City Hall, Sheffield, April 17, 1980

City Hall
Sheffield, UK
April 17, 1980
TM Productions

Overall:

Sheffield '80 is one of the best live mixes I've heard on a Genesis boot. The band is in high spirits for this show, perhaps happy to be back in the UK. Phil is a bit hoarse on some of the high notes, but he doesn't shy away from them too often. Good performances abound, especially toward the end. Something to listen for here is the band having some fun with the rhythm on "I Know What I Like" which makes for a surprisingly pleasant listen, even after having heard this extended version hundreds of times. Highly recommended.

Sound: * * * * 1/2
There is a slight hiss throughout and just a bit of artifacting in the cymbals on a few songs, but on the whole, the sound is outstanding.

Mix: * * * * *
Possibly the best mix I've heard on any unofficial live Genesis recording. Rivals Philadelphia '83 closely.

Performance: * * * * *
The band is energetic and playful, especially toward the end of the show, beginning with "Dance On A Volcano".

Raw Notes:

Disc 1
1. Deep In The Motherlode - The thump-thump at the beginning might give you the impression that you're about to hear "In The Cage", but not yet. It seems strange to think that the band every opened a show with a song from ATTW3, but there it is. The sound here is wonderful--near live album quality with just a bare hint of hiss in the quiet passages. Nicely detailed mix. And this is a good performance. I like it better than the studio version.

2. Dancing With The Moonlit Night (opening section) - Phil dodges the high notes in the beginning. Nice ballad-y version. Band uses CP-70 piano instead of 12-string guitar. Great version, but too short!

3. Carpet Crawler - Crowd cheers opening notes. And again on the first sung line. A bit of artifacting in the highs, particulary the cymbals. Nice emotion going into the latter verses. Great intensity! Nailed. "Good evening, everybody!" Sounds like something was edited here, going right into...

4. Squonk - Phil a bit hoarse on the high note "He's a shy, he's a sly one". Good energy. "You better watch out, boy, you'd better watch out!" Tony's CP-70 sounds interesting on this one. "Just a pool of tears! Why oh, why?" Phil in good spirits. Very nice performance. "Well, it's been a while since we played here, innit?"

5. One For The Vine - Mix is so clear, I find myself listening closely to Chester's drumming in the early section. Mike does some interesting bass counterpoints against Tony's piano in the quiet part just before "He walked into the valley". Good intensity going into loud instrumental section. You can tell Phil has moved on to his drum kit during this part. Separate channels for the drummers. Does Phil sing "They leave me no choice" part from his drum kit? Good performance. "I remember my first beer, too!" Story of Albert. Crowd is having fun. "The Duchess was into S&M". Crowd cheers mention of the Duke album. Introduces "Music From Our Album Called Duke"

6. Behind The Line - Comes in quite loud! Very good intensity, if just a hair fast. Full of youthful energy! Segues, of course, into...

7. Duchess - Crowd quiet for the drum machine solo in the beginning. Tony taking it easy on the piano. Breezy and pleasant. Chester begins playing over the machine... and it's into the song proper. Good emotion. "And the street and the odds". Phil definitely getting hoarse here, but giving it his all! Segues, of couse, into...

8. Guide Vocal - Just Phil and the CP-70. Tony slows things down a bit. Synth adds some orchestration. Then bass pedals. Crowd cheers as we quickly move into...

9. Turn It On Again - Rhythm guitar more present in the intro than in other performances. Adds an interesting texture. Nicely done. Phil doesn't yet have his rapid-fire "Turn it on, turn it on...turn it turn it" going yet. Nails the landing.

10. Duke's Travels - Phil gets back on the drums and plays along with Chester on some of my favorite Genesis. The end of an era in a way. The mix is amazing! A bit restrained in the beginning, but technically perfect. Picks up steam as it goes. The rhythm guitar from Turn It On Again re-appears. Is that Daryl? Excellent coming to the climax and final vocal. Nailed! Segues, of course, into...

11. Duke's End - Something seems to be missing on the opening chords of this. But it recovers quickly. Thundering drums! Moving at a slightly fast tempo toward the ending. Nice!


Disc 2
1. Introduction (The Story of Sidney) - Liked to drink. "Come with me to a seedy bar."

2. Say It's Alright Joe - I like the studio version of this song, but the extended pauses in the verses get a bit annoying here. Still, it's good to hear anything live from ATTW3. The choruses are quite nice. Nice extended outro, as well. Crowd likes it. "And now a bit of melodrama". Audience participation. "A bit disappointed to see so many transvestites in the audience tonight."

3. The Lady Lies - Tony must use his whole rig on this song as moves between sounds. Can't hear the audience participating over the music. Tony nail his solo. Who sings the low part during "So glad you could make it?" Daryl wails in lead in the background during the outro. Nails the landing!

4. Ripples - Pleasant intro and verse. Phil's tambourine on the chorus is a bit too loud. Missing Steve Hackett's gentler touch on the 12 string. Again, interesting to hear the CP-70 on an older song. Second chorus is quite nice without the tambourine. Into the ominous instrumental. Daryl does an admirable job with Hackett's weeping solo. Good intensity going into the final chorus. Very good performance, overall. Introduces Frank, the bisexual drum machine. And then the rest of the band. Daryl and Chester get a warm response.

5. In The Cage - Phil starts singing with any thump-thump intro. Building the intensity and speed. Again, the mix is wonderful! Not sure what Tony used in place of the Mellotron here, but it sounds a lot like it, although it seems to lack some of the bottom end. Tony accidentally hits two keys at once during the flurry of notes going into "Rain drops keep falling..." But it goes by very quickly. Daryl shreds as always during "Round... round...". Segues into...

6. The Raven - Never heard Tony miss a note on this one. Excellent performance. Segues nicely into...

7. Afterglow - Still a slightly subdued performance, like on the album. Phil would take this to new heights on the next (Abacab) tour.

8. Follow You, Follow Me - And we enter the encore for this evening. Somewhat similar to the version on 3SL since it came from this tour.

9. Dance on Volcano - Tony's Moog sounds slightly buzzier against the guitars than usual. Perhaps just a bit louder. Nicely atmospheric going into "On your left and on your right" section, building in loudness as instruments fade in. This is a unique performance of this. Phil and band are focused and intense. Cuts off with an extended bridge section going into...

10. Drum Duet - Damn! Fast! Holy $%^^! But short. Segues into...

11. Los Endos - Band has pulled out all the stops at this point. High-speed, high intensity. Amazing as always. WTF? Loud strange sound going into Squonk reprise. Sounded a bit like synth percussion. Ah, the bass pedals! The choir! Amazing that the band is able pull of a great performance of this without the Mellotron, but they always have.

12. I Know What I Like - ...and it isn't the 10 minute version of this song. Oh, well. Another strange sound in the percussion in the intro. Sounds like a steam valve. I wonder what new equipment is being used here and then dropped later. Minor tape glitch, but very short. Steam valve returns during tambourine dance. "I'm just a lawnmower, mate!" Chester (or Phil) changes up the rhythm a bit. Add some interest to a relatively simple song they've played many, many times. They do it again during the "Stagnation" teaser. I've never heard a performance like this one. Even Tony's changing things up a bit during the long instrumental. Even get some light slap-bass from Mike going into final chorus. A surprisingly pleasant listen. "Thank you, good night!"

The Point Depot, Dublin, March 8, 1998

The Point Depot
Dublin, Ireland
March 8, 1998
A Single Lonely Voice

Overall:


From the first elephant trumpet of "No Son Of Mine", the long-time Genesis fan will notice that something is amiss. The song's key has been lowered to accommodate the new singer. (Ten years later, it would later be lowered to accommodate the original.) This would be repeated several times during the night. There are some loose performances at the beginning, but starting with the second half of "Domino", the band starts to turn it around. A highlight is Mike's extended solo at the beginning of "Dividing Line" and Nir's drum solo a bit later in the same song. Ray turns in surprisingly fun performances on the hits "Invisible Touch", "Thowing It All Away", and "I Can't Dance".

Sound: * * *
Decent audience recording.

Mix: * * *
Mostly balanced. There's no bass at times. At other times, the keyboards are too loud.

Performance: * * *
The '98 lineup was nowhere near as tight as the one from '78-92, and unfortunately, they never would get the chance to improve. The show has its moments, though, particularly toward the end.

Raw Notes:

Disc 1
1. No Son of Mine - Lower key. Ray tries, but the song doesn't have the intensity in this pitch. The band sounds a bit tired. Decent mix. Good sound for an audience recording. Curiously, the kick drum can be heard, but Anthony Drennan's bass guitar is lost somewhere. Good crowd response, though.

2. Land of Confusion - Lower key. Can't hear the crowd sing the "Oh oh oh's". Still no bass. Mike's guitar is just audible. Again, it just doesn't get off the ground. For better or worse, Phil owns these first two songs.

3. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - A bit surprised to find this one transposed. Intro sounds interesting on Tony's new rig. Ray's sounds odd at "Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid", but he's putting some intensity behind it. Sings "down, down, down" like Phil. Different outro than I've heard before. "If anybody mentions Phil, I'm sorry, but you have to leave."

4. Calling All Stations - In the right key. Ray seems more at home here. Band performance is very similar to album. Mike's solo cuts through nicely, as do Nir's drums. Not bad. MUCH better ending than on the fade out album. Ray intro's Carpet Crawlers as the first Genesis song he ever heard.

5. Carpet Crawlers - I think this is in the right key. Ray dodges some high notes. He sounds quite good on the verses, but struggles with the choruses. "The eagle pack lifts up their pitchers they carry on their backs?" Ray tells the story of becoming the new lead singer. Talks about having to work up lyrics on the spot.

6. There Must Be Some Other way - Bass is suddenly audible. Intro sounds a bit empty for some reason. Dodges some of his own high notes. No background vocals. No intensity in the first couple of verses. Into keyboard solo. Doesn't soar. Last verse. Ray puts himself into the last chorus.

7. Domino - Lower key, slower tempo. Some audience chatter. Nir picks up the tempo for the Last Domino section, now that he's not bound to the drum machine. Nice pounding! Almost gathering some intensity. Song damned nearly gets off the ground for a moment. Second half easily the best performance so far. Nir thunders toward the ending.

8. Firth of Fifth - Instrumental section. Good tempo. Good intensity. Anthony's big moment as he becomes the third guitarist to perform this solo with Genesis. Not quite as flashy as Daryl. More true to Hackett's original, but he definitely puts his own spin on it. Very nice. Tony's choir not quite as strong as on previous tours. Could be the mix. Nice performance!

9. Congo - Band seems to be warming up a bit. Intro goes well enough. A bit different from the album. Background vocals! Who is that? Sounds like Ray runs out of breath. Nice unexpected guitar solo. Is that Mike? Again, it ends much better than the album version. Band has definitely hit their stride.

Disc 2
1. Home By The sea - Ray's voice works pretty well for this one. Sounds like it's in the right key, but I might be wrong. Seems a bit odd without Phil's tambourine after the first verse. Dodging more high notes. Good enough going into Second Home. Decent intensity and tempo. Nir gets the bit bored with the repetitious drumming, starts changing it up, throwing in accents here and there. Chugging along nicely toward the mid point of the instrumental. Ray returns. Decent. Talks about the album launch. Intro's unplugged set. Tony on acoustic guitar, just like the old days! Well, not really.

2. Dancing With the Moonlit Knight (opening section) - Ray's voice works here as well. "You know who you are, you don't give a damn."

3. Follow You, Follow Me - Crowd sings along. Flubs the lyrics a bit in the last verse.

4. Lover's Leap (from Supper's Ready) - Ray goes for the high note on "Hello, babe" and "Hey, my baby!" "It's been a long, long time, hasn't it?" Yes it has.

5. Not About Us - Short, bitter-sweet and completely acoustic. Not bad.

6. Mama - Keys sound somewhat different here from earlier tours. Darker sounding overall. Goes for the high note again on "getting so hard!". Some distant cheers after the first laugh section. Tony's keyboards suddenly get loud going into "Can't you see me". Ray gives it all in the last two verses! "I'm gonna make the pain, make it go away." Better performance than I would have imagined. Crowd liked it!

7. Dividing Line - Nice crunchy chords from Mike at the beginning. Then he changes sounds a bit... maybe a change in pickups. Then back. On second thought, he must be playing with his effects pedals. Extended intro. Pretty cool. Nir does some drum improv. Mike wailing along nicely! Keys come in loud and step on the guitar. Too bad. Was one of the better moments on this boot. Ray comes in. Nir launches into a nice drum solo after the vocal section. Crowd cheers as we come back! Good stuff! Good intense ending! Definitely a highlight. Uh, no. Drum machine signals...

8. Invisible Touch - Could have done without this. "She's got a built in ability to shake everything she sees." Not really a bad version of this. Sings "Ask me, I know" like Phil did live. Yikes! Screeches on one of the "YEah...yeah.. yeah...". Dodges the rest of the high notes. "She seems to have it all, anything she wants."

9. Turn It On Again - Lower Key. Sounds very different from... well all previous performances. Tony's keyboards sound a bit cheesey here, strange choice of sound. This is just wrong. The song does not work in this key at all! Yuck. Ray introduces the band. Wow, pronounces Nir's surname! "..and from Scotland, Me!"

10. Turn It Again (cont.) Finally start to get up some intensity as the song ends. We listen for a good two minutes as crowd awaits the encore. Drum machine.. oh, no it's...

11. Throwing It All Away - No Dee Dah Day? Ray's voice works here for some reason. Someone shouts the missing background vocal. Ah, replaces Dee Dah Day with "Awayyyyy! Surprisingly good version, this.

12. I Can't Dance - Ray is getting intimate with the crowd. Grabs someone named Karen to dance with. HA! "You know what my problem is? I'm not Phil Collins." No one can accuse Ray of taking himself too seriously. Crowd sings "I Can't Dance" lines. Again, not a bad version at all. Not what I would have expected. Who is playing the harmonica at the end? Good job!

Olympiastadion, München, July 17, 1992

Olympiastadion
München, Germany
July 17, 1992
Post-FM
TM Production

Overall:


This is an extremely well-recorded and mixed broadcast from the We Can't Dance tour. It's hard to believe that TM captured this from an FM radio. Sound is balanced and richly detailed. Like most of this tour, some of the songs are too similar to the album versions and the band, at times, doesn't seem able to put the songs over the top. But the crowd makes up for any lack of energy on the band's part, clapping along and cheering throughout. This is possibly a better recording than The Way We Walk.

Sound: * * * * *
Damned near perfect.

Mix: * * * * *
Very well balanced. Every single instrument is audible and well-defined. Perhaps could haved used just a touch of reverb, but that's just a matter of preference.

Performance: * * * *
Some of the songs lack that energy that this lineup was capable of putting behind the songs. Phil has some trouble with his voice in the beginning, but it loosens up a couple songs in. On the whole, though, there is little to complain about here.

Raw Notes:

Disc 1
1.No Son of Mine - Excellent mix and sound quality. Tony's Wavestation keys are crystal clear. Echo effect on "to find a way out..way out.. way out". Phil might be having some trouble with his voice on the high notes. Definitely one of the best sounding boots. Mike's guitar solo cuts through nicely in the right channel. Phil chats in German (and a bit of English). I do recognize "We have some new songs and some old, old, old songs." Introduces "Driving The Last Spike".

2. Driving The Last Spike - Opens very much like the album. Chester's drums are bright and clear. Even Phil tambourine comes through. Phil's voice is warming up and stretching out a bit. Not quite the intensity of the album version as we get to "We worked, how we worked" section. Daryl's bass comes to the front. Mike's rhythm guitar is a bit low in the mix at end, keeping the song from quite reaching it's heights. Still a damned good performance.

3. Throwing It All Away - De Da Day... Zee Da Lay. Tony's "piano" sounds quite nice here. Performances of this song tend to sound the same to me. Pleasant enough. Crowd loves it! Phil intro's Old Medley in German. Says "Mr. Rutherford" like on the TWWW CD.

4. Old Medley - "Dance On A Volcano". Tony's choir sound is nice here. His replacement for the analog synth lead stands out, but is interesting. Into the Lamb. Why did Phil change the lyrics to "Ocean winds blowing off the land"? Was it a mistake that no one ever corrected? "Tonight, tonight, tonight, they say the lights are always bright". Into "Musical Box". Applause. Wow... major reverb when Phil sings "She is mine!". Chester's kick drum punches through clearly toward the end. Into "Firth of Fifth"... a lot of folks don't like Daryl's interpretation of Hackett's solo, but it's an amazing piece of guitar pyrotechnics. Tony has a nice Mellotron-like sound going on the strings. Was this the Wavestation? Into "I Know What I Like..." Phil could still do the Tambourine Dance '92. Crowd really into it! "That's All" snippet. "Illegal Alien" following the TWWW performance pretty closely. "Stagnation" teaser. Good performance overall, but perhaps lacking just a bit of energy.

5. Hold On My Heart - This song is so mechanical that it's hard to image performances differing much from night to night over the tour, assuming Phil's voice holds out. Yep, very adequate. Phil does a bit of ad-lib at the end that I don't remember on TWWW.

Disc 2
1. Jesus He Knows Me - Phil tells the crowd about American televangelists in German. "Do any kind of bullshit you've got to do, but get me that 18 million dollars by the weekend." Sounds somewhat different from the album. Daryl's bass chugging along nicely. Interesting. Daryl takes a nice guitar solo at the end which makes me wonder if Mike is playing bass.

2. Fading Lights - Great song. Almost identical to the album version in first half. Good intensity going into Tony's solo. The keys have some white noise mingled with a choir which is a bit too loud. Tony nails the solo. This is probably the best performance of the evening up to this point. Crowd cheers as we enter the final verse. Crowd loved it!

3. I Can't Dance - Crowd is thrilled to hear this one as well. Guess it hadn't been over-played yet. Extended intro compared to album. Nearly identical to TWWW version.

4. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - The encore. I was always curious why the band never played this whole song, even on the IT tour. "Just try to shake shit loose, cut it free".

5. Invisible Touch - "Ask me, I know" instead of "Now I know". Other than that, not much variation from the other live versions of this one. "she will fuck up your life". Ad libs a bit differently at the end. Ending has a nice crescendo... strange for such a lightweight pop song. Crowd is ecstatic.

6. Turn It On Again - Crowd claps along... then shifts to double-time! Phil says goodbye to the crowd. "We've got to go to bed!" Introduces the band. Good build up toward outro. And the crowd goes wild! Good night!

Melbourne Tennis Centre, Melbourne, December 11, 1986

Melbourne Tennis Centre
Melbourne, Australia
December 11, 1986
Audience Recording.

Overall:

When you put on an audience recording, there's often a jolt to the system that says, this doesn't sound good. But after two or three songs, your ears will adjust and you often find the experience quite enjoyable, as if you are standing in the crowd. Unfortunately, that isn't the case with this recording. While the band is in good form and the mix is well-balanced, the sound seems distant. Listening for over two hours is an exhausting experience as your ears strain to separate the band from the ambient sound. Worse, the tape recorder had auto-leveling which removes all dynamics from a live recording. The highlight here is a performance by what Phil calls The Invisible Touch String Ensemble on a rare live recording of “Your Own Special Way” which the band hadn't played since 1978. Well, they'd played it the previous night, actually... For hardcore fans only.

Sound: * 1/2

The taper was apparently quite some distance from the stage and using a tape recorder with auto-level adjustment. At times it's difficult to make out the band over the ambient noise.

Mix: * * *

When you can hear the band, the balance is quite good. Only in a few sparse places does the guitar drop out. There are a couple of moments where the keyboards aren't as loud as they should be, but overall, had the taper been closer to the speakers, this would have been a top-notch recording.

Performance: * * * *

The band is tight form and energetic for this performance. No obvious mistakes. There is another uninspired version of "That's All" and a couple of the songs from the new album sound a bit too much like the studio versions, but these are minor quibbles.

Raw Notes:

Disc 1

1. Mama - Drum machine sounds quite distant. Crowd is clapping along and cheering a bit. They react as band comes on stage. This was apparently recorded quite far from the stage. Cheers for Phil's first vocal line. Auto-levels. Not a very good recording. Phil dodges some of the high notes. Solid performance. Hmm, my copy has gaps between the songs.

2. Abacab – Good energy at the start. Microphone feedback during first “When we do it”. Again. As the song gets louder, the auto-levels make it hard to hear the band. Some nice heavy thumping by Chester on the toms going into the ending guitar solo. Band is in good form. Tight. “We had some good fun last night, but we're going to have some better fun tonight!” Phil introduces Domino as being about someone inevitably Pushing the Button. Then into the Domino Principle routine with the crowd.

3. Domino – Good mix. Good energy. Phil is warmed up and no longer ducking high notes as before. Phil adds an extra “Now see what you've gone and done” going into the short key solo, then The Last Domino section. Nice performance. Introduces “some friends”. The Invisible Touch Australian String Ensemble. Introduces a “song we haven't done since 1978. Well, we did it last night, actually. And we did in Brisbane as well... and Sydney.... and Adelaide.“

4. Your Own Special Way – Some audience chatter during the first verse. Song sounds nice with strings. Softer songs come through better on this recording. Sings “As the ship moves” instead of “When the ship moves”. Great to hear this one on the IT Tour. Phil sings the chorus in a different order from the studio version. Short story about a guy who's been locked up for a long time. Wondering what his girl is up to.

5. In Too Deep – very similar to album version. Sounds like IT String Ensemble may be playing here as well. But it might be Tony's keys.

6. The Brazilian – Again, very similar the album. If had not been for the different intro, it would have been hard to tell the difference. Crowd chatters through most of it. Drum outro is also slightly different. Interesting to hear the actual ending instead of the fade out.

7. That's All – Crowd cheers and claps along. A bit lacking in energy. I don't think this song ever worked all that well live. Dropped after this tour, I believe. Audience Participation Time. Someone in the crowd shouts “Other world” just before Phil says it. “HA! I hear you say...” Crowd shouts “HA!”.

Disc 2

1. Home By The Sea – Intro was on Disc 1. Auto-levels wreak havoc again. Very nice performance. Mike's guitar is hard to hear during Second Home. Sounds muted. Daryl's bass can be heard although the recording has little bottom end. Tony has been sounding good all evening. Audience response is faded out.

2. Throwing It All Away – De da day. Bit of feedback going into third verse. Very album-like overall like the other IT material. Perhaps because the band were still using all the same gear that was used on the record. Phil intros Daryl and Chester. After Daryl's intro someone screams loudly and the crowd laughs. Phil asks “Do you love him?” (I think that's what he says.) Phil gets crowd clapping the beat going into...

3. In The Cage - ...and crowd quickly gets off beat. Suspect a good, intense performance here, but hard to tell for sure. Tony's solo is a bit low in the mix in places. Phil sings “I am my own bad luck” lower. Hard to hear Daryl's shredding during “Round... round...” section. Into “In That Quiet Earth”. Bass is missing at first. Comes in a several bars into the song. May be pedals missing. Tape flutter. Short gap (tape flip?) heading, as we all know into...

4. Afterglow – Solid performance.

5. Invisible Touch – Starts off with strange sounding drum machine. Hard to hear Phil at first. Can't hear Tony's accents after “Something you just can't trust.” Phil sings “though she will mess up your life” like on the album instead of “fuck up your life” like on other live recordings. I'm thankful the band resisted the urge to stretch this one into ten minutes.

6. Drum Duet – Nailed as always. Amazing stuff.

7. Los Endos – Crowd response sets off the auto-levels. This sounds good even on IT era gear. Seems just a bit rushed going into the Dance On A Volcano reprise. Chester stomps the kick drum hard! Into Squonk section. Like a good Genesis fan, I sing the “There's angel standing in the sun” at the right moments while I type. “Thank you very much!”

8. Turn It On Again (w/ That Damned Medley) – Crowd claps along again, quite loudly at the beginning. Phil tries to get the crowd to sing “I... I...” but if anyone does it, it didn't make it onto the tape. “We're so pleased to be back in our hometown of Melbourne, Australia.” Does the full “Someone to Love” section with band intros. ...into Satisfaction. ...Twist and Shout.... I'll Be There...You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling... Pinball Wizard... In The Midnight Hour... and back into Turn It On Again. Crowd applauds for some time after the band leaves. Phil returns and offers more thanks.. (I think). Fade out.