Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, (sorry, couldn't resist it) was my first experience of a Genesis tribute band. I am aware of some exceptionally good tribute acts currently playing both the European and USA circuit but it's the first time I've put my toes into the Tribute Act waters.
And I must admit, I'm SO glad I did.
Having seen Genesis (original) in 3 incarnations - with Steve Hackett, Phil Collins & Ray Wilson and also the Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited shows - three times, I was interested to see how Genesish would handle the material and the complexities of the music. The answer is very well indeed.
I've seen the various Tribute Acts on Youtube and some of them try to imitate the original band, in all aspects. Some more successfully than others.
But Genesish have made the correct decision, in my view, of not trying to imitate the band. There are some special moments, which I'll talk about later but on the whole they kept as close to the songs as they possibly could and vocalist John Kirby has his own strong voice and was excellent tonight.
Other Acts, such as the very highly rated Regenesis concentrate on a particular era of the band. However, Genesish have made the decision to cover the whole of the band's career. And it pays dividends tonight as the later songs get as much of an applause as some of the older material with an audience with a varied age range.
And how many 'proper' bands have you seen putting on a three hour show?
Split into two halves, the boys gave their all tonight to a very enthusiastic audience who lapped up every moment of tonight's show.
Vocalist John Kirby is also a drummer and the two kit set up the band employs leads to some magic moments as the band recreate the live GENESIS sound perfectly when Phil and Drummer 2 are mixing it onstage.
From the opening Duke's Intro and into Abacab, the band set out their stall.
With such a huge catalogue of material to chose from the 3 hour show just flew by tonight.
I'm not going to into a full run down of what the band played as that will spoil the surprises but I'll give you a taste of some of the highlights.
Over the course of the evening, John uses a few props to enhance the evening. And it does exactly that. Enhances the experience. For us older fellas it brings back brilliant memories.
One such moment is when John dons Rael's leather jacket for In The Cage.
I'm sorry I can't give you more up to date videos but it gives a flavour of the night.
I was unlucky enough that I had bronchitis on the night I went to see the band, so singing was out of the question but I gave it my best Air Singing. It also stopped me from shouting Supper's Ready but I doubt it would have got a positive reaction as it would have taken up a huge amount of the set. ;)
I must also make a special mention to the lighting guys who put on an excellent show tonight - and from what i could see it worked perfectly.
Biggest cheer of the night was definitely the decision to use the Seconds Out version of The Lamb Lies Down/ Musical Box ending when Gabriel's version the old man appears. It's because these moments are scattered sparingly throughout the show that makes the moments when they DO happen so special.
John Kirby seems to have his own interesting individual personality which shows throughout both sets.
The guys didn't shy away from the long form songs either with great versions of both Domino and Home By The Sea as excellent examples.
The big hits such as I Can't Dance, Misunderstanding & Invisible Touch all make an appearance.
Highlights? Too many to mention - Many Too Many, Domino, Musical Box and the brilliant drum duet.
Special mention to the other guys in the band who also played a blinder tonight.
John Kirby on Vocals & Drums - Mike Dagnall on Bass, Pedals & Vocals - Paul Turner on Drums - Darren Dean on Guitars and the excellent Neil Gordon on Keyboards & Vocals.
After 2 encores there was only one song they could finish wish - a sing along version of I Know What I Like, complete with some serious audience participation.
So, what more can I say without giving away all of the secrets of a brilliant evening which delivered so much more than I was expecting?
OK, a few things though fellas before you make the return journey to Wales
Learn the brilliant Inside & Out - my favorite Genesis song that hasn't been played live since 1977, ( that's the closer for part 1 sorted) don't forget the Calling All Stations album, (c'mon John, you've got a bit of the Ray look about you) and there are some beauties on there that will suit your voice.
and get some more up to date videos on Youtube to show just how good you are in 2016!!!
Twitter - @genesishtribute
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