Album Reviews
Single Reviews
Book Reviews
Live Reviews
 
Rock'n'Roll Jesus
Family
Songs of Mass Destruction
Heroes & Thieves
Recuerdos del Alma
My Kind of Country
Songs 4 Worship: Country
The Flying Club Cup
Cease to Begin
This Meets That
Blackbird
Exile on Mainstream
Revival
White Chalk
Lady's Bridge
The Bluegrass Sessions
Back of My Lac
Kevin Michael
Everybody's Brother
Afriki
Windows and Walls
Washington Square Serenade
The Shepherd's Dog
Obligatory Villagers
River: The Joni Letters
Just Like You
The Real Thing: Words & Sounds Vol. 3
Baby Makin' Project
The Scene of the Crime
Black Cat John Brown
Album Reviews
Single Reviews
Book Reviews
Live Reviews
 
Red Umbrella
Tears Dry on Their Own (urban remix)
Hold On
Justified
Poetry Man
Producer: Oliver Leiber
Shawty Is Da Sh*! (10)
Dream On
Boy With a Coin
Stand Back
Seven Days of Lonely
Changing Faces
Our Song
I Just Love You
Tattoo
Album Reviews
Single Reviews
Book Reviews
Live Reviews
 
October 03, 2007
London (Shepherd's Bush Empire)
September 30, 2007
Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks)
September 28, 2007
Kansas City, MO (Starlight Theater)
September 22, 2007
New York (Webster Hall)
September 25, 2007
New York (Madison Square Garden)
September 19, 2007
New York (Radio City Music Hall)
September 14, 2007
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
September 14, 2007
Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks)
September 11, 2007
London (Royal Festival Hall)
September 08, 2007
Tinley Park, Ill. (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)
September 07, 2007
New York (Roseland Ballroom)
Genesis
Location: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Event Date: September 25, 2007
September 27, 2007,
Genesis Balances Prog, Pop At New York Show
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
No, it wasn't the reunion including Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett that fans have long dreamed about, but Tuesday's New York show featuring the most commercially successful incarnation of Genesis doesn't disappoint.

The set list for the aptly named Turn It on Again tour, the band's first with Phil Collins in more than 15 years, is a canny mixture of prog-rock favorites and hits from its hugely commercial pop-rock era. While neither segment of their constituency is likely to be completely satisfied, the program seems a reasonable compromise that shows off the band's many strengths.

Certainly, the core trio of singer-drummer Collins, guitarist Mike Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks (augmented by longtime compatriots Chester Thompson on drums and Daryl Stuermer on bass and guitar) offers the fans plenty of value for the extravagant ticket prices they shelled out. Delivering a strenuous set that lasts more than 2 1/2 hours, the band doesn't seem to have lost a step.

Collins remains an ever-engaging and theatrical frontman, clowning with the crowd and still possessing a powerful singing voice and amazing drum chops that are frequently displayed. Rutherford is an amazingly precise guitarist, while Banks' assured keyboards provide the complicated textures that keep the long instrumental passages from becoming tedious. The music was well complemented by an extravagant video and light show that clearly wasn't done on the cheap.

Many of the bigger hits, as well as everything from Collins' prodigious solo career, were ignored (no "Abacab," thankfully). But the old fans were treated to early numbers, some dating as far back as "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" days, including "In the Cage," "Cinema Show," "Afterglow," "Firth of Fifth" and "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)." And they were no doubt particularly pleased by the soothing closing number, "Carpet Crawlers."

But the pop fans weren't left out, with the band delivering strong renditions of "Throwing It All Way," "No Son of Mine" "Turn It on Again," "Invisible Touch" and "Land of Confusion," among others. While "Hold on My Heart" showed the band at its treacly worst, such numbers as the supremely creepy "Mama" (with close-ups of Collins' face illuminated to supremely spooky effect) and a nicely slowed-down version of "Follow You Follow Me" more than compensated.


  Buy CD  
  Buy CD/DVD/VHS  
  Buy Ringtones  
  Digital Download  
  View the video clip  
  Listen to the Radio  
  Subscription Service