Genesis - The Last Domino? Tour
The legendary band's last ride is short on surprises but high on quality.
Hello and thanks for spending part of your day with Michael’s Record Collection. My apologies for not having a new issue out last week. My brief vacation scrambled my schedule a bit and I had some interview subjects push back their scheduled days. So, things kind of got a bit jumbled but they should be back on track. Since many people will be preparing for their Christmas or other holiday festivities, I wanted to get this out a bit earlier in the week than usual but you know what they say about making plans.
This week, I’m shaking things up a bit. Rather than focus the discussion on a particular record, I am going to make this more of a Michael’s Concert Ticket Collection issue and discuss the recent Genesis concert I attended at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Dec. 8. I also compared notes on the show I saw with a previous Genesis tour stop in Cleveland in late November, as witnessed by Matt Wardlaw from Ultimate Classic Rock. Matt and I talked about the performances, the setlists, and our Genesis origin stories, and you can see that full discussion in the embedded video below. But for now, let’s get to that concert review.
I know that not everyone will agree with this opinion, but in my view, when your favorite band announces its final tour, you’ve got to go. This is especially true when the members of that band are on the wrong side of age 70. I understand why some people would choose not to go, and opting to preserve the memory of the band in its prime, but I’m not losing my memories of earlier Genesis tours and I’m not going to forget Phil Collins as a hairy young drummer/frontman even though I recently saw him as a much older man with a lot less hair. I merely added some new memories.
When Genesis announced it was going out for one last ride, I didn’t even think about not going, nor was I about to let the price of admission factor into my decision. The Last Domino? Tour news broke and my first questions weren’t “Why?” or “How much?” but rather “Where and when?”
The band has given me so much over the years. My life is immeasurably richer for having spent hours with them, even though I’ve never met any of the musicians who make up Genesis in an official sense or those who have served as hired guns for their tours. I’ve spent countless hours listening to their 15 studio albums, six live albums, and various demos, rarities, outtakes and remixes from box sets and compilations, and audience, soundboard, and radio recordings that have spilled out over the band’s formation in 1967 — the year after I was born. Add to that a huge number of hours spent watching the band’s concert DVDs, documentaries, and bootlegged live video recordings, and there’s no telling how many of my 55 years on this planet have been spent in the company of these now-elderly Englishmen.
So, when the tour was announced, I was going. Period. I knew the ticket prices would be ridiculous. I knew Phil Collins wasn’t going to sound like he did in the 1970s, 80s, or 90s, and that he wouldn’t be drumming. I knew that age-related infirmities and nerve damage would force him to sit down to sing the band’s stunning back catalog of hits during the shows. I knew I wasn’t going to get any favorite deep tracks in the setlist and that I could easily predict 95% of the songs that the band would perform. I didn’t care. I wanted tickets for my own selfish, personal reasons — to say goodbye and to thank Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford for bringing me those countless hours (days/months/years) of joy. Genesis music has been part of my life since I was in junior high school, when the band had already shed original vocalist Peter Gabriel and guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett, dwindling to a three-piece outfit.
It wasn’t until the rise of Napster and illegal downloading that I finally plunged headfirst into the band’s back catalog from the Gabriel era and my love for Genesis as a band grew even deeper and richer. My downloading may have been illegal but it led to the purchase of every album and song my modem had sucked greedily from the internet via Napster and Audiogalaxy technology (possibly even from Limewire, although I can’t recall for sure).
Beyond having every album, I needed every product available. I bought box sets and ‘best of’ compilations, even though I already owned every song — often many times over. I bought the remastered versions, too. And then I found vast bootleg-sharing communities online and procured hundreds of live shows that varied in quality from barely listenable to pristine.
When the tour dates came out, I was anxious to see where they’d be. I knew it probably wouldn’t be a terribly long tour, because the 2007 Turn it On Again Tour hadn’t been either. That tour had skipped Florida — my state of residence since 1999 — and so I’d returned to my adopted hometown of Columbus (I was born in New Jersey and grew up 30 miles east of the Ohio capital city) in 2007 to see Genesis on what I imagined then was probably my last chance to see them. It was a lucky coincidence that a rare scheduling phenomenon allowed me to see my alma mater’s football team play at home in the early afternoon with plenty of time for me to make my way downtown to Nationwide Arena for that 2007 concert.
So, when the 2021 tour dates didn’t include any Florida cities, my eyes again turned north toward Ohio. Although I could have gone to Charlotte, Philadelphia, Cleveland, or a few other places and had a place to stay, I hadn’t been back to Columbus since before the pandemic. I could kill two birds with one stone and visit friends and family on a trip to Columbus to see Genesis on the final tour.
I reached out online to see if anyone in that area wanted to go with me, and one of my old college roommates answered me on Facebook that he’d be up for going. The ticket prices didn’t scare him away, which was fortunate. I hadn’t seen him in more than 30 years, so the trip became even more enticing. After a stressful tussle with the online ticketing system, I had two passes to the show, although not as close to the stage as I would have liked.
Months later, the waiting was over. The show was approaching and I flew home.
My friend and I caught up on the drive from the small town of Newark to the big city of Columbus, and we arrived in time to grab a bite to eat and a beer across the street from the arena. When the doors opened, we moseyed on over, waited through the insanely long line at the merchandise kiosk, and I bought an overpriced t-shirt — the final Genesis concert t-shirt I’ll ever likely buy, barring something crazy and unforeseen.
We made our way up to the top of the arena, where our seats awaited — just one row below the last one at the top of the upper deck, looking straight down on Mike Rutherford’s side of the stage. I will skip the details of the drunk girl who was, of course, the only person in the upper deck who wanted to stand and dance and just happened to end up right in front of me. The less said about her the better, and she didn’t even stay for the entire show after getting into a squabble with one of her friends. No, let’s just get to the show.
The band took the stage and launched into a “Behind the Lines” / “Duke’s End” medley and followed that with the well-known “Turn it on Again,” giving me a huge chunk of my favorite Genesis album (Duke) right out of the gate. Collins sat front and center in his chair, and although he was flat on a few notes — whether due to a monitor issue or some other reason — he delivered, albeit in a slightly lower tuning to accommodate his shrinking range, but all was as expected. Collins continues to be an engaging and affable stage presence and despite not being able to go for some of the higher notes, he sounded quite good to my ears and grew more confident and had fewer flat spots as the show went on.
And the band? Holy cow, were they great. Rutherford (guitars/bass/bass pedals), Banks (keyboards), longtime touring guitarist/bassist Daryl Stuermer, and drummer Nic (son of Phil) Collins worked in perfect lockstep. Nic’s drumming bears much resemblance to his father’s but there were some subtle differences and every now and then I’d notice a drum fill that was slightly changed, but it all worked. Daniel Pearce and Patrick Smyth provided additional percussion and backing vocals, although they simply filled out the sound and made it bigger rather than covering Phil’s vocals.
I had managed to avoid almost all setlist spoilers, but I still figured I knew most of what would be played, and that turned out to be true. After the three songs from Duke came the haunting creepiness of “Mama” and the rocking “Land of Confusion” with its singalong ‘whoa-oh-oh’ in the chorus. As always with Genesis, the lighting, visuals, and production were outstanding.
Although the Duke songs already made my night, “Home by the Sea” and “Second Home by the Sea” kicked things up a notch. Collins did the long-running schtick of getting the audience to participate in reaching out to the “other world” and although it seems tiresome on live albums, it’s a fun participation moment at a live show. “Home/Second Home” is firmly among my favorite pieces by the band and satisfies both my pop and prog sensibilities. The band killed it and I felt the tears rise in my eyes as they brought it home (no pun intended) at the end.
My first real surprise came next. “Fading Lights” from the We Can’t Dance album is a song I felt would make a fitting closing number for this tour based on the subject matter, but here it was performed much earlier in the show. The band did the first two verses, but rather than launch into that song’s instrumental section, Genesis took a left turn and blasted into the instrumental middle part of another of my all-time favorites, “The Cinema Show” off Selling England by the Pound. This was the musical apex of the show and the band wrapped it up by easing gently into “Afterglow” from Wind & Wuthering.
With the first half of the show over, a second surprise awaited me. The band all came together near the front of the stage, with Nic seated at a smaller drum kit on wheels for a short acoustic set, The band performed “That’s All,” a revamped version of “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,” and “Follow You, Follow Me.” Having seen the band perform these songs live and/or on concert DVDs, it was a nice change of pace and I enjoyed it.
For the second half, Genesis went back to Duke with “Duchess,” giving me a full third of the 12 songs from my favorite album. The 1991 smash hit “No Son of Mine” followed and then the Peter Gabriel-era fans got thrown a bone with an instrumental section of “Firth of Fifth” and “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” — both from the 1973 classic Selling England by the Pound. Where once Collins would dance around the stage doing theatrics with a tambourine during “I Know What I Like,” he did a more subdued version while seated for this show.
Collins went back to his old Genesis “party tricks” while demonstrating the domino principle before the band leaned into another of the band’s later extended pop/prog favorites, “Domino.” This was another highlight for me, as it’s easily my favorite song from Invisible Touch. Again, the band was afire, building and releasing tension throughout the epic song.
The second half ended with a string of three more hits from Invisible Touch, which was, incidentally, the album being supported on the first Genesis tour I was able to see. “Throwing It All Away” gave Collins a chance to again engage the audience with his sing-song, “dee-da-lay” call-and-answer segment. “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” ramped up the tension again and then the band released it with a playful and upbeat conclusion by launching into “Invisible Touch.” It’s a testament to Genesis as a band that even the songs I’m less into can still move me when I see them performed live.
That was it for the pre-encore portion of the show and that would have been plenty. I had seen all of the things I wanted (and expected) to see, but with a few minor pleasant surprises along the way thrown in for good measure. But there was more to come.
“I Can’t Dance” is a song that — like “Invisible Touch” — I can normally take or leave. It’s neither a song that makes me hit the skip button nor turn up the volume. But when the band plays it live, I can’t help but enjoy it. Then came something that floored me. Collins started singing the Gabriel-era “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight.” Not having seen the setlist in advance, this was a joyous surprise and I didn’t even mind that it was just the intro and first verse. I felt fortunate to get to see that at all.
The band closed with “The Carpet Crawlers” from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. It’s been a closing song in the past, but I’ve never understood why. It’s a great song and I enjoyed seeing it live again, but it’s just a weird song to end a show with due to its slow tempo. I’m glad they played it, but I can think of dozens of songs that would make better closing numbers, especially on the last tour. “Fading Lights” would have been a more poignant and emotional note to end on, and there’s any number of up-tempo songs that would have had the crowd shaking the arena for more.
As the band gathered onstage for the final bows, I snapped what pictures I could with my phone, and despite being probably a hundred yards from them and drowned out by thousands of cheering fans, I said “thank you” aloud to Genesis. It was important for me to say it, whether they could hear me or not. Their music has been with me for decades and has seen me through good times and bad. I had to say it and damn was it getting dusty in that arena…or was it just allergies that had my eyes watering so much?
In the end, it doesn’t matter that I dropped a few hundred bucks that I couldn’t afford to spend. I needed to see Genesis one last time. I needed to be there for them as they’ve always been there for me. I had to thank them and say goodbye. I did all of that and it was worth every penny. I walked out of that show knowing it was nearly impossible for me to be any happier about a concert than I was in that moment.
The U.S. leg of the tour is now over but there are more shows coming in Europe. If you’re in position to go to one of them, I highly recommend the experience. Don’t let the cost get in the way. Go see them while you can. You’ll leave the show with a smile on your face.
Here’s the full setlist from the Columbus show:
1. Behind the Lines / Duke's End
2. Turn It On Again
3. Mama
4. Land of Confusion
5. Home by the Sea
6. Second Home by the Sea
7. Fading Lights (First two verses)
8. The Cinema Show Instrumental Section
9. Afterglow
Acoustic Set
10. That's All
11. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
12. Follow You Follow Me
13. Duchess
14. No Son of Mine
15. Firth of Fifth Instrumental Section
16. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
17. Domino
18. Throwing It All Away
19. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (First two verses)
20. Invisible Touch
Encore:
21. I Can't Dance
22. Dancing With the Moonlit Knight (Intro & first verse only)
23. The Carpet Crawlers
Matt Wardlaw from Ultimate Classic Rock saw the Genesis tour stop in Cleveland on Nov. 30, just over a week before I caught them in Columbus. We compared notes on our experiences, talked about our Genesis origin stories, and (at times) gushed about the band.
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