From: Andy Wilkinson [andy.j.wilkinson@dial.pipex.com]
Sent: 4. januar 1998 21:52
To: Thomas Holter
Subject: Early Genesis

Thomas,

What a joy it was to "stumble" onto your magnificent Genesis site. Being a Forty year old, many of your references to the "early days" brought some sweet moments flooding back. And oh, what wonderful musical memories they are!

Looking at your "rare cds" page; several of those concerts I was at. Let me tell you of the earliest memories I have of the band. I guess I was about 13/14 (1970) years old when I first heard the Trespass album. A friends older brother had the album and I was totally bewitched by it when I first heard it. First Genesis concert was in 1971 (I believe) at the relatively nearby Isleworth Polytechnic College in west London. There was an audience of about 300 I guess. I believe Nursery Cryme had been released at this stage. New numbers I hadn't heard before that night included, Watcher of the Skies, Happy the Man, and Twilight Alehouse. I remember the night vividly for the sheer power and dynamism of the perfomance - - they were awesome at this time. Stagnation was my favourite that evening.

After this concert, attending a Genesis concert was a must, and they were touring all the time around the south of England and particularly around London. I was at the Imperial College concert and I think this was one of the first times they ever played Suppers Ready. Quite a night! Other memorable gigs include Brunel University (only 4 miles from home) Watford Polytechnic (one of your cds!) AND the Reading Rock Festival (a Friday evening) in August 72. I remember they kicked off with "Watcher of the Skies" with Peter appearing out the top of a pyramid on a sort of hydraulic lift. Just before the band came on there was complete quiet at the festival, a sort of anticipation of expectance and excitement. Eerie! After the short set (as usual beset with sound and technical problems like nearly all early Genesis shows) the crowd knew they had witnessed something special and a big, big, band in the making.

Those early gigs were something very special. I was a committed fan and took every opportunity to see the band live whenever I could. Next came the first "big" gig for the band at the 3000 seater (?) Finsbury Park, Rainbow Theatre in London. It was a night of celebration as it was now recognised this band was NOW big and going places. No more playing in venues of colleges with 3-400 people. That weeks "Melody Maker" carried the front page headlines "Genesis Triumph". About a year later I attended all 5 nights at the Drury Lane Theatre for the "Selling England" tour this must have been - - but I'm not totally sure. Saw the "Lamb Tour" gigs no less than 6 times; 2 in London (Earls Court?), 2 at the Colston Hall Bristol, and twice at the Birmingham Hippodrome. The last four gigs we were following the band from Bristol to Birmingham and sleeping rough outside the Theatres. God, we were aged 18 at the time and mad!!

After Gabriel left it was as though a part of me had died. What a blow and they were on the verge of really breaking thro' big on a massive scale. Remember the first London gigs with Phil singing and Bill Bruford on drums.(Maybe this was Drury Lane, or possibly Hammersmith) but I attended every London show. Highlight was "White Mountain" off Trespass which had a moon on an audio/visual screen slowly move over the bands heads. Nostalgia!!!

Don't recall much about the "Wind and Wuthering" tour; possibly sitting right at the back of Wembley Arena with a very poor sound quality, but I remember, the "Seconds Out" tour that saw a string of dates at Hammersmith.

Next, Hackett quits - - another sad day! A day out to Knebworth Park that saw 100,000 people sitting out in the open air.

I continued to see the band over the following years but their increased popularity meant tickets were harder to get. I was to see them less and less as the years rolled by. Always brought their new albums and was still thrilled by the music. It was now mega stadium shows where the boys were but a blip on a stage miles away. Recall the "Invisible Touch" Wembley Stadium shows.

Married, mortgaged, kids, and a safe job; I revel in listening to those early songs when I was at a college gig with only maybe 200 or so other people. Or those never to be forgotten Lamb Lies Down shows. Pure magic and nostalgia!! It was a real privilege to be in at the beginning of the bands early history; something I will always remember with joy and sheer pleasure to watch them slowly develop into later recognition and stardom. Never to be repeated days!!

Incidentally, during the mid-seventies I played in a "progressive" rock band (bass) whose biggest influence was of course, Genesis. We never got anywhere as we were musically chaotic and lacking in technique. The band's name was TIRESIAS(!!??).

Today, I guess I'm less enamoured by the more recent Genesis offerings since the exit of Hackett and Gabriel, but buy the albums. The Banks, Hackett, Rutherford, Gabriel, Collins combination could never be bettered. Genesis strength was always in their sum. Love the Hackett "Genesis Revisited" cd which provokes warm memories and is beautifully done. Musically I'm intrigued by the brilliance of Gabriel (solo) and the material of people like David Sylvian with Bob Fripp. Call me an old fart if you like!! - - forty-two next birthday.

Apologies for the over indulgence of this rather long e-mail - - blame it on your website for provoking such a nostalgic and emotional response!! BTW, it reminds me I have some old Genesis bootleg vynel LPs recorded during those early seventies. Haven't played them for ages as I converted to tape and cd format. I'll have to look up the titles of these for you.

Where Oh where can I get hold of some of those "rare cds" described on your site. Especially those like the Watford Technical College and Imperial College gigs where I WAS THERE. Make one of the original Genesis fans happy!!

Best wishes - - Andy Wilkinson

(Gambling only pays when you're winning!)

From: Andy Wilkinson [andy.j.wilkinson@dial.pipex.com]
Sent: 7. januar 1998 15:54
To: Thomas Holter
Subject: Genesis Bootlegs

Thomas,

Further to my e-mail of sunday (4th Jan.) I have just retrieved the early Genesis bootleg albums from my collection and will list them, including tracks that appear on the albums. I can't recall where I got them - - it was during the mid-seventies and probably from some back-street record store in London.

1. The Bedside Yellow Foam (rescued recordings from the first time around). Sleeve notes say side one recorded in England January 1974, side two recorded in Canada November 1974/All Mono.
Side1: Dancing Out With The Moonlit Knight(8.25), The Cinema Show/Aisle of Plenty(10.40)
Side2: Supper's Ready(26.20)

2. Awed Man Out (The 1975 British Tour).Sleeve notes say recorded July 1975.
Side1: Cuckoo Cocoon(2.21), Back in N.Y.C.(6.10), Hairless Heart(2.20), The Carpet Crawlers(5.35), Lilywhite Lilith(2.40).
Side2: The Waiting Room/Anyway(13.03), Ravine(4.40), The Light Dies Down on Broadway(3.35), Riding The Scree(4.02)

3. As Though Emerald City (The 1975 American Tour Live at the Shrine Auditorium). Sleeve notes say the live tracks will provide quad sound when played on equipment utilising the QS Matrix Decoding System. Tracks two and three on side two from the studio.
Side1: Watcher Of The Skies(7.52), Lilywhite Lilith/The Waiting Room/Anyway(12.55), It (4.56).
Side2: The Musical Box(11.08), Happy The Man(3.02), Twilight Alehouse(7.47)

4. Swelled and Spent (Double Album Live at the Birmingham Hippodrome 1975). This appears to be the complete performance of the Lamb Lies Down from side 1 through to side 4. Last gig with Peter Gabriel in England??

I was at this last concert; I recall they played two nights in Birmingham right at the end of the Lamb Tour. All in all, I reckon to have seen the band play live close to 70 times. I'd seen the band at least on 50 occasions up to 1976. The very early days they seem to be playing locally around the London area almost every week.

Best wishes, Andy Wilkinson

From: Andy Wilkinson [andy.j.wilkinson@dial.pipex.com]
Sent: 8. januar 1998 22:33
To: Thomas Holter
Subject: Early Genesis etc.

Thomas,

Many thanks for your response - - a pleasure to hear from you.

Feel free to use my e-mail in any way you wish on "The Path". It was your site that prompted my rather emotional outpourings on those early days. I wrote the e-mail straight off the top of my head so exact dates of some of those early gigs may be slightly suspect. You may have to check against the Armando Gallo book for authentification of the most early gigs, but I remember being there and those early gigs are indelibly stamped in the memory.

It was so easy to see the band play live in the early seventies. Pick up the musical press and in the gig pages at the back, the band were playing almost nightly all around the London area. They were a regular at The Friars Club in Aylesbury (to the north of London); and also very popular on the University and College circuit of the home counties.

Forgot to mention about the Gabriel/Genesis "reunion" gig that was held at the Milton Keynes Bowl in the early 80's. An open-air gig in October in England is not for the faint hearted. It was cold, very wet and miserable. I'm sure the boys were pleased the gig was not recorded for radio etc. Musically they were a shadow of themselves years earlier. Gabriel forgot his words, the band sounded very lack lustre with probably very little rehearsal beforehand.The band even played Gabriels "Solsbury Hill" embarassingly badly!! Never mind. It was an evening of indulgence and real nostalgia - - that's the reason 80,000 plus people attended.

If you want to pick my memory on anymore of the early seventies Genesis era, feel free.

Best wishes, Andy