino" and "Throwing It All Away". I think the only songs I noticed that weren't repeats from the '07 tour were "That's All" and "Duchess", if they worked them into the set. Which doesn't surprise me, really. But it was fun to watch them play the instrumental bit in "Cinema Show".

Off-topic, but a question for the guitar players. What tuning is "Turn it On Again" in? I watched the Genesis Songbook documentary and, when they're talking about Duke, Mike Rutherford plays the main riff (same key as the album) and it's clearly not standard tuning. All I've been able to make out for sure is his A is tuned to B. But it's not as simple as the tuning is just a whole step up. I can't figure it out. Anyone know?

[KevShmev]

I couldn't past That's All (how fitting).  That was both painful and depressing to hear him try to sing that.  While I am sure the music and stage show will be great, I cannot imagine spend big bucks to hear Phil sing like that for 2+ hours.  To each their own.

[XeRocks81]

it's strange they all talk freely about Phil having health issues and building the show around his limitations and he says he has trouble hitting certain notes but at the same time it seems they're dancing around the fact that he LITERALLY HAS TROUBLE SPEAKING.  He can barely keep up with the tempo of the songs.

[Stadler]

I couldn't past That's All (how fitting).  That was both painful and depressing to hear him try to sing that.  While I am sure the music and stage show will be great, I cannot imagine spend big bucks to hear Phil sing like that for 2+ hours.  To each their own.

Maybe it's the bands I listen to, but I can get past the vocals for two hours.  For me, as good as Nick is (and he nailed the In The Cage medley part I like so much) it's the lack of the double drums.  That was always what made Genesis special to me (that and Tony, but he's there).

[HOF]

I couldn't past That's All (how fitting).  That was both painful and depressing to hear him try to sing that.  While I am sure the music and stage show will be great, I cannot imagine spend big bucks to hear Phil sing like that for 2+ hours.  To each their own.

Maybe it's the bands I listen to, but I can get past the vocals for two hours.  For me, as good as Nick is (and he nailed the In The Cage medley part I like so much) it's the lack of the double drums.  That was always what made Genesis special to me (that and Tony, but he's there).

I get that a large part of this whole thing is Phil wanting to let Nick get a chance to get the Genesis experience, but it would have been really cool to have Simon on drums as well. That would allow them to do the double drummer thing, and he could even cover some of the vocal sections for his dad since his voice is similar.

[Stadler]

I couldn't past That's All (how fitting).  That was both painful and depressing to hear him try to sing that.  While I am sure the music and stage show will be great, I cannot imagine spend big bucks to hear Phil sing like that for 2+ hours.  To each their own.

Maybe it's the bands I listen to, but I can get past the vocals for two hours.  For me, as good as Nick is (and he nailed the In The Cage medley part I like so much) it's the lack of the double drums.  That was always what made Genesis special to me (that and Tony, but he's there).

I get that a large part of this whole thing is Phil wanting to let Nick get a chance to get the Genesis experience, but it would have been really cool to have Simon on drums as well. That would allow them to do the double drummer thing, and he could even cover some of the vocal sections for his dad since his voice is similar.

WOW, I never thought of that.  I was thinking "have Chester there", but I can see how that would be daunting and perhaps unfair.  But Simon would be cool!   I'm sure Tony and Mike would feel like they are invaded by "Collins"'s but still!   

[romdrums]

Would've been nice to have Simon Collins along as well.  He's a solid drummer, and seeing Phil's kids do a drum duet would be pretty cool.

Just pointing out I mentioned this back in April, guys.   

[Stadler]

Would've been nice to have Simon Collins along as well.  He's a solid drummer, and seeing Phil's kids do a drum duet would be pretty cool.

Just pointing out I mentioned this back in April, guys.   

HA!  I missed it!   (But I ALWAYS read your posts, I promise!)