07/07/07 - a special date and the date of my first Genesis concert on the homeground of the band. After desperately searching a pub which would be showing the Live Earth show on screens I returned to the hotel to watch the Genesis performance in the bar. It was a bit unspectacular but I really don’t know what else I would’ve expected. Funny thing was that about 20 minutes after the performance the BBC apologized for Phil using the F-word on Invisible Touch and the host said that they would give “Mr. Collins a serious talking-to”! I wonder what the BBC did after Madonna’s Live 8 introductions where she didn’t stop using the F-word…
Getting to the stadium was a bit complicated as there seems to be some construction work done on some of the tram lines. At the Bishop’s Blaize close to the stadium there was a very nice fan meet-up where I bumped into quite a lot of people I had either not met for a long time or never before. I really enjoyed not having to queue for that show but nonetheless we went to the stadium in time to get in as it was very crowded around the whole place. From our very good seats close to the stage we awaited the “kick-off” at the so called Theatre of Dreams. Old Trafford Football Stadium is in fact a bit smaller than I thought it would be. Football broadcastings are usually facing towards the main stand. Therefore you can’t see the opposite stand which is just about half as big if that.
The show was among the best I’ve seen so far. Band played very good. No noticeable mistakes and perfect sound! Oh, and I almost forgot about the most important thing: the weather was dry! We even got blue sky throughout the show. Very nice. No surprise that the set remained unchanged though. The audience was pretty good I think. Apart from our center front block the whole field was standing throughout almost the whole show - I did as well.
Getting back to the city was well organized. Only the walk to the bus was a bit interesting with a huge crowd moving slowly down a road filling up the complete width and everyone going to the same direction.
The next morning we had to leave early to catch our flight to London-Heathrow. Arrived on time and even the travel to Twickenham went very smooth. It’s really remote and in the outskirts of London. Pretty small houses and some parks with the huge stadium among them. I liked the surroundings. The stadium itself is massive! Not long ago the last stand was enlarged to fit the rest of the stadium. So it’s an really impressive bowl with 3 tiered levels and a see-through roof. All in all noticeably larger than Old Trafford! Our B&B was right next to the rugby ground, about one or two minutes to walk. In the afternoon I got to meet quite a bunch of friends that I hadn’t seen since Phil’s last tour i.e. in at least 1.5 years! We spent a few hours at a nice pub in sunny weather before I headed back to the B&B to get ready for the show. Even inside the stadium the fan meetings didn’t stop and I only got to my seat right on time for the show.
First thing I noticed was the display of “TWICKENHAM” on the screens during the intro rather than London. Again the band was in a very good mood obviously enjoying their return to their home country and in this case even (kind of) home city. The only major technical fault was some trouble with Mike’s guitar during one of the first songs. But all this was fixed pretty soon. Unfortunately a light rain set in not long after the band had taken the stage. A large dark cloud was hanging above the stadium and not moving at all. The rain wasn’t heavy but persistent and got a bit heavier at times. Once again I have to say it could have been worse as we didn’t get soaking wet. But I wouldn’t have complained about a dry show! Phil was very talkative again and even threw in the German word “Gespenster” (= engl. ghosts) during the Home By The Sea intros. The crowd - at least on the field - was standing throughout the whole show again. Pretty good turnout for an all-seated concert!
After the gig I really enjoyed not having to travel too long to get to bed. The next morning began very relaxed as the flight to Munich was only scheduled for 14.00. We headed back for the airport at around 10.30 which turned out to be way too early as Heathrow was experiencing heavy delays once again. We boarded our aircraft slightly delayed but only taxied to another parking position where the captain turned off the engines again because we still had about 40 minutes to wait for our slot! However, we made it to rainy Munich and that’s where I’m waiting for tonight’s show now. Have a working pass again today. So no need to queue.
More about Munich once I’m in Lyon. Just 3 shows to go in Europe - all this is ending too soon…
Ulli
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