Genesis ‘Turn It On Again’ at Emotional Tour Birmingham Launch

When the lights went out in Birmingham, England’s Utilita Arena on Monday night and Genesis took to the stage to launch their long-awaited The last domino? reunion tour, it was hard not to feel a little trepidation. It had been 14 years since they had played a single song together in public, and by that time Phil Collins suffered significant health issues that made him fragile and unable to play the drums or even standing for long periods of time. The show was the first of their three Birmingham concerts that kicked off the band’s tour.

He sat passively in a chair perched on the front of the stage as the group, which now includes his 20-year-old son Nicholas on drums, kicked off the show with the 1980 instrumental “Duke’s End. “. But then they moved on to “Turn It On Again” and all doubts about Collins’ ability to lead the group were gone by the time the first verse was over. He might not have the vocal range he had in 1987 or even 2007, but he can still project with real power and conviction (which is no easy task in a seated position for a singer) , and his charisma is intact.

The double plan “Duke’s End” / “Turn It On Again” was the beginning of a delicate balancing act which continued throughout the evening as they tried to satisfy the fans with their pop hits and the smaller (but much more vocal) segment that prefers their more complex prog tunes. It’s difficult since “Invisible Touch” and “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” almost sound like the work of two completely different bands, but they actually found a way to make it work. The end result was one of the most satisfying reunion concerts of any band in recent memory.

None of this would have worked if Nicholas Collins hadn’t developed the ability to play his father’s roles with remarkable precision. He’s exactly the same age as Collins when he joined the group, and the mix of DNA and years of working in his solo group has paid off in incredible ways. There were times when Phil walked over to the drum to watch him play an instrumental passage up close, and his fatherly pride was clear to everyone in the arena.

Nicholas Collins is the backbone of this new incarnation of Genesis which also includes founding members Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, and longtime touring guitarist Daryl Stuermer. In a Genesis premiere, backing vocals (Daniel Pearce and Patrick Smyth) were added to the mix to help Collins with some of the higher notes, although they only appear on certain songs and are quite understated.

The tour was originally scheduled to start in November 2020, but the pandemic forced them to postpone it first to April 2021, and finally to this month. “It’s been a long time coming,” Collins said early in the night. “We know it has been a difficult few years for everyone here and for those at home. But we finally made it and we’re going to have fun tonight.

This fun included expected radio hits – such as “Land of Confusion”, “Invisible Touch”, “No Son of Mine”, “Throwing It All Away” and “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” – as well as long-standing concerts. “Home By the Sea” and “Domino”. But there were also some very unexpected diversions. There was the Duke Deeply cut “Duchess” (unplayed since 1981), and an acoustic mini-set (a first Genesis) which included “C’est tout”, “Follow You Follow Me” and a radically reworked “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” which stripped away the intro from the keyboard and anything even remote prog. It was “The Lamb” for the cafes and the only real misstep of the night.

According to a long-standing tradition, songs from the Peter Gabriel era were largely relegated to instrumental medleys, and only true audience members were likely able to discern the tracks from “The Cinema Show,” “In That Quiet Earth. “and” Firth of Fifth “sprinkled throughout the set. But they did play a full version of “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)”, with a brief seated version of Collins’ old tambourine dance routine.

Genesis has pushed the boundaries of set design since its debut with Peter Gabriel, and it was a particularly impressive setup with a moving lighting rig that looked like giant dominoes and a screen that showed new animations for many songs. , including a horde of angry masked protesters during “Land of Confusion.”

The encore opened with an inevitable “I Can’t Dance” and in the most jarring transition of the night, they followed it up with the opening verse of 1973’s “Dancing With the Moonlit Knight”. C was the first time Collins sang a note of the song since the Jimmy Carter administration, and it resulted in a solo performance of “The Carpet Crawlers” by The lamb lies down on Broadway.

This would have been the emotional high point of most of Genesis’ shows, but it actually happened much earlier in the set when they released “Fading Lights” for the first time since 1992. The fantastically obscure song fell apart. finished We can’t dance, and was essentially Collins saying goodbye to his Genesis bandmates and their fans.

“Another time it could have been so different,” sang Collins. “Oh, if only we could do it all over again / But now it’s just another memory fading / Out of focus, although the outline remains.” “

He was only 40 when he wrote these words, and they had a very different emotional weight when he delivered them in his current physical state at 70, joined on stage only by Banks and Rutherford for the verse of ‘opening.

Collins has stated that he has no plans to perform with Genesis again after this tour. And unless miracles happen and Peter Gabriel returns at a future date, that means the band is over when this tour is over. But few fans could have expected such a magnificent final tour, and it’s only just getting started.

Genesis ‘The last domino?’ September 20, 2021 Birmingham, England Set List

“The end of the duke”
“Turn it back on”
“Mom”
“Land of confusion”
“House by the sea”
“Second house by the sea”
“Fading lights”
“The Cinema Show” (instrumental part)
” Regular “
“That’s all”
“The lamb lies down on Broadway”
“Follow you, follow me”
“Duchess”
“None of my sons”
“Fifth of Fifth” (instrumental part)
“I know what I like (in your wardrobe)”
“Domino”
“Throw it all away”
“Tonight, tonight, tonight”
“Invisible key”
(Pause again)
“I do not know how to dance”
“Dance with the knight in the moonlight” (first verse)
“Carper’s caterpillars”