March 30, 1978 review: Genesis kicks off its "Mirrors" tour without the mirrors

 


Fans get their first look at the revamped version of Genesis. 

March 30, 1978 

Energy, Lighting

Stoke Genesis in

Tour Opening 

          There was a touch of opening night unsteadiness about the first major date of the 1978 Genesis world tour Wednesday.

          The British quintet had not yet reckoned which elements of the new show might be heightened for maximum effect. And then too, there was the accident.

          En route to Memorial Auditorium from the warm-up date in Binghamton, a truckload of equipment crashed. This particular tractor-trailer was carrying the group’s new mirrored stage. None of the gear showed up here.

          What did show up were the instruments, the three-level playing platform, the suspended PA speakers, the double sound mixing stations, the laser, the fog machines and an enormous lighting system, which included manned spotlights mounted on scaffolds on both sides of the stage.

          For its part, Genesis was launching a radically new 2¼ hour program made up of pieces from the freshly released “… And Then There Were Three” album plus seldom-performed older tunes. For their 14,000 youthful fans, it made for a sometimes slow-paced evening.

          Singer Phil Collins was partly to blame. After two tours spent rushing about the stage like a crazed satyr, the cleanly shorn and shaven Collins apparently decided to make it easier on himself.

          Instead of dashing around, Collins bounced among three miniature drum stations, occasionally ducking back to one of the two mammoth drum kits to whack out a double beat with Chester Thompson, who became the group’s full-time drummer last year.

          For excitement, Genesis relied on lighting effects. The grid above the stage pulsed with the beat. Spotlights criss-crossed the players. Each tune was set in gorgeous color. The mirrors must make it quite a spectacle.

          Visual impact always has been Genesis’ strong suit. There was Peter Gabriel’s maskery and slideshow dramas, Collins’ acrobatics. Without them, the set dragged noticeably.

          Part of that problem will ease as more kids hear the new album. The crowd responded generously to tunes they knew, like “The Cage” off  “The Lamb Lies Down of Broadway,” but there weren’t that many of them.

          Meanwhile, Collins’ intros were less than sparkling. The best one was the old one for “Romeo and Juliet.” Furthermore, new guitarist Daryl Stuermer (who replaced the outgoing Steve Hackett) didn’t get to show off much of what he must have learned during 2½ years with jazz-rock violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.

          The result left the crowd with plenty of spunk and energy when the encore came around. Firecrackers popped, matches and candles were lit. They went wild as Collins opened the familiar favorite by saying: “It’s one o’clock and it’s time for lunch …”

          They cheered his tambourine frenzy. They clapped along to the beat. They were screaming and stomping for a second encore when the house lights came up, but Genesis didn’t come back. Though they hadn’t quite found the key to the new formula, they weren’t about to fall back on the old one.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Genesis onstage in Rochester the night after the Buffalo show.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: The three that Genesis had come down to were Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford and their new sound, which was much more pop-oriented, was not at all embraced by their prog rock fans, who were accustomed to much longer and more complex songs. Nevertheless, although “… And Then There Were Three” got mixed reviews when it was released in March 1978, it did great on the charts. “Follow You Follow Me” was their most successful single to date.

          The staging for this “Mirrors” tour, which went on for nearly 100 shows in North America, Europe and Japan and cost Collins his marriage, was so epic that there’s a Wiki page devoted entirely to the equipment.

Here’s what they played that night, as reported on setlist.fm (songs from the new album marked with asterisks). The “Romeo and Juliet” reference in the review is actually part of the lyrics for “The Cinema Show.” The encore, which came from the 1973 album “Selling England by the Pound,” was the first Genesis single to chart. 

          Eleventh Earl of Mar

          In the Cage

          Burning Rope ***

          Ripples

          Deep in the Motherlode ***

          The Fountain of Salmacis

          Down and Out ***

          One for the Vine

          Squonk

          Say It’s Alright Joe ***

          The Lady Lies ***

          The Cinema Show

          Riding the Scree

          … In That Quiet Earth

          Afterglow

          Follow You Follow Me ***

          Dance on a Volcano

          Drum Duet

          Los Endos

          (encore)

          I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

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