GENESIS // FIRST DIRECT ARENA, LEEDS
‘Turn it on Again’ for one last time and then ‘That’s All’
★★★★★ (5/5)
GENSIS PERFORMING AT LEEDS FIRST DIRECT ARENA - 28.09.2021
PICTURE BY: | JOHN HAYHURST (PHOTO PIC)
I remember queuing up under the railway bridge in Leeds at a makeshift box office in the Queens Hall, about 6 months before Genesis were to play there on the ‘Three Sides Live Tour’ in 1982. Even bought a shirt that said “I’ve got my Genesis 1982 ticket”, such was the occasion. The night of the concert itself, Phil Collins would say “Well this is a bit shit isn’t it? But at least its not open air” - he then points to the ceiling, “Hang on a minute” – there was a huge hole in the roof. The Queens Hall in Leeds was demolished a few years later and is now a Car Park.
Leeds now boasts one of the finest arenas in the UK, and I can’t help but think that tonight will be the reverse of that scenario, and after the gig/tour it will be the band that becomes extinct, there are now holes in their roof, in the shape of a very poorly looking Phil Collins who spends all of his time seated, he can barely lift a tambourine tonight.
That said, there is one last domino to play, and if they are going out, they will go out in a celebration of greatness, with all the bombast, lights, projections and perfect musicianship that the band can muster. This is a 2hour set in front of the faithful loyal supporters, some of whom could do with a bit of help getting up the steep stairs themselves.
Just getting Phil Collins up the 6 steps to the stage takes some doing and the crowd here help by giving them a standing ovation before they have even played a note. Opening with the instrumental mash-up of ‘Behind the Lines/Dukes End’ serves as a warm up for Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and long time live guitarist Daryl Stuermer, meanwhile Phil Collins gets himself comfy in his chair.
The opening build up to ‘Turn it on again’ does send a slight shiver as the audience are clapping in time and then Collins counts in Banks keys with guitars immediately following. It is a classic by anyone's standards and tonight there are a few tears as you realise this is certainly the last time you are likely to hear it, in all its glory.
The tone is set for the whole show as memories of some incredible songs from the older more prog albums are intertwined with modern (still over 15 years old) hits like ‘Home by the Sea’ and ‘Tonight, Tonight, Tonight’.
Collins fading health actually adds to the manical laughter section of ‘Mama’ and the backlit red lights only serve to enhance the seedyness.
The lights and image projections are quite simply some of the best in the business. ‘Land of Confusion’ introduced as a song that takes on new meanings is completed with a backdrop of cascading toilet rolls and bowler hat topped business men wearing masks marching around a city. It is a classic Genesis show where it is actually better viewed from a distance to appreciate the whole show production.
Phil Collins has still got the voice intact but he has help with a couple of backing singers that take on the longer chorus notes and he certainly can’t play the drums anymore, so he leaves all that in the very capable hands of his son Nic Collins. The Collins sense of humour though is very much still there, doing a couple of “party tricks” getting the different lit up sections of the audience to shout out whilst explaining what the domino effect is. Then he pulls out a tambourine and proceeds to repeatedly hit his head with it during ‘I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)’. That track is a personal highlight for me and does prompt the second standing ovation afterwards.
A few stripped back tunes happen when the band centre on stage and ‘Follow You Follow Me’ is sublime in that section. Then we have ‘No Son Of Mine’ where Collins is probably his most animated, almost writhing out of his chair with added venom.
‘Invisible Touch’ is probably the one song that gets everyone up dancing and after that there is the farce of Phil Collins pretending to walk off stage with he rest of the band going down the stairs – Phil instead hides behind one of the speakers.
The whole night musically was faultless, the visual spectacle was like no other and therefore I don’t have the heart to dock any stars just for the fact that Phil Collins is in poor health. This isn’t like those ‘last ever tour’ claims from Kiss, Meatloaf or Elton John etc. There really feels like a finality to this outing, so if you are thinking you’ll catch them next time, you may live to regret it. They plan to tour the US next year but after that – That’s All.