Venue:
St. Albans Arena
Date: 29/01/2020
The Musical Box are billed as more than as tribute band, given that they have acquired the actual stage sets, costumes and some instruments from Genesis and have had the thumbs up from the original members. The first half opens with “The Eleventh Earl of Marr” and it becomes apparent that we are in Phil Collins era for the most part with impeccable reproductions of tracks from “Wind and Wuthering”, “A Trick of the Tail” and even “…and then there were three” which I really like though more serious Genesis heads think is a bit thin.
It is immediately apparent that the band are top players, perfectly reproducing the parts pretty much note for note, with “Phil” grinning and clattering around the kit just like the real thing. “Tony” even reproduces Mr. Banks’ slightly prim expression as he trills out signature keyboard lines. Tribute bands stand or fall on the vocals and here they are right on the money. A minor frustration is that the vocals are slightly too low in the mix – as Feedback File remarks to me, recreating crap 70s live sound is possibly a tip to authenticity too far. It’s polished and immaculate and you could be listening to the real thing.
For me the magic happens in the second set. In the intermission the stage is reconfigured and the keyboard rig rebuilt with a (I think) original Genesis Hammond organ and synths. We are back in the early days, with tracks from “Trespass”, “Nursery Cryme” and “Foxtrot” complete with triple 12 string acoustic guitar action as we remember that Genesis started as a quirky semi acoustic art-pop band. It’s fabulous. Without the benefit of a time machine to go back to 1972 this is as close as you could possibly get to hearing early Genesis, and in a venue which is pretty much the sort of place they would have played before the stadia beckoned – tech colleges and student unions.
The gig ends and of course they come back, striking up “Supper’s Ready” with the singer in Peter Gabriel’s original red dress and fox head. Feedback File emotionally tells me he saw Genesis third on the bill in 1971 (below Van Der Graaf Generator and Lindisfarne if you’re asking) and this very fox head was there too. The band leave the stage to well deserved rapturous applause.
The audience:
Mostly saggy of jowl and shiny of pate. I had a phone watcher and two talkers in front of me (though the talkers buggered off thankfully) and, most irritatingly, a chair kicker behind me, a woman positively vibrating with excitement throughout the gig against the back of my seat.
It made me think..
On the way home my pal Ben spots a fox trot across the road in front of us. The skies are watching.
Yes an interesting night out. I’m very wary of tribute bands but these guys are really excellent. They don’t pretend to be Genesis but as Twang says above they subliminally assume their roles as the show progresses Im sure it was Peter Gabriel up there at the end). The attention to detail was staggering and with roadies coming on to sort out dodgy pedals and cables and lots of on stage tuning up of 12 strings (I assumed that they don’t allow themselves digital tuners as they didn’t exist back then) I was feeling that I may have skipped back to ’71 (if only to prove/disprove the Hepworth theory). Didn’t play my favourite from W&W (Blood on the Rooftops) but did play, beautifully, my 3 favourite Gabriel tracks – Firth of Fifth, Cinema Show and Suppers Ready (who would do a side long track as an encore ?). BTW what is this ‘Nursery Drums’ album @Twang – I must seek that one out !
The sound overall was almost perfect bar the occasional sound balance minor gripe and at one point I was thinking this music sounds so alien in 2020 – possibly archaic but maybe really innovative and different. The other thought I had was that this stuff was written and played by guys in their early 20s – remarkable.
Finally I loved being at a gig where for once I was surrounded by other old gits.
Happy an autocorrect cleb fixed by @ainsley. Stand down the ransacking of Discogs for a rare Genesis album.
I would never claim to be an expert on Genesis but it’s my understanding that Supper’s Ready shares side two of Foxtrot with another track called Horizons.
Sorry to be a pedant, but the fox head didn’t appear until 1972, on the Sept/Oct tour when they were again supporting Lindisfarne. It then featured in some, but not all, gigs up to early 1973 and was dropped before their Feb ’73 UK tour. Given Musical Box’s attention to detail I’m surprised they used it in Supper’s Ready, it was originally in the concluding part of The Musical Box.
I salute your pedantry sir!
Wish I’d been there! My go-to Genesis stack starts with the J King album (twee but promising) and ends with Genesis Live. I’ve got most of the later stuff somewhere or other, but never play it. Lamb Lies Down is like a Radiohead experiment; ghastly. From Trespass to Live is the shining motherlode.
You need set 2 my boy.
Not arf!
I have seen the Book Of Genesis, and they were OK, but not being a fan of the originals I found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of the costumes and lyrics. Prog rock sounding preposterous? Surely not….anyway, this lot sound a much better outfit from the review, so thanks @Twang. I don’t think BoG did anything from after the Peter Gabriel period either.
Seeing Think Floyd tomorrow doing the Wall….they are terrific, but I hate the Wall (I’ve sort of been talked into it), so we will see….
The Wall is like the Floyd’s Lamb Lies Down! Shark-jumping embarrassments, the pair of them.
The Lamb – my favourite (PG) Genesis outing
(only being beaten by 1983s Genesis set – to cover the entire catalogue)
The Wall – my favourite Floyd outing
Maybe I’m just a bit odd …
I don’t know The Lamb that well but I think The Wall is brilliant.
I think, with hindsight , that Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering have both held up as well as any of the PG era. It was downhill very rapidly after that. I’m also not a fan of the Lamb – some fabulous bits but just not very listenable overall.
May have mentioned that along with Fleetwood Mac the band known as Genesis Featuring Peter Gabriel are my darling wife’s faves. If it wasn’t for the red hot sex we would have parted ways many moons ago
***red hot sex = a nice old cuddle
vibrating with excitement against your seat and Moose hasn’t commented? This site ain’t what it used to be!!
I sometimes feel cheated when I hear about the triple bill – I saw the tour but in Brum it was only Genesis and Lindisfarne. Genesis blew Lindisfarne off the stage and within a year they had morphed into a very good headlining band.
Foxtrot and Selling England my favourites. Saw them 4 times with PG and twice with PC – PG incarnation was far superior. OOAA.
Not seen Moose for a while.
He seems to have dropped of Facebook as well.
Might be worth tagging him. Probably just off renewing his antlers. You ok @moose-the-mooche ?
Held off from reading this until last night, to avoid spoilers.
The mix was at times a problem at Bridgewater Hall as well. Conspicuously, right at the climax of Supper’s Ready, the mic at the back of the stage didn’t deliver the goods, which was a shame. I’ve seen The Musical Box plenty of times and will do again, but last night there were moments when they weren’t rhythmically as tight as they could have been, which left the listener nervous and unsettled.
That said, I loved the show and appreciated that it totally absorbed me from some of life’s current distractions. I admire that they don’t take the safe route; it was a delight hearing Entangled again, and a rare surprise to hear the full concert hall treatment of Stagnation. Hell, even Genesis never played Wot Gorilla live.
I have always thought that there was a very good reason why Genesis never played Wot Gorilla live…
What is even more puzzling to me is that they put it on Wind and Wuthering when they had Inside And Out available as an alternative. I have the impression that Steve Hackett felt the same way at the time.
Wasn’t the stated reason that even Chester Thompson couldn’t do justice to the rhythm? I really rather enjoyed it last night, though certainly Inside and Out would win every time.
I defer to your superior knowledge on this. But I shall cling to my own (and probably Steve Hackett’s) preferred version that it was because Wot Gorilla isn’t really much good.
Possibly more importantly, it strikes me that Wot Gorilla isn’t prog. And that’s a key point. Or do Afterworders disagree? Perhaps we should have a vote…
Interesting that there isn’t a Daryl Stuermer era Genesis tribute band, don’t you think?
That’s a fascinating point. Maybe someone should start one. You’d have to find a guitarist with a very thick skin to tolerate the chorus of boos every time he played his version of the Firth of Fifth solo. I assume that Tony Banks would immediately nominate the new act his favourite Genesis tribute band.
The same ‘Suppers ready climax mike’ happened at the St Albans show – I assumed they would sort that out for rest of the tour. I also thought that the 12 string tone and playing was a bit out at times. Still relatively small gripes in terms of the overall performance.
Yes the Rickenbacker double neck 12 string sounded horrible – like a cheap banjo. Not good.
Would very much like to see The Musical Box in costume. Experiencing the old sets and costumes must lend a certain atmosphere and authenticity to the occasion. However, I’d be amazed if they could better G2 for note for note perfection. They are astonishingly close to the real thing, even more so now they’ve recruited Dave Whitehouse from the No Jacket Required tribute act following the previous lead singer’s (Terry Day) sad demise through cancer.
They are not much into costumes, tending to perform all in white .. though they do employ the occasional laser. And for their annual Milton Keynes shows they draft in an additional drummer which really beefs up the sound.
Probably my fave live act barring Steven Wilson at the mo (and no, I don’t get out much).
I bought Wind & Wuthering on the strength of this thread (plus it was only three quid). I’m steeling myself for a disappointment but, I see, Hackett does most of the writing. There is hope.
Perhaps it’s better to travel hopefully? The civilian point of entry is usually recommended to be “Trick of the tail”.
Really? I came across both albums relatively late having plunged into early period Genesis first of all, then flailed about a bit with Duke and And Then There Were Three.
I personally view them as companions .. although depending on my mood I sometimes wonder if they could both be pruned to make one hell of an album.
In any case, they are the last two Hackett albums before he went all Spectral Mornings. I think he plays wonderfully on tracks like Blood On The Rooftops and left a big hole following his departure (ATTWT is a good album but it would have been so much more with Hackett).
I only say that as it was the conclusion in the mighty AW Prog podcast.
Even the famously curmudgeon Tony Banks agrees that ATTWT would have benefited from having Steve Hackett on it.
Most of Steve Hackett’s solo albums are worth your time, the last two being particularly good. Plus I think his current band do a better Genesis than the Musical Box, who bored me last time I saw them a year or two back.
I have enjoyed the last few Steve Hackett shows as much as any gigs I’ve seen in the last few years. That includes the last few Musical Box tours which I’ve also enjoyed but not as much. Hackett’s band has been superb on each occasion. If I can’t see the real thing then I reckon the Hackett experience is a very good second best.
Yes I saw Hackett at the RHA but it’s a different thing. Orchestra, RHA, his solo stuff…I loved it but TMB do that quirky early stuff which is great to hear live too, in a small venue.
I think W&W is a reasonable entry point. I hope you like it. But if you do and are tempted to make more purchases, for heaven’s sake work backwards from it rather than forwards!
Minor correction. You could do worse than buy Seconds Out (which came out after W&W and Spot The Pigeon). That has always been one of my favourite live albums by anybody. Though I do wish that it included more tracks with Bill Bruford on drums.
My flirtation with Genesis is very limited and, up to now, has always involved Gabriel. I like Genesis Live and Foxtrot. Nothing else has grabbed me but I’m told W&W is dreamy and gentle, mostly. That would suit my current emotional needs.
Steve Hackett is playing Seconds Out in its entirety this year. As his band made such a good job of Selling England, I’ve taken a punt.
Also his autobiography is published in July.
This seems appropriate for posting here….. the 1994 Progfest performance of The Lamb by Kevin Gilbert’s groups Girafe (featuring BIg Big Train’s Nick D’Virgilo on drums)…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3531&v=s4Ml1QDdNZ0&feature=emb_logo
I’ve never managed to see any of the various Genesis tribute acts myself, but I think they would be hard pressed to top this performance.
As an aside, for those that don’t know, the late Kevin Gilbert first came to prominence (I think) as co writer and part of the collective putting together Sheryl Crow’s debut album. There are some great solo albums of his that are worth exploring – especially the posthumous “Shaming Of The True”