Show #149: Small Club at Marquee

January 9th, 2008

As is now tradition here at UtD, the first show of the new year is by Genesis.

This year, it’s a show from around the time I was first getting into the band in 1982. Starting in August and running through September, the band gigged in support of their newly-released live album, Three Sides Live. (Four sides in the UK, for some reason.) The year also marked the 10th anniversary of their classic LP, Foxtrot. For the occasion, the 20+ minute epic from that album, “Supper’s Ready”, was dusted off as it hadn’t been played since 1977. In addition, “Watcher of the Skies”, was resurrected, not having seen a concert stage for some six years. On the 9 August stop in Los Angeles, “No Reply At All” and “Paperlate” were both performed with the Phoenix Horns who appear on the studio recordings. I believe it’s the only time the former was played live with horns and the only time the latter was played live period.

I personally really enjoy the 1981-82 shows. I first got into the band around this time via the then current Abacab album and these shows feature plenty of material from it. There are lots of Genesis fans who consider Abacab to be the death knell for the “old” Genesis and this is surely true in some ways. Songs were arranged differently and producer Hugh Padgham’s influence are evident but the biggest change for me was in Tony Banks’ keyboard sounds. He brought in a whole new aresenal of timbres. Piano remained but the Mellotron was gone; anything that remotely sounded like strings were put aside. The more organic sounds were generally replaced by edgier, more metallic ones. Plus there are just less keys. He didn’t try to fill in the spaces so much here as he had in the past.

(Photos from Mark Yeates.)

When you take the songs on Abacab along with the five b-sides from those sessions, you can hear that it was a very fruitful period as they’re all over the place. “No Reply At All” and “Paperlate” have horns; “Dodo/Lurker” and “Me and Sarah Jane” show a reggae influence; “Naminau” harkens to jazz fusion while “Submarine” features a flute-like sound and feels a bit like Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”; and “Who Dunnit?” is the weirdest bit of throwaway the band has ever done. If these sessions are a bit schizophrenic, then that’s probably because the band members were finding their footing as they’d begun writing music together instead of apart. You can hear Phil Collins’ R&B/fusion side tug against Tony Banks’ prediliction for more intricate/classically-influenced music. And Mike Rutherford is somewhere in the middle.

Another reason I love live shows from this period is because Phil Collins usually plays like he’s on steroids. Whenever he gets behind his drum kit, the tempo gets faster and he never misses a chance a throw in a fill. Contrast the opening of “Behind the Lines” or the instrumental section of “Abacab” from this period to the studio versions or recordings from other tours and you’ll hear what I mean. And “Cinema Show” is positively manic.

This week’s show also features some of the best work Chester Thompson has ever done for the band, in my opinion. He sneaks in these fills on the snare and adds a bit of swing to “Supper’s Ready”. During the “Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men” section, he even throws in a surf beat. He truly is the backbone of Genesis live.

The recording here is from The Marquee club in London. The date was 27 September 1982 and this is the first half of the show or so. It comes from the bootleg Small Club at Marquee.

Setlist:

Dance On A Volcano
Behind The Lines
Follow You Follow Me
Dodo/Lurker
Abacab
Supper’s Ready

Download show

Genesis

Video from this, the Encore Tour, is pretty rare but YouTube pulls through. Here’s a bit of “Supper’s Ready” from the 21 August show at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.

Related posts:

1. Show #93: Turn It On Again
2. New Genesis Recordings Surface
3. A Night at the King Club With The Treats
4. Show #38: From the Mouth of the Monster
5. Show #84: Running Down the Voodoo