Hands up, I’m not really a fan of ‘cover’ or ‘tribute’ bands. There is a good case maybe for bands that no longer exist,
that allows people who never witnessed it originally to hear a certain band’s music in a live environment, but there’s
nothing like the real thing. However, there is one such band, who I have seen a few times, of whom the original band
members are still alive, and it’s fairly certain they won’t play together again. But then, you never know.
To be fair, The Musical Box are not really a cover band. They gained a sizeable audience across the world as they
concentrated on Genesis music from the Peter Gabriel era in the seventies, but they did it to the nth degree, copying
the band live in every aspect; how they dressed, what they said, the movements they made, along with original
equipment used to present those very shows. So, more of a time-machine really. (The only thing which throws this to
the wind is the fact that Mike Rutherford is not a left-handed guitarist, whereas his counterpart in this band is).
However, this tour is not based on the Gabriel era, but focusses on the music created after Gabriel’s departure; ‘Trick
Of The Tail’, ‘Wind And Wuthering’, ‘And Then There Were Three’ and ‘Duke’ albums specifically, the latter two of
which, following Steve Hackett’s departure, did not get on my favourites list. So I was a little unsure of whether to
see this one or not, but I reasoned there was a shows worth of good material among these four albums, so off I went.
They kicked of with ‘Eleventh Earl Of Marr’ and ‘One For The Vine’ from ‘Wind And Wuthering’, and there was
something I have never witnessed before with The Musical Box in these first two; slight mistakes on guitar, and I
only mention it because I have never heard it before. ‘Burning Rope’ followed by ‘Deep in the Motherlode’ from
ATTWT, (my least favourite of the four albums mentioned), were next, the first featuring a laser, (Whoo!) while the
second utilised ‘The Mirrors’ as used when I saw Genesis at Knebworth in 1978. They didn’t have a lot of impact to
be fair, but then again I didn’t think they did at Knebworth either. Two songs from WAW followed, the first, ‘Ripples’
(introduced by vocalist Denis Gagné with “And now for a quieter number”, which elicited the response from the two
very unappreciative and annoying females to my right of “Thank God” as well as other disparaging comments. I
gave them an allied stare, and they didn’t come back for the second half, so job done), and ‘Wot Gorilla’, the first
fully instrumental of the night. The last three of this first set were all mainly instrumental, and all from ‘Duke’, which
was OK as there is still a lot of ‘old’ Genesis in them. And when I mentioned doing things to the nth degree, when
he’s not singing Mr Gagné gets up and plays the second drum kit, just like Collins did, including, alongside Marc
Laflamme, a truncated drum duet. And I also noticed guitarist/bassist François Gagnon playing a Suntech guitar, as
used by Daryl Stuermer on the ‘Duke’ tour, with the guitar tech telling me afterwards that it was the actual guitar
Stuermer used. He also played what appeared to be a left-handed Shergold bass guitar, right handed, when
bassist/guitarist Sébastien Lamothe was doing lead on some songs.
The second set explored ‘A Trick Of The Tail’ with ‘Dance On A Volcano’, always a fan favourite, ‘Entangled’ and
‘Squonk’. We then had a quick nip back to ATTWT with ‘Deep In The Motherlode’, which someone in the crowd
was very happy about when it was announced, before completing this half with four songs all from WAW.
The encore was four songs long, in the middle of which was a very welcome addition, (for me at least) of ‘In The
Cage’ from ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ and a lesser known song called ‘It’s Yourself’ which was the b-
side to the single of ‘Your Own Special Way’, so is somewhat unknown unless you are a really serious ‘must have
everything’ fan. The closer was the long-time Genesis finale ‘Los Endos’ and, at the end of it all they received a
standing ovation.
It was a good show, although not as visual as the Gabriel Genesis shows they do, simply for the fact that Gabriel’s
costumes and mannerisms were ground breaking in their time and, let’s be fair, the main Phil Collins’ physical
reference is the tambourine dance, or Tarantella as it was also called. I must mention keyboard player Ian Benhamou,
who played Tony Banks’s parts perfectly, not hitting a wrong note all night. As I said, my favourite music all came
from those Gabriel times, but this band are always worth seeing, no matter what era they cover. Well, maybe not
‘Calling All Stations’ eh?
First set: Eleventh Earl of Mar, One for the Vine, Burning Rope, Ripples…, Wot Gorilla? Behind the Lines, Duke’s
Travels, Duke’s End
Second set: Dance on a Volcano, Entangled, Squonk, Deep in the Motherlode, Blood on the Rooftops, Unquiet
Slumbers for the Sleepers…, …In That Quiet Earth, Afterglow
Encore: Follow You Follow Me, In the Cage, It’s Yourself, Los Endos.
Review and Photo Credit: Andy Brailsford
