Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 14:49:11 -0700
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From: ChloeLev@ix.netcom.com (ChloeLev)
Subject: Re: Old tours - Warning: Long Post!
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Reply-To: ChloeLev@ix.netcom.com (ChloeLev)
>I'd also love to hear if there's anyone on this list who's
>seen Genesis Pre-Lamb or pre-Selling England tour. I know there were some
>folks out there who had seen both of these shows, but is there anyone on
>this list who's seen things earlier?? Personally, I can't imagine someone
>not sharing that experience with the rest of us, but I don't recall anyone
>ever talking about it in the last 3 years or so. Comments??....
All right - you asked for it!
I saw the Foxtrot tour in April 1973 when I was 15 years old. Most of it, such as the stage set, the set list, the visual and musical aspects of it have already been thoroughly documented in the Gallo book or on videos and recordings. Here are some of my own personal memories:
The ticket cost $6.00. The late Sandy Denny opened the show. The auditorium of what was then called the Philharmonic Hall in NYC was half empty. We sat in the second row. The Playbill Program announced the band's drummer as Peter Collins. If memory serves, they opened with Watcher, and when those big chords broke the silence and filled the room, it was as if the skies had parted and we were in another world. And there you'd have Peter, who already at that point could hold the audience in the palm of his hand, and these four anonymous musicians surrounding him, all seated, dressed in their street clothes, barely moving and never once looking up from their instruments. I do remember however that at that concert, during one of Peter's monologues, someone in the audience screamed out, "God bless you, Phil Collins!" So I suppose that even then, Phil was attracting lots of attention.
The thing that really stands out in my memory of that performance was that because they were so young, Genesis then had a quality of innocence to them that was gone by the time Steve left. In Musical Box, Peter was so convincing that I almost could believe he was a little boy returned as an old man. By the end, when he screamed Now Now Now, I'd be in tears. The opening of Supper's Ready with only Peter and the three acoustic guitars was another spellbinding moment in the show, the Apocalypse section would tear me apart and The Knife could bring the house down. The musicianship was far superior to anything I had ever heard previously at a rock concert. Peter battered his tambourine and when the skin broke he threw it into the audience.
Other silly little things stay with me. On the first NYC date of the Selling England tour, at the then-Felt Forum, I remember that when Peter was hoisted into the air at the end of Supper's Ready, the hem on the trousers of his white costume was torn to shreds and you could see the creases and the threads dangling down. Guess they didn't have much of a wardrobe staff in those days. At that same show, I remember that when the band first came onstage, my friends and I began speculating about who that new guitarist could be. As soon as the music started we realized that it was still Steve of course, but his physical appearence was so radically altered, he was unrecognizable from the sixth row.
Also, during The Lamb, when Peter emerged in his Slipperman costume and pranced around the stage, he circled Hackett. As he was on his way back to centerstage, Hackett grabbed a towel that he kept for his hands and guitar neck, and snapped Slipperman on the butt with it. It was interesting to read many years later about the friction between them at the time.
It was very frustrating that they didn't do encores in those days. The show would end and they'd leave the stage and that would be it. You knew that it would be another year before they'd be back.
Were there girls in the audience in those days? There was at least one who drew great inspiration from those early shows.
Times were different. There was no MTV, no VCRs, no audio cassettes, no Internet. There was never any way to find out what went on with Genesis unless we bought the Melody Maker and scoured it every week. Genesis were virtually unknown in America. They were way out of left field, quite eccentric, far off the beaten path. Incredibly exciting.
Any other children of the early 70s out there?
Best,
Chloe the long winded
