The War Room

GENESIS TURN IT ON AGAIN!

I had the pleasure to attend the Genesis reunion concert at BMO Field in Toronto on Friday night.

Genesis has always been one of my favourite bands and I will even cop to liking the Phil Collins era better than the Peter Gabriel material. Collins knew how to take Gabriel's theatrical nature but make it mainstream and attract a larger audience. That audience was out at full force at BMO Field.

The stage design was by Mark Fisher Studios. You can see some samples of his work here. Chances are if you have seen some large shows in the past 15 years you have seen his work. He has designed concerts for U2 (Pop Mart, Zoo TV), The Rolling Stones (A Bigger Bang) and Pink Floyd (Division Bell) among many others. In other words, his shows are BIG.

Genesis was no exception. With a sprawling design that reminded me very much of Pop Mart, they utilized large video displays, arches, circular video monitors, fireworks and an overall motif that looked like a steel version of The Fortress of Solitude. Great stuff!

But none of that matters if the performers don't show up to play. And Genesis played indeed.

People forget what a fantastic consumate showman Phil Collins is. He is a true performer and ranged from comedic (I Can't Dance), dark (Home By The Sea, Mama), poignant (I Know What I Like, Ripples) and romantic (The Carpet Crawlers). He is also one of the rare performers that can go on for a long time talking to the audience and still be very entertaining.

His voice is in wonderful shape and all of the band members from Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, to the touring band of Chester Thompson and Daryl Steurmer were in wonderful form.

The only time I held my breath, was when Land of Confusion began and I saw the fire coming on the video screens with the old Spitting Images heads. For a second I feared the worst. That my old and dear favourite musical friends from my teen years would use the opportunity to preach to me about war and Imperialism and George Bush and Iraq and...Well, not at all. They were there to entertain and not a political note was hit all night. Instead, they favoured true artistic forms like metaphor and the obscure imagery that was always their trademark.

This was one of the best rock shows I have ever seen and I can say, I have seen a lot. It was easily more dramatic than The Police reunion a month ago.

Only flaw was the venue. The acoustics at BMO Field were great but getting there was a nightmare. Coming from Avenue Rd on Friday night there were no buses due to some delay. After waiting 50 minutes I caught the express for double the fare. At Union station we had to catch a street car that let us off half way there, and then another shuttle bus that battled through traffic for 30 minutes to get to the venue. Horrible.

There is also no covering at BMO Field and it was supposed to rain. I brought an umbrella and they asked me to check it in. I did not, dodging a security check point instead to make my way onto the floor.

Getting back was no better. Nevertheless, this was a show I had waited 20 years to see as I had never saw a Genesis tour before.

Rumour has it that they will come back for a second leg with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett. If that is true, I will cetainly be there.

posted by Nicol DuMoulin @ 11:04 AM