MASKED IDOL
From Melody Maker - January 19, 1974 - by Chris Welch

Peter Gabriel, Genesis' man of many faces, now in the midst of five nights of concerts at London's Drury Lane, talks to Chris Welch.

"THIS IS GENESIS's week of triumph! Ticket demand for the band's concerts at London's Theatre Royal in Drury Lane this week has proved phenomenal - all five dates were sell-outs within hours of the box-office opening.

Peter Gabriel, man of a thouand faces, is now also a man of several voices. One at least swoops upwards into the stratosphere, gibbers madly, then drops into the bowels of the earth. It's a frightening effect and can only be induced by judicious inhalation of noxious fumes. Peter explained the trick and described how Genesis fared on their last American tour, when I called at his abode in a quiet backwater off London's Bayswater Road last week.

There were several alarming tastes - as well as noises to be experienced in the Gabriel household, as Peter held the fort while his wife was away visiting relations.

Reverting to temporary bachelor status, he had to cook his own meals as well as cope with an endless stream of telephone calls, and a flood of rainwater pouring into the lavatory.

"It's optional, I mean compulsory shower," he warned.

He looked harassed and the sun tan acquired on a brief holiday in Hawaii was beginning to pale.

Genesis, due this week for a series of concerts at London's Theatre Royal, were girding up loins, ready to deliver once again their unique and sensational brand of rock and theatre.

Although Peter was well together when I arrived, he got so bemused by the ringing phone, and sundry visitors, that it affected me as well, and I found myself wandering out of the house, babbling to myself. "Which way do I go - ah yes, down the stairs."

But before tottering out into the daylight, we chatted sufficiently to report that all is well with the band. While they still haven't taken America by storm, they are building up a solid enough following there and each tour is getting better. Most important, their enthusiasm for progress on all levels has not waned.

So what events had transpired in the States, and what were the facts in the case of Mr Gabriel and the squeaky voice?

"I had hiccups for two days solid in L.A. I had tried using some helium on stage to get a Mickey Mouse voice.

"It was really quite worrying, although I thought it was funny at first. It got a bit tiring, waking up in the morning and hiccuping.

"The helium had been lying around the Atlantic Records office where they had been using it for a Dr John balloon blowing session.

"I started off speaking in a high, squeaky voice and some of the audience thought: 'It's true what they say about people who dress up.'

"Then my voice sank a few octaves and everybody was confused. You see the gas acts as a less dense medium for the voice. Any more food by the way?"

No thanks - what did you do to cure the hiccups?

"Well, eventually I drank a pint of sugar and water and it seemed to go. It moved from one end to the other. Before that I tried all kinds of gulping and shock treatment.

"We were playing at the Roxy Club in L.A. and on my last costume change, when I change from black to white, instead of the white costume, I appeared dressed up as Santa Claus.

"I enjoyed that, and it went down well because we did six performances at the club and some people had been coming to every gig.

"So the change was a surprise for them.

"One thing we found on the tour was it's harder and harder to get exploding equipment.

"We had one wiring which had to get hot before it would cause an explosion.

"Normally when we expect the flash we all move back and shut our eyes. But it didn't go off and we thought, 'that's it, we've ruined it tonight.'

"Then about ten seconds later I had moved up to the front and - POW! It was a really big shock for us!

"It's harder to get explosives with all the terrorist things going on, and you need a licence now.

"And to get the licence you have to be vetted by the police and proved to be a responsible citizen with no left-wing tendencies.

"We may have to employ an exploder - full time."

What was the Roxy Club like?

"It's owned by David Geffen, a plush place with tables and it seats about five hundred. For us it was really amazing.

"We got there for the first show, thinking we were going in really cold, and it was one of the best welcomes we have ever had.

"And they still liked us when we went away. And as I said, some stayed for all six performances - poor suckers!

"It was our first time on the West Coast and we found we had a sort of underground mystique.

"One guy from a music paper said we were probably the last of the underground bands, and in a way it seems to have spread on the West - a strange, intense cult thing focussed on us.

"The records haven't crashed into the chart or anything, but seem to be selling well, and we got some of the best reactions we've had in the States so far.

"It was really exciting. Montreal was good too, and for some reason French Canada has caught on."

Were Genesis besieged with more cries for "boogie" and to "get it on," as has happened in the past in the States?

"Well, fortunately this time, pretty well all the people who were there knew something about us. So we had a much better reception.

"I'm sure there must have been some heckling, but I can't bring to mind any. I quite enjoy it sometimes. Ron Geesin has a word for it; which he calls 'prickly static.'

"If there is heckling, you can get a few sparks flying. But audiences have filled themselves with pills and chemical substances and ground to a halt.

"But there wasn't nearly so much drug taking in the States among the kids, this time around. Wine and yoga seem to be catching on. Not often together. (Laughter.)

"Drugs aren't quite so trendy as they used to be, at least among the older people. The school kids are still into it."

What's happened with Genesis' management - haven't there been some changes made?

"Tony Smith is our manager now. We got into a strange situation where we had three managers. Roles were not clearly defined and there wasn't enough contact between them.

"So it got a bit messy and in the end, Tony came in. He travels with us, and can be there - on the spot.

"So it's a much better situation for us. And things are getting brighter every day in our bank manager's eyes. We have a slogan - 'black by May.'

"And as long as we keep our writing situation healthy the band will be all right.

"There is a high level of tolerance among us on the road, but each album is a testing time for all of us, you know, the democratic process of composition.

"Ron Geesin, who came on the British tour with us, wrote a special 'Geesin Report' on the band which was a three page critique of Genesis' presentation, and it was full of very good suggestions, one or two of which we've tried.

"A lot of it was details, but it does seem to have made a difference.

"At Drury Lane we will be doing a full show ourselves, hopefully including some of the older material because we haven't had time to get any new stuff written and we won't have until Easter anyway.

"And we've only done one tour with the last lot of material anyway, so there will still be a lot of people who haven't heard it.

"We haven't rehearsed yet for the Theatre Royal, but I went down this morning to have a look, and it's a lovely place. I really like the building, it's a tremendously moody place.

"You could well imagine it being haunted. But can ghosts buy records? We wanted to find somewhere we could do theatre, and Tony found us the venue.

"Originally we were hoping to do something more elaborate, but the equipment got stuck in the States, and hopefully it will arrive in time.

"Somebody didn't have the right papers - one of those things.

"We've got a few ideas for the show, but we don't know as yet how many we'll be allowed to do. It's a nice situation that you can get the feel of the place. I really like to do weekly gigs rather than one nighters."

What was Genesis' main objective for 1974?

"We want to become rich and famous." (Laughter.)

[end of article]

There's another article in the same issue (p.48), in the "Caught in the Act" section, which has various short concert reviews.

GENESIS

A hush spread over the audience, the golden tassles of the red velvet curtains twitched and, standing motionless bathed in the blue fluorescent light, Peter Gabriel led Genesis into 1974.

"Watcher Of The Skies" has by now become the band's traditional opener - and so it was, with Tony Banks' atmospheric keyboards setting the pattern for the evening. "Hello Bristol," cried Peter, the Hippodrome devotees responded, and Genesis launched themselves into "Dancing With The Moonlight Night."

After a Gabriel version of the exploit of Romeo and Juliet, the mood flowed with a gentle, flowing ballad "The Cinema Show." And, his hands reverberating from an imaginary lawn mower, Peter demonstrated his vocal range with "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" - the new single.

After 100 minutes the Hippodrome's adrenalin was flowing, an encore was predictably denied, but it wasn't for the want of a ten-minute imploring appeal.

Fundamentally, Genesis 1974 is the 1973 stage act re-born with an added maturity - but whoever heard of changing a winning formula that is still packing them in? They've never been a band which has had to rely on the influence of others, and on the evidence of this set will never have to - their startling inventiveness is instinctive. - DAVID NEWMAN

Thanks to Jeff Kaa for providing this article for The Path