Just a brief review before I go to bed (pictures won’t follow until I’m back home after Bern). To put a long story short, the show rocked, the band is in top shape, the stage is amazing and the setlist just perfect! We started queueing at around 11 am. Got terribly burned - but I don’t care. After hearing the soundcheck and getting in smoothly I ended up in first row center stage. Perfect! Unfortunately my wide-angle on the camera wasn’t wide enough to catch the whole band.

During the whole show it didn’t get really dark but towards the end it was ok. The thing I liked most was the camera bit Phil was doing throughout the show. He had a digital pocket camera with him (Invisible Tour Tour revisited…) and using it do some funny introductions.

Tomorrow I have a “day off” so hopefully I find some time put a more detailed review online. Until then good night!

EDIT: It’s 10.15 am in Helsinki now. Day 1 after the tour premiere. Had a good night’s sleep and an excellent breakfast. So on we go with my review. I might do in short notes so it doesn’t get too long.

- Met up with a lot of fans. Just very few of them being from Finland. Americans, Australians (from Tasmania), Russians (from the Easternmost part of Russia close to Alaska!), Japanese and of course Europeans from everywhere.
- The last bit of pre-show music is a song from the soundtrack to “American Beauty”.
- The intro to the show really reminded me a little of U2’s Zoo TV Tour opening. Band came on stage with a BANG really! I have a video clip of the first 1:30 minutes. Once back home I’ll put it online.
- The Duke opening really rocks! Phil was wearing a tracksuit jacket again (a bit similar to what he was wearing on the press conference in November). But he just had it on for 2 or 3 songs.
- No son of mine sounds great and the key changes don’t really matter. They still got the 1992 clock on the screens for that one.
- Land of Confusion sounds very fresh. They seem to have done a lot to this one!
- The Cage-medley was the first highlight for me. The Duke’s Travels bit in the medley sounds great although the transitions from Cinema Show and to Afterglow aren’t as smooth as Colony of Slippermen used to be. Still a great medley. Mike’s double-neck is awesome!
- Hold on my heart has Phil singing on a barstool and therefore it looks a bit similar to Groovy Kind of Love from his last tour.
- A great new thing is that Phil’s having a tiny digital pocket camera and taking pictures everytime he’s doing introductions. To make the audience grin he says things like “Where did Chester’s Afro go?” or “Say Domino!”. Then with Domino for example he says “I’m glad you mention it cos we have a song called Domino”. This “I’m glad you mention it” bit lasts throughout the whole show and really reminds me of the “Hey you” thing he did on the Mama Tour. The camera thing is a bit similar to the IT Tour.
- There’s no audience participation before HBTS but just a “scary people” intro instead of “the OTHER world”.
- Follow You Follow Me has Phil singing from behind the drums and Chester doing the percussions. Sounds great!
- I Know What I Like features the Stagnation bit “as usual” and Phil’s doing the tambourine tarantella again!
- One of my biggest worries was how they’re going to do Mama. But I have to second impressions I heard from Brussels. Phil’s singing it on the edge - but not beyond! I’m sure it’ll work.
- Ripples was outstanding. If you close your eyes and just listen to it you might feel carried away back to the 70’s! On that one Phil had the only major lyric mistake last night (”Blue girls [instead of Angels] never know it’s time…”). I really can’t believe they drop it.
- During Throwing It All Away Phil came down to the audience for the first time last night. He did that as well during Invisible Touch.
- Domino has the well known Domino principle intro. It’s a bit strange that during the first part of The Last Domino Phil just disappears behind the stage. The film his face and broadcast it on the screens. So there is no riser like in 1992.
- The Drum Duet started on barstools! The way Phil & Chester used to practice in dressing rooms and actually the way they started to invent this duet in a hotel room in the early days.
- Tonight, Tonight, Tonight and Invisible Touch are done pretty much like 1992. Band left the stage for the first time after Invisible Touch.

- I Can’t Dance (by far not my fav song) was started really interesting. Just the drum machine - no band on stage. Then Mike, Phil & Tony took the stage and did the first verse on their own. Just Genesis on stage with Chester and Daryl joining them a bit later. And of course they do the walk!
- Carpet Crawlers is a great closing song. They’ve changed the end a little bit to create a climax for the show finale.

The stage offers a lot of special effects. I won’t tell the all cos it would probably spoil the last bit of surprises. Just let me tell you that much: there’s fireworks, strobes and dry ice fog. Unfortunately most of the light show and screens were mostly lost last night cos at that time of the year it doesn’t really get dark in Finland. I hope to see more of it in Hamburg or Bern. Herning might be the same problem.

So today is a day off for me. Tomorrow morning we fly to Hamburg, pick up a rental car and then drive up to Herning.

Ulli