Yep, it's Tonight, Tonight, Tonight at The Garden! Somehow, I've never seen Genesis in any of their myriad permutations, this'll be a first for me. Maybe Peter will make a surprise appearance (don't bet on it).

Hope I can find John on the crowded LIRR after the show.

oh you won't miss me, I'll be sitting with a stunning brunette!

John and Jimbo:
Hope you guys enjoyed the show. I thought they were great, and I've seen Genesis several times before. Hearing certain songs like "No Son Of Mine" and "Turn It On Again" in different keys was a bit weird, but you get used to it. I was thrilled to hear stuff like "Ripples", "Carpet Crawlers", "In The Cage/Cinema Show/Duke's Travels/Afterglow", and the instrumental section of "Firth Of Fifth" (wish they did the whole thing, but Daryl shredded on his axe!).
Also, latter-day songs like "In The Glow Of The Night/The Last Domino" and "Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea" were fantastic.
The highlight was the drum duet which proves that Phil Collins is still one of the best and most creative drummers in the world. Chester Thompson remains an all-time favorite of mine as well.
I'd have liked a few more Gabriel-era tunes and something, anything from Abacab, but it was still a great show with the usual great light show, although a bit subdued at times in regards to the lights.
Please let me know what you thought!
Also, to any Genesis fan, I implore you to get the new book "Genesis:Chapter & Verse" which is stunning. What a beautiful book. Filled with pictures from 1967-2007 and with details about every part of the band's career in their own words I can't even begin to describe how classy this book is!
It's 29.99 but I got it at Amazon.com for 19.99 or so. IMO, you're not a fan if you don't get this and it continues this most amazing year for Genesis fans!

Yes, the show was stunning!!

That video screen they had was used to great effect. Loved the tribute section to the days passed with plenty of photos of Peter and Steve and the rest of the gang.

I thought the sound was spot on and the guys were really into the show.

Daryl just wailed on guitar. I've always loved those Hackett guitar parts and Daryl played them impeccably.

It was great to hear "Ripples" one of my favorite older tunes.

Also great to see that superb drum solo by Chester and Phil. Now thats how its done.

btw... I was able to order an Encore CD of last nights show at music.com. It wasn't available to order the other day when I checked but its back up now.

I purchased the show for $27.

Tomorrow night they play Giants Stadium.

Smart man. Avoids being associated with their '80s dreck. Any info on the eventual reissue of their early '70s albums?

Smart man. Avoids being associated with their '80s dreck. Any info on the eventual reissue of their early '70s albums?



80s dreck? It was great stuff. I'm not sure if the guy who wrote "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" would call Genesis music dreck.
I love Gabriel and I love Genesis, but Genesis albums like Abacab with songs like "Abacab", "Dodo", "Me And Sarah Jane" and "Keep It Dark" and Genesis with songs like "Home By The Sea", "Second Home By The Sea", "Mama" and "Just A Job To Do" and Invisible Touch which had "The Last Domino" and "The Brazilian" are excellent. Sure, they went very commercial, but it was still well-crafted music. It sure wasn't "Supper's Ready" or "The Musical Box" but who cares?
As for the 70s boxset, that is due out in Feb, 2008 I believe.

I have to agree, but also agree with IP that much of "So" was pretty commercial. I like all genesis albums with PG; + Trick with Collins, the first 3 PG solos, parts of So & the studio cd with Digging In The Dirt & the Live 2 cd that followed. I pretty much stopped following PG after that.

I remember seeing an interview with Genesis where Banks said that he really liked Security but as happy as he was that Gabriel was selling more records he was a little disappointed with So. I read that as saying, I wish Genesis was still doing progressive music like Pete did since leaving the group instead of pop music like he's doing now to cash in (like us).

5% raise in Cadbury sales or 5% raise in bad Phil Collins solo cd sales??

I like Phil Collins "bad" solo CDs and I prefer the Collins-fronted Genesis. So THERE!

From Billboard:

November 03, 2008 , 1:15 PM ET
Gary Graff, Detroit

With a third box set of catalog upgrades looming, a reunion of Genesis' revered 1971-75 lineup is still in the ether -- but hardly in stone.

"We've never said never about it, you know," keyboardist Tony Banks tells Billboard.com. "I know Phil (Collins) would be quite happy with the idea of just playing the drums; it would be quite fun for him. Mike (Rutherford) and I are certainly happy to do it. I know Steve (Hackett) is keen as well. I think it'd be down to Peter (Gabriel) more than anyone else."

Gabriel was actually the first to broach the idea of reuniting that Genesis lineup, initially for a handful of performances of the 1974 concept piece "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway," in 2004. He later pulled back in order to concentrate on a solo album he's still making. It did lead to Banks, Collins and Rutherford reuniting for a tour in 2007, and there are still hopes that the older roster will eventually do something together.

"It would be fun to do something like that purely for the fun of working together again and seeing where it takes you," Rutherford notes. Hackett adds that, "I think we should do this before one of us dies; we're not getting any younger, to quote one of the songs, so maybe one day it'll happen." Banks, meanwhile, says that rather than merely "The Lamb...," he'd like to see the group "do a sort of best-of from that era. You want to do things like 'Supper's Ready,' I think, and 'The Musical Box,' definitely."

All of that music is showcased on "Genesis: 1970-1975," a seven-CD and six-DVD box set that includes upgraded editions of all five albums the group recorded between those years. Each has a DVD of time-appropriate performance footage and new interviews, as well as a set of rare "Extras." It's the third in a series of boxed reissues, saved for last even though they're earlier recordings.

"I think they're the ones there's possibly more anticipation for," Banks says. "These albums have a reputation but they probably didn't sell as many in the first place, so there's a feeling that they have a chance to do something now."

Banks says Genesis is considering some further catalog reissues, including a possible boxed set of the group's several live albums as well as issuing single shows for sale via band's Web site. He's also put together a remastered version of his 1979 solo album "A Curious Feeling" that he plans to release in 2009.

This is why I should envy no one---'cause you never know!

A little morbid imagining often crosses a creative person's mind, but you know---what does he regret?

Peter Gabriel is glad that former Genesis bandmate Phil Collins is considering coming out of retirement.

But while he won’t rule out a classic lineup reunion of the influential prog band, he’s not fully convinced it will ever happen.

Collins retired in 2011 but last month suggested he was reconsidering the decision, saying: “I have started thinking about doing new stuff. Some shows again, even with Genesis. Everything is possible.”

Asked what he thinks of his former colleague’s comments, Gabriel tells Rolling Stone: “Good! I think he got himself into a bit of a hole, and that’s great news he’s coming out of it. It doesn’t have to involve work – but if it does, that’s a great indicator.”

His reaction leads to the inevitable question about a Genesis reunion, with the possibility having been raised on several occasions over the last decade. Gabriel replies: “It’s never been ruled out. I’m trying to picture a time when it would top my priorities list though.”

But he adds: “If you’re gonna do it, you gotta do it before you’re all dead, right? I was thinking about that the other day. We’re quite lucky – looking back at other bands of our generation, there’s usually one or two missing now. So you do get a sense of the clock.”

And he thinks the chances of staging a live performance of classic album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway are slipping away. “I’m getting older,” he says. “My voice has dropped a tone since the Genesis days. That’s a fact of life. I still sort of think through film ideas for The Lamb.”

Meanwhile, he’s aiming to complete the solo album he began in 2005, to be entitled I/O. “I really need to stop doing other things and lock myself away for a while,” he reflects. “It probably hasn’t moved nearly as much as I would have liked to in the intervening time. The songs are still there, but some of them I would redo now; and there’s some new stuff as well.”

It was announced this morning that the members of the classic Gabriel-era- Genesis will reunite for a BBC Two documentary to air later this year.

The band will appear in their own feature-length documentary which is currently going under the working title Genesis: Together And Apart. The BBC claim that the show will reunite the original members of the band for the first time since 1975. Obviously that does not take into account footage of most of the band members in the 2008 DVD release The Genesis Songbook, nor the reuniting of the classic line-up for the 1999 re-reording of The Carpet Crawlers for the Turn It On Again: The Hits compilation.

The programme forms part of a new series of music programming on the BBC to highlight the inaugural BBC Music Awards which is set to take place at Earl's Court in December. At this morning's launch, Director General of the BBC, Tony Hall said: "Today's the start of something very special for everyone who loves music. BBC Music is a celebration of the brilliant music talent across our country. We'll be joining up music on television, radio, iPlayer and online like never before. there'll be new shows; new partnerships; and whole new ways to support music on the BBC."

A 5% increase in gorilla sales.

From express.co.uk:

The hearts of progressive and pop-rock music fans were aflutter last week at the sight of the reconvened classic line-up of Genesis, peering down the lens for a jovial photo opportunity.

It signalled an upcoming BBC documentary on the band, and inevitable global twittering about the possibility of a reunion tour by Messrs Collins, Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford and Hackett.

But amid all the speculation, keyboard virtuoso and co-founder Tony Banks has an entirely different performance on his plate, courtesy of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Early next month at the 70th Cheltenham Music Festival, Banks will premiere his new orchestral work, commissioned for the event.

He’s created a substantial classical oeuvre in recent years, but this is the first time one of his orchestral works has been performed live. It’s all quite a long way from The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

“This is almost going naked, as it were, which is quite an interesting thing for me to do,” says Banks, a spry 64, when we meet to discuss the project in London. “In the group, you’re so used to making a record, everyone hears it, and anyone who likes you will give it more than one go.

“When we were doing the later Genesis albums, in particular, the tracks would evolve. You’d start off with a real skeleton thing, then it would slowly get bigger and bigger. By the end of three months, you had an album. Doing the classical stuff is different for me, because you go in the studio and you pretty much record it then and there. If it doesn’t sound good on the day, tough, that’s it.”

After a variety of solo albums, film soundtracks including 1983’s The Wicked Lady and other endeavours, Banks’ first classical venture, Seven: A Suite For Orchestra, was released in 2004, featuring the London Philharmonic. Six Pieces For Orchestra followed in 2012. What can people expect this time?.

“I think the piece is good, but then I would, wouldn’t I?” he smiles. “I use this arpeggio motif that goes through it a lot, and the beginning starts with big chords, which I suppose is slightly reminiscent of early Genesis. It wasn’t intentional, but that’s how it’s worked out.”

But the sum total of the brief from Cheltenham was the duration. “15 minutes, that’s what I was told. What was extraordinary was, when I wrote the thing first time and stuck it on the computer, it came in at exactly 15 minutes. It’s now a bit longer, because I’ve elongated bits and pieces.

“I’m a long-winded sort of chap, as you know, in music,” he says drily. “I like the discipline sometimes of writing a three or four minute song, that’s great. But left to my own devices, I sprawl all over the place, and I like to bring in more elements to a piece. So working in classical is great, because in terms of chords, I can be much more adventurous.

I’m always pretty much up for anything, I don’t see any reason why not to. I really don’t know. We never say no. We all get along fine. Don’t hold your breath
Tony Banks
“I used to be like that In the early days of Genesis, but Mike and Phil would get that look - ‘Too many diminished chords in a row, he’s off.’ Which is fair enough. I needed a bit of controlling.”

With Collins and Rutherford, Banks mounted the hugely successful Genesis reunion tour Turn It On Again in 2007. Collins “retired” in 2011, citing health and other reasons, but was filmed performing In The Air Tonight and Land Of Confusion in a concert at his sons’ school in Miami last month, and has said that he’s written with Adele for her next album.

Together with the forthcoming BBC documentary, all of that has, predictably, set tongues awag about a new Genesis get-together, perhaps even of the vintage five-piece line-up of the 1970s. Banks handles the question calmly.

“We have talked about various things,” he says. “A year ago I think Phil would definitely have said no. But he’s probably not quite capable of playing Duke’s Travels [from 1980’s Duke] any more. I think that’s what did him in a bit the first time around.

“But they’ve got [the BBC] documentary coming out, and we had a meeting, with Peter and Steve as well. I’m always pretty much up for anything, I don’t see any reason why not to. I really don’t know. We never say no. We all get along fine. Don’t hold your breath.”

Banks was captivated as a teenage fan by the keyboards of Keith Emerson, whom he went to see at the Marquee Club, with Gabriel, in The Nice. “It was the first time for both us that we’d really thought about the idea that playing live music could be fun,” he says.

He hopes the Cheltenham event will fit that description, but Banks admits to a certain apprehension at being centre stage. “With a three-piece, you always rely on each other a bit. On stage, the central focus has always been on the singer, Phil in latter days, so I’ve always been able to hide in the background, and I’m happy to do that.

“I’m a writer, I didn’t really intend to be a performer at all. But the Genesis videos, I quite enjoyed. Fortunately in Phil you had someone who could act. Mike and I could do our best, we’d wear wigs and raincoats. You can do enough, we could do the silly walk in I Can’t Dance. Some of the videos were really good.”

Whatever happens down the road with the band that made him somewhat reluctantly famous, Banks is the ultimate example of someone who got out of rock ‘n’ roll alive.

“I’ve met a lot of people in rock ‘n’ roll who are surprisingly normal,” he says. “That’s probably why the group has never been seen as cutting edge. I just love music, I don’t really care about the rest of it.”