Genesis (In The Cage), Genesis tribute @ The Half Moon, Putney, London, United Kingdom, Sunday 6^th November 2005.

Sunday night is never a great evening for going to see a band; the pubs shut early, you know that there is work the following day and when you get home, the ironing still needs doing. On this Sunday however, I find myself in one of the last bastions of live progressive rock music in the whole of South London. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Half Moon pub. Located in a half forgotten courner of Putney, it still manages to promote everything from British blues legends The Hamsters through to tonight's guests, Genesis (In The Cage), who play music exclusively from the 1970-1980 period (no mean feat when you consider the singer has to emulate both Gabriel and Collins).

The venue itself nestles at the back of the pub and as I enter I'm confronted with a wall of keyboards which contains (wait for it) a real live mellotron! This instantly puts me in a good mood as I saunter over to the bar to order some liquid encouragement. The evening is well attended with the usual smattering of die heard prog heads, nostalgia buffs and the just plain curious so I install myself next to the bar, remove my winter coat and settle back just in time to see the light's dim and the show begin.

First song in and I have good news and bad news. The good news is that it's Watcher Of The Skies and the band play it brilliantly. The opening mellotron sequence proves that all those back problems the crew must have carrying it from one gig to another are well worth it as shivers run up and down my spine while the band cascade into the opening section. Heads are nodding, feet are tapping and smiles abound in all directions. The bad news is that the singer is dressed for the part too.

Now don't get me wrong here, I'm all for authenticity when it comes to tribute acts but we are in a pub here boys and girls, I can almost touch the opposite wall from where I'm standing and to see a guy dressed in a back cape, silver face paint and bats wings coming out of his head, giving it all he's got while all the time trying not to bang his head on the ceiling or knock over the flute stand is, to be honest, a tad silly. Maybe that was the point but then again maybe (just maybe), some people might have misjudged the situation.

The Firth Of Fifth is next and it's fantastic. Everything is there, from the lilting piano intro to the wash of strings, lamenting guitar lines and melodic bass work. I can't fault it in any way and I doubt the real band could have played it any better.

We are then treated to One For the Vine and it is here that the singer discards the costumes and face paint to play the first 'Collins' song of the evening. I have to say that he's slightly better at sounding like Phil than he was at being Peter (and he was pretty good at that).

I'm just beginning to believe these guys can do no wrong when we reach the Duke medley comprising of Behind The Lines, Duchess, Guide Vocal, Turn It On Again and Dukes End. This would have been great if it wasn't for two things, firstly; the drummer (as we learn just before the medley is performed), has just joined the band and it's his first gig. Secondly; it was rubbish.

Now I love Duke and was quite willing to cut these guys some slack simply because they were playing material that not a lot of the other tribute acts (e.g. ReGenesis, etc) tend to touch upon. Unfortunately, the band appeared to be under-rehearsed and hesitant in their execution of the songs. Technical problems with the drum machine during Duchess didn't help as did the drummer's apparent unfamiliarity with the material during Dukes End. There were some bright spots however, Guide Vocal was a diamond in the rough as was Turn It On Again.

There is a Lamb section to the evening (The Lamb..., Broadway Melody 1974, In The Cage (naturally), Carpet Crawlers and Chamber Of 32 Doors) all of which are performed with much more grace and assurance. It's during this section I notice just how young the drummer is (20 years old at most) and that's he's reading most of his parts from drum charts. I'm impressed as this is not easy music to play and read at the same time.

Finally, we are treated to Suppers Ready and all previous grievances are forgiven. I've seen this performed by other tribute bands and parts of it even by Genesis themselves but it has to be said that this version really beat them all into a cocked hat. Their interpretation of the song was interesting too in that they appear to have gone for the Seconds Out approach (Phil Collins inflections & guitar bombast during the New Jerusalem section), over the more restrained Foxtrot rendition. Willow Farm was simultaneously hilarious and disturbing with the 9/8 section that followed a carbon copy of the original. This is the song that any Genesis tribute act will be judged by and I have to say that in all honesty, they were spot on the money.

A short respite and the band close the evening with an old favourite Dance On A Volcano which neatly (and unsurprisingly) slips into Los Endos. The singer leaves the stage during the instrumental section and walked though the crowd to the bar where I stood and began to order a drink. It seemed churlish of me not to buy him a pint after all the work he had put in (which I did). Re-united again with the band once again for the end, they took a well deserved ovation from the crowd and strode offstage to the strains of Jeff Beck's Hi Ho Silver Lining. Go figure.

As stated before, there are more than a few Genesis tribute acts doing the circuit at the moment and all of them have their strengths and weaknesses. This band is no exception in that they have a very authentic sound; the guitarist has Hacket's guitar style down to a tee as has the keyboard player (close your eyes and it could be Tony Banks up there). The downside is that they were hampered by music that is simply too big to be played in a pub. This music deserves a big stage with better lighting (that said, the light show was excellent considering the size of the venue) and there was a palpable feeling of confinement throughout the evening.

Overall, this is a fine tribute act that deserves your attention. They may not be the biggest but they have the potential (given more time and work) to be the best.

I wish I'd known about that. I was in South London on Sunday... That'll teach me to live with my head up my arse.

Excellent informative review, Simon. Good to see you on the forum again.

I'll bare that in mind, Simon, cheers. Is it far from Putney station? Cab ride? Walk distance?

If I'm free near that time, I shall make contact.