Justin Rodstrom
"Genesis?" Aren't they some lame synth Phil Collins show that died in the '80s? Yeah, that's what I thought too. After seeing Genesis Sept. 17 and 19, though I gotta say the performances put a lot of my prejudices to shame.
With stellar musicianship and spiraling instrumental passages, the big PC was only one facet of an adept group.
Founding guitarist Mike Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks stole the show with experimental, "Wish You Were Here"-era Pink Floydian jams (yes, I'm invoking the Mighty Floyd).
Collins was almost completely relegated to one amazing drum off with fellow drummer Chester Thompson toward the end of the show, which was somewhat of a relief to me.
And to the disappointment of my buddy (and the enjoyment of myself), Genesis played neither "In The Air" nor "Against All Odds," two Collins solo staples. I tried explaining to Eric that asking Genesis to play Collins songs is like requesting "Layla" at the Cream shows in Madison Square Garden - if you wanna hear that stuff, you're just missing the whole point. Now I'm not going to say that Genesis changed my life or anything; I probably won't even go out and get the greatest hits album… but Genesis surprised the hell out of me, and I have to give credit where credit is due. I mean, you have to be a diplomatic person if you can handle being in a band with Phil Collins.
