Setlist: Deep In The Motherlode, Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (intro), Carpet Crawlers, Squonk, One For The Vine, Behind The Lines, Duchess, Guide Vocal, Turn It On Again, Duke’s Travels, Duke’s End, Say It’s Alright Joe, The Lady Lies, Ripples, In The Cage/ The Colony Of Slippermen, Afterglow, Follow You Follow Me, Dance On A Volcano, Drum Duet, Los Endos
Encores: I Know What I Like (including Stagnation), The Knife
The three-piece Genesis of Phil Collins (vocals, drums) Tony Banks (keyboards) and Mike Rutherford (bass, guitar) had already recorded And Then There Were Three as a three piece. It’s an album I thought even at the time was treading water as they decided on their next move. The tour in support of that had seen the trio ably augmented by two American musicians – Daryl Stuermer (guitar) and Chester Thompson (drums). This time around the core trio had the rather more exciting Duke album to promote, another example of a band seemingly re-energised by the arriving 1980s. Almost every rock or prog band I like seemed to have a new approach around 1980. For the Duke tour, Stuermer and Thompson were again in attendance but there was a twist for the UK dates. The band had progressed to the bigger venues here such as Earls Court in London or Stafford Bingley Hall but this time around they wanted to go back to the halls and theatres for more intimate and personal performances. This was obviously a great idea for the fans too, with one key problem – it meant that the capacities were smaller and despite the tour being a long one, it would mean many disappointed fans unable to get in.
It started when the tickets went on sale. To get one or two tickets (and I seem to remember it was limited to two) you had to queue outside the Birmingham Odeon. There was no online or postal applications. Fans actually started queuing the night before but this was too hardcore for me. Instead I turned up at the Odeon on the day they went on sale and was unable to get a ticket. Disconsolate but philosophical I went into the Odeon to see what else might have been added to the gigs list. While I was looking at the boards the manager of the Odeon, Chris Mott, called me over and asked me if I wanted a Centre Stalls ticket for Genesis. I was stunned, he did it because I knew all the staff and was one of the most regular attendees. This was a lovely gesture and off I went with a £4 ticket!
The gig was on a Saturday and I had the day off so I could hopefully meet the band. I had long discovered this wasn’t too difficult to do if you got there in time for the soundcheck. The Odeon was easy to get into via the stage-door area and if you were quiet and careful you could get into the stalls and sit quietly and watch a soundcheck and pick your moment to approach a band member. I didn’t manage to get in till after the soundcheck because the bustle of roadies etc coming and going was much greater than usual.
When I did get in I almost immediately saw Phil Collins, sitting in front of the mixing desk and catching up with his mail. I sidled over and said hello and he was very warm and receptive. I sat down and we chatted about how the tour was going and the Duke album and he signed the bottom left of my ticket. He was exactly as you would hope he would be, just as you see him on stage, and he was super-proud of Duke, which, although Tony Banks was still a prime songwriter, along with Mike Rutherford, I think really showed the growing influence of Phil on the band’s direction. I left Phil in peace because I had noticed Tony Banks had appeared. I went over to him, also near the mixing desk, where he was gazing intently at the stage – and I mean intently. Being next to him now and committed I had to say hello but it was kind of clear he was not necessarily in the mood for idle chat with a fan. He kindly said hello back but nothing more and there was an awkward pause. Tony broke this off by speaking to a guy behind him at the desk saying something along the lines that the super trooper on the far right was angled slightly wrong. I looked too and he was absolutely right, but most people wouldn’t have noticed. Tony did, and I reckoned nothing was likely to get past him on the show details. The lighting at this moment was the effect they used for Afterglow with the purple back lights accompanying the downward projecting top lights. Having sorted the lighting, he looked at me and said hello again and I asked him to sign my ticket too, which he did. I said how much I was looking forward to my first Genesis concert, and, again, how much I liked the Duke album. Tony was enthused by this and said he hoped I had a good time.
Off he then went and I decided to go out and see if there were any other band members around. The dressing room area was really off limits of course so the only other place to try was outside the stage door with the tour bus conveniently close by. No Mike Rutherford sadly and no Chester Thompson either but I did meet Daryl Stuermer. He was a very cheery chap and smiled when I said welcome to Birmingham. He too signed my ticket and we had another brief chat about the tour.
Tea for me, or dinner (depending on your point of view), was likely Pizzaland which was still my first choice. I do like routines! Then it was down to queue to get in, likely looking at t-shirts badges etc from the bootleg sellers outside the Odeon. This was going to be one of those gigs with no support band, which tended to be ones I preferred, simply because I rarely saw a support band who knocked me out.
The anticipation in the crowd was stronger than I had seen for any band up till then. There was a real sense of excitement and I was aware just how over-subscribed the gig had been. Those of us in there represented a fraction of the number who wanted a ticket. Genesis got some criticism for the size of the venues and you could see the point but there was no doubt that the lucky ones with a ticket were going to get a more intimate show than was usually the case now with the band. The roar was deafening as the lights went down. There was no rush to the front so this was going to be a seated show for the most part, more refined. I didn’t mind that because the music leant itself to a more considered response from the audience. They opened with Deep In The Motherlode, a chugging rocker from And Then There Were Three and the perfect song to limber up to and get the sound levels right. In fact the sound was already spot on and the best I had heard live till that point. Everything was so well balanced and it was a sheer pleasure to listen to.
Jovial greetings from Phil followed and then a deep dive with two from the Gabriel era. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight was riveting and delicate and they upped that with Carpet Crawlers which filled the Odeon with that beautiful keyboards melody from Tony. It was like being surrounded by sound and, as expected, Phil had an Odeon choir singing along with him for the choruses. Afterglow was just staggering – a stately but powerfully emotional song and when the purple super trooper lights were switched on they filled the Odeon with light to a very audible gasp from everyone. We were all bathed in purple as the outro played out.
At this point I must mention the rest of the band. Phil, obviously, was the focal point but American drummer Chester Thompson was equally solid and flashy when needed. That being said it was extra exciting when Phil got the opportunities to get behind his kit. The highlight of that would come later in the set. Daryl Stuermer was vital because Mike Rutherford wasn’t inspiring on guitar. He had taken over that role, as well as bass, when Steve Hackett left. Rutherford was better on bass in the live set, especially when he got to groove on I Know What I Like.
Tony Banks would probably have been identified by many as the de-facto band leader at this time. His keyboards were a dominant part of the band’s sound on record and equally so live. By this tour though he was changing his setup and experimenting with more modern synths, so some of the old Genesis sound, mellotron especially, was reduced. His piano playing was his most notable contribution, particularly on One For The Vine which was very much his showcase.
Back to the set at Birmingham. Follow You, Follow Me I felt let the mood drop. It had been their first big hit single but in honesty it wasn’t that great a song. It was a pleasant chance to catch your breath in the Odeon before the run of big bangers to the end. All you can say about Dance On A Volcano/ Los Endos is wow! One of the greatest sections of any Genesis gig with terrific playing, especially the double drumming from Collins and Thompson, and amazing lights. The section where they build it back up on Los Endos with the lights flickering was mesmerising. By the end of this section of the show the crowd were on their feet and stayed there. Just as well because it was party time with the first encore of I Know What I Like – always a crowd pleaser, and that was just Phil’s tambourine antics! We got the section from Stagnation in the mix too which was nice. The very final song was a hectic run-through The Knife which especially pleased the really older fans. And then they were gone. The lights came up and everyone was pure smiles and slightly stunned. It had been an amazing show. I saw them on every tour after until they had drifted too far into pop territory for me. Here in 1980 they had a sweet spot where they could look back and forward, and it worked well.
