Genesis in Holland
Wednesday, Genesis played at the Ahoy in Rotterdam. I think it was
sold out at the last moment. The start of the concert was to be at
20:00, we were there at 18:00, a large group of fans were waiting in front
of the venue.
At 18:45 we could go in, first we rushed towards the merchandise stand,
I've bought
two Lamb shirts and a long sleeve CAS shirt. After we left our jacket at
the place were
you normally leave your jacket. The arena in front of stage was
already
filled with people.
And it was thank god a standing concert. We managed to a get a nice
spot
before
the centre of the stage, with some 8 metres between me and Ray.
The atmosphere before the concert was great. Unlike the WCD, the venue was
filled
with what I call "real" fans, people who know what Supper's Ready
was,
People who started singing Cinema Show before the concert began. To me the
most
striking thing was that there were a LOT of people of my age (27), okay there
also a lot of people in their
thirties and forties (and even fifties). So I think Genesis did not
loose their "new" audience
in Holland.
"20:00 start show" stood on the ticket, well, it was 20:30 when at last the lights went out and we heard the clock ticking.
No son of Mine and Land of confusion were a nice starter, but I'm not a
big fan of those
songs. Ray seemed to be a bit nervous. The audience was great, every
word was sang
along. The Lamb started and also here it was proven that there were
REAL
fans in the audience,
when the old medley was played in 92, a lot of people didn't know what
songs were played
and stood there like zombies. Now, the whole audience came alive.
After that there was this proof that the latest album is another
highlight in Genesis history and their
greatest since Duke. Calling All Station was superb, the guitarparts
were hard, rough, and bloody
amazing. The drumwork of Nir Z was great and brought some fresh air
after twentyfive
years of Collins dominance on the drums. Not this boring fills, but
wicked breaks, offbeat
rythms and the ability to sound almost everything is played in 9/8.
Ray announched an very old song, and I shouted "Play the bloody Cage!",
Ray told the crowd
that he didn't knew the words yet...:-) Carpet Crawlers started and
prooved again that Ray
was better with PG songs than Phil, he brought more feeling to it.
Alien Afternoon was also played and I really understand why everybody
is
talking about
it, the live version is so much better than the studio version, you
hardly recognise it anymore.
The real point in the concert when the band went stellar was during
the
acoustical set, during
that moment I really had the impression that the band were really
enjoying themselfs and
playing with real passion. Dancing with Moonlit knight was a great
sing
along for the audience,
also was Follow you follow me, and of course Lover's Leap. Real suprise
was Not about us wich
is a great acoustical song, with 3 guitarists.
After that Mama, the best version ever. But that was nothing compared
what came next:
The Dividing was amazing! I expect that it would be great, but it was
going beyond that, it
blows away every instrumental track Genesis did in the last eighteen
years (I'm was also
at the WCD and IT tours), every member has it's share in this epic
musical work. For me
the highlight of the evening.
The band closed with with the usual Invisible touch, and encore's with
Turn it again
and We can't dance. I'm not a big fan of those songs, but the way Ray
sang it I really
liked it. The audience was also overwhelmed by the ability from the band
to simply
amaze everybody with it's music. They expected a musical dinosaur but
was overblown
by it's passion and anger in his music. Genesis is back.
Richard