Hi Rick
Gee Andy, I guess following through on your thought, no band should ever do cover tunes, either, unless they're going to rearrange them. Have you considered that maybe TMB gave a bad performance the night you saw them?
I seem to irritate people whenever I comment adversely on TMB - thing is, I used to work for ReGenesis, who played the material with exceptional vigour, night after night. Maybe it wasn't as 100% 'accurate' as TMB, but it was a great deal of fun! Maybe TMB had an 'off' night, and yes, I know Genesis were infamous for having them!
I've seen TMB two times now and was impressed both times. Yes, they are giving a performance, but you might get more out of it if you think of it as a "play" rather than as a concert.
I did actually approach the (wildly overpriced) gig with that in mind, but was still disappointed!
Did you ever actually see Genesis perform when Gabriel was with them?
I was 13 when he left, with no older brothers/cousins etc.to take me to stuff. The first time I saw a band live was in '77.
Good bands can have bad nights. And yes, Andy, they do play all the stuff that's coming out of the sound system. If Pierre was online, he would tell you the same thing. As a matter of fact, he was rather insulted when I mentioned to him that you thought some of the playing was faked. I know flute playing (you mentioned at the time you saw them that you thought the guy was playing over a pre-recorded part) and he was fingering the correct notes. The only part left was blowing into the flute to make a sound. That's the easy part. Yes, he is a pretty appalling flute player, but then, so was Gabriel.
He certainly was. Trouble is, it seemed so lifeless - the piano parts were all far too loud, and had a 'sequenced' feel about them, although it could just have been the mix. No offence to Pierre - I know he used to play everything. Oh, and that's another point - I don't get why they insist on playing the studio parts live - Genesis didn't... Their famed 'authenticity' was severely compromised when they had two (lead) guitarists and keyboard players, although Genesis always managed with just one of each.
Sorry to sound off at you, but I believe you're being rather unfair. Peter Gabriel liked TMB when he saw them in London last year.
So I heard - Hackett also got up and played with them. I'm afraid I found the singer's attempt at an upper-class English accent unintentionally hilarious - coming from a French speaker, the resulting accent clash was a bit grim, and the most annoying thing was his slavish adherence to little physical 'Gabrielisms' that he'd obviously learnt from videos. Something that Gabriel may have only ever done once has become part of their stage show, and some of the time he appeared to be waiting for his cue to perform the next one. Maybe their gigs should be approached more as a play than a concert, but I'm afraid where live music's concerned, I prefer gigs.
They seem to be doing very well, playing bigger gigs here than any of the homegrown tributes, but despite most of the audience's hysteria, I wasn't the only person who was less than impressed. Anyway, horses for courses, but whenever I see people raving about their performance, I always feel compelled to try to balance the books slightly. Sorry!
Andy T.