Genesis Hollywood Bowl 10-12=2007

Yeah, I read about the rain. The following night at the same venue was the last of the tour, I believe, and Phil said the following (courtesy of the Turn It On Again Genesis forum: http://genesisgts.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=tour&action=display&num=1192351828 ) Would be a shame to think this is going to be the end as I've barely read much negative about this tour amongst fans and even the press. Even some UK reviews and Rolling Stone magazine were very complimentary about this tour...

I was fortunate enough to see both the Oct 12 & 13 shows at the Hollywood Bowl and have to say they were both phenominal! The rain caused some difficulties on Friday night but the band played through it and gave an awesome performance enshrouded by the watery mist. The show got cut a little short because of electirical problems, but they left you with fond memories nonetheless!

The sound, visuals and renown light show were impecable as you would expect, and the opening "Behind the Lines" started each night off with confident energy. "In the Cage", "Duke's Travels", Afterglow", "Cinema Show", "Firth of Fifth", "I Know What I Like" "Los Endos" and "Carpet Crawlers" were the hallmarks of the shows; these early years Genesis jam sessions left the crowd standing in awe at the bands precision timing and execution. All the while the backdrop screen visuals and ferocius lighting enhanced the mind blowing experience! Smoke aromas rose above the crowd many times over as these songs were performed!!!!

A sleeper on the set list, but one that entranced the crowd both nights was a soulfully performed and sung "Ripples"! "Domino" was nicely laid out both musically and visually as well! Fantastic shows! The only way it could have been better; If Gabriel and Hackett showed up for a classic tune or two! We may have just seen the last stage assembly of this great band, and WOW the final two shows of this tour were stunning!

Looks like the last of Genesis US tour.  Totally snubbed us here in Atlanta.  Well anyway the the main outdoor venue, Chastain Park is really awful.  A bunch of rich people from the neighborhood get tables up front and could care less about the music.  It's just blah blah blah, that they could be doing at home and the blah blah blah, typically drown out the music for the rest of us.  I won't ever go there again but I've heard  some artists have gotten pissed off about that mid show.  The other outdoor venue, Lakewood, is also atrocious.  I saw Yes on the Onion tour there.  You pay way too much to sit on your ass in grass.

Nevertheless, appears Genesis is giving their prog fans their due with this tour.  They were totally dissing us at the height of their popularity.

Of course the rain during the show was detrimental to the show.  As much as many other fans just seemed to love it, I could see Tony Banks totally frustrated the whole night.  His keyboards were soaked.  At first the rain was kinda fun and electrified the audience a bit, but it soon turned into a distraction (for me anyway) and honestly, a pretty dangerous situation.  The band played on as long as they could.  I'm surprised it went on as long as it did, and that there weren't more electrical problems than what happaned.  During Ripples there was a loud crack and pop in the P.A. system toward the end of the instrumental section.  By the end of the show, water was streaming through the lighting cans above the stage and there was a steady stream of water splashing a few feet behind Tony.  During IT, I believe that the keys finally had water seep into the key sensors.  It sounded like a MIDI lock-up.  A chord that Tony hit failed to stop sustaining, and he or a tech unplugged it within a few bars after it happened.  It was reset, Tony swiped his hands up and down the keyboard to see if it was working, and apparently it wasn't working correctly, or he didn't want to deal with it anymore, so he stopped playing altogether through the rest of the song. It must have been horrible on stage.  As a keyboardist myself, I can totally relate to what Tony must have been going through.  Being a prog era fan "mostly" myself, I was really dissappointed for missing Carpert Crawlers, but missing ICD wasn't that big of a deal for me. 

I thought the setlist was better than the last two previous tours, but still felt that the shortened FOF isn't AS effective or moving without the rest of the song.  I personally was dissappointed that Tony removed the the piano intro live sometime in the mid 70's.  Now we get much less.  I'm glad they played what they did, but it would have been nice to get a full version of something besides "In The Cage", and Afterglow.  Even Ripples was shortened a bit.   IKWIL was in it's entirety, but I never really considered that one of the  "prog era, complex works".  It was probably the poppiest thing they wrote back then. I will admit that it is a crowd pleaser.

I thought Phils voice sounded good.  The lowered key for Turn It On was probably the only noticable thing that felt out of place for me.   Considering the weather, I thought everyone played well.  Despite the few extra older songs on this tour, I felt that they kept it simple.  When I see bands like YES still playing complex music like "Awaken" , "Ritual", and "Close to the Edge" (the list goes on and on) and playing the full versions, I feel a little let down that Genesis doesn't do the same. I know Genesis had more of a commercial success than YES in terms of the pop era music, and they need to also cater to those fans, but it  is just frustrating for me personally to know that there is so much talent and potential on that stage, and they have simplified to this extent.

Now, about the production:  With the big screen behind the band, there was not much room for any lighting above the screen in the Bowl.  The band  tried to compensate for the lack of overhead lighting by placing lights all througout the audience.  For me personally, it just didn't work.  Being outdoors the fog machines in the audience didn't work.  The beam of light really only went a few feet with the fog going straight up. If it wasn't for the rain, I don't think the lights would have had much of an effect at all.  I prefer the traditional lighting stage.  The LED screen did have a few nice moments.  The falling stars over the band was nice.  The fire red backdrop during Los Endows was nice as well, along with the tunnel thing during Domino. The video during IKWIL was nostalgic. But, the LED screen was on almost constantly, and it washed out what limited overhead lighting there was.  I didn't see the dramatic lighting changes match to the phrasing of the music as Genesis had prior to the WCD tour, and what lighting cues were there were overshadowed by the video screen. Was it elaborate?  Yes! Was I blown away like previous tours? No! I really didn't see anything cutting edge in the production as Genesis has done in the past.  Beside the unusual shape of the screen behind the band, I really didn't see anything that set Genesis apart from any other major act touring today. In the past, when it came to production, Genesis was in a league of it's own.  I still however think the lighting was better this time than in the WCD tour, but still not up to my expectations for what I have seen from them prior. 

Despite all the negative things above, I did enjoy the show.  My wife cried during Ripples. That song had special meaning to us.  My son died on October 10, 2005.  At the funeral, I did little speech about the "Ripple Effect", and how our lives and our actions affect others which causes a Ripple Effect. Since the show was so close to this terrible anniversary and Ripples was played, it touched a nerve in both of us.  Thank god they didn't drop it for North America!  I enjoyed the music much more than the production.  Even tho I'm mostly a Prog Era fan, I do enjoy even the pop music, just not as much.  Highlights for me was ITC, FOF (what there was of it), Los Endos, IKWIL, Mama, Second HBTS , and Domino.

Thankfully, this November I will be attending a show by "The Trans-Siberian Orchestra".  They still know how to put on a light show.  Here is a clip if you have never seen them before. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CCSeugClR8 I think they come closest to a classic Genesis show.  They also incorporate lasers of every color known and even make it snow in the auditorium and shoot lasers through the snow.  Not a video screen in sight at their shows 

Well if this light show sucks than I really don''t know what a good one is. These are all from the HB shows:

These are more of the Genesis Stage Productions I remember and love:

For Music; I think the best time to see Genesis was in the 70's.  For Production; the best time to see Genesis was in the 80's.  I'm thankful that they got back together for this tour, and I did enjoy it and would go see it again if I could.  Especially since missing Carpet Crawlers still stings a bit.  Here are my pictures of 10/12/07 show: