[DID NOT ATTEND: October 23, 24 & 25] The Musical Box
I saw The Musical Box in January of 2024. I don’t usually see cover bands, but they were described more as a recreation than a cover band and they were great. That was the Selling England By the Pound tour, with some other era-appropriate songs.
This new tour is called And then there was Phil. I don’t like what Phil did to Genesis, nor his solo work. So I initially was just not interested in this show at all. The show focuses on the Phil Collins era of Genesis from 1976-1980, drawing material from A Trick of the Tail, Wind & Wuthering, …And Then There Were Three…, and Duke.
In truth I do still like this era of Genesis, but not as much (although, some of those songs from the last couple of albums are pop masterpieces).
Given how good The Musical Box is, I probably would enjoy this show–especially if they put as much work into the production as I assume they did. And the songs from Wind and Wuthering are enjoyably goofy.
These dates didn’t work for me at all, so after I dismissed it out of hand, I did see that I couldn’t go anyway. They tend to play the same show for a pretty long time, though, so it may be back again next year
I listened to all of the songs they played for this show and while it’s not my favorite era. I would certainly consider going because they are just so good.
And just so I know what else they do, here’s their other shows
- The Foxtrot shows included songs from the albums Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot: “Watcher of the Skies”, “Can-Utility and the Coast-Liners”, “The Musical Box”, “Get ’em Out by Friday”, “Supper’s Ready” and “The Return Of The Giant Hogweed”, as well as two encores: “The Knife” and “The Fountain of Salmacis”.
- The Selling England setlist comprised six of the eight songs from the titular album (“After the Ordeal” and “Aisle of Plenty” were not performed), and a selection of live favourites: “Watcher of the Skies”, “The Musical Box”, “Supper’s Ready” and “The Knife”. “Horizons” and “The Return of the Giant Hogweed” were sometimes played instead of “More Fool Me” and “The Knife”, respectively.
- The Lamb shows comprised the entirety of the 1974 album, plus “The Musical Box” and “Watcher of the Skies” or “The Knife”.
- The A Trick of the Tail shows comprised the following numbers: “Dance on a Volcano”, a medley from The Lamb (“The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”/”Fly on a Windshield”/”Broadway Melody of 1974″/”Carpet Crawlers”), “The Cinema Show”, “Robbery, Assault and Battery”, “White Mountain”, “Firth of Fifth”, “Entangled/Squonk”, “Supper’s Ready”, “I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)” and “Los Endos” with an encore of “It/Watcher of the Skies”. “The Cinema Show” featured extensive double drumming from Collins and Bruford as did “Supper’s Ready”, and “Los Endos”. “Watcher of the Skies” was a short instrumental version merging the beginning and ending sections of the song.
