The Summit, Houston, October 22, 1978

Houston
The Summit
October 22, 1978
Pre-FM King Biscuit/Streaming Wolfgang's Vault

Overall:


An energetic performance from the end of the And Then There Were Three tour. This partial show was recorded by King Biscuit and carefully remastered by GRaSP and TM Productions. The sound is excellent, with a well-balanced mix throughout. At this point, new guitarist Daryl Stuermer was completely integrated into the live band. The show itself is incomplete, but if you're looking for an hour of well-recorded live Genesis, you could do a lot worse than this.

Sound: * * * 1/2
The sound quality overall is very good, although some of the recording comes from internet streaming, this as been compensated for as much as possible.

Mix: * * * *
The mix of instruments will well-balanced throughout most of the show. There are one or two places where the music gets loud and just the mix gets just slightly muddled, but these are few, and possibly the result of streaming.

Performance: * * * * 1/2
The band is energetic, even at this late date in the tour. Phil is slightly hoarse at the beginning, but gives it 100%. The only lag in intensity is "Deep in the Motherlode" which feels a bit uninspired, as if the band might be tired of playing it.

Raw Notes:

1. Introduction-King Biscuit..

2. In The Cage - Good balanced mix. Bass audible. Good energy. Just realized that Phil has been singing the line "Dressed to kill" from the beginning. Sounds just a bit hoarse, but the performance is firing on all cylinders at a slightly fast tempo. Daryl already doing his fast scales during "Round...Round..." section. Strange to hear this one this without the medley that would follow later.

3. Deep in the Motherlode - Seems a bit slow at the start. Quite a contrast from the break-neck pace of Cage. There's some distortion here, like white noise, but I can't quite tell where it's coming from. Disappears during "All along the wagons." Think it was a guitar effect. A tad uninspired. Perhaps the band is tired of this one at this late point in the tour.

4. The Lady Lies - Better tempo. Phil's voice cracks on "Wine and food, too". Having some fun with vocals. Solid performance. Nice solo from Daryl at the end. ...and they nail the landing!

5. Cinema Show - Nice first sections. Daryl does some interesting tapping and slides during the quiet part after "More earth than sea". Mostly faithful to Steve's original leads. Phil sings "And you know for me there's no mystery." Somber, moody... going into keyboard solo. Tempo picks up. Nice Mellotron choir! Very good mix. Several bars of Chester and Phil's drumming...lead us into Riding The Scree instrumental played at dizzying speed. Little bit of Quiet Earth tacked on the end.. segues into..

6. Afterglow - Phil is still mostly following the original and less dramatic studio version here. Not bad, though. Still getting a very good mix. Of course, the band would soon shorten Cinema Show and combine this whole thing with In the Cage.

7. Follow You Follow Me - Opening notes get a good crowd reaction. Must have been getting some airplay at this point.

8 Dance On A Volcano - Drums thunder nicely in the intro. Good energy again. Tambourine very audible at first, but you can hear Phil move away from the microphone. Nice performance. Segues into...

9. Drum Duet - Damn! Never cease to be amazed by this and the subtle changes Phil and Chester make between performances. The GRaSP notes in the CD state that part of this had to be taken from a Knebworth performance to replace missing tape, but the splice is seamless. Segues into...

10. Los Endos - Solid performance. Strange noise going into the eerie dance section, but I think it was intentional. Into the Squonk reprise... More awesome Daryl lead. Great finale! I ask again, are there any bad performances of this?

11. I Know What I Like - the ten minute version. Zzzzzzzz... Nearly identical to most other performances of this. ...except Phil sings "Me, I'm just a lawnmower, mate!" Stagnation teaser, check. Jam section, check..... slowly building up to finally get back to that final chorus and... "It's your show!"