It cannot have been four months already, can it? But it has. The return of Genesis in a summer that was terrible weather-wise in Europe is already that far in the past. Now that we had some time to digest it, let us take an utterly subjective look at the past tour. It can, of course, only be one of many different views, and your mileage may vary.

We expected everything and nothing. Truth be told, we did not expect too much. Many things indicated that the tour might be a mediocre experience at best. The musicians are too old, they are in it just for the money, big stadium shows, a special effects bombardement, very, uh, average performances of individual band members in recent years - and nobody really knew where this band was at in 2007.

This tour was a must for many younger fans, and it was among them that optimism was strongest. After all, it would be the first time that they would see their heroes. For other fans it was an opportunity to show their children the band they used to revere and (some secretly) still do. These older fans were more anxious about disappointments. The spring of 2007 was marked by set list debates, questions whether “Mike still got what it takes” and insinuations that “they only do it for the money”.
It it splendidly peculiar: No other band is put down so furiously in fan fora before a tour like Genesis: They have to play everything up to Wind & Wuthering, bloody well nothing from the Gabriel era, what about Calling All Stations, oh bung that phase, no, not at all, and all in the all the 80s were a load of dung and the 70s so terribly cramped. This band has worn out three singers, two guitarists and who knows how many drummers.

And then Genesis return. Oh yes, but which Genesis? Is this Genesis? Well of course this is Genesis! Why return? Tony Banks sums it up: “We want to show people what Genesis really is about”, they want to “play a cross-section”, though they were neither going to go back before 1973 nor beyond 1992.
Once again the fans debate, argue and discuss - as if the band would play prog music to a stadium audience, and they haven’t got it anymore anyway, but whatever, as long as they play the hits, oh please don’t….
Then June 04 arrived. Genesis played their dress rehearsal in Brussels and it was finally clear what was waiting for the fans. The set list is well-known by know, and when one looks back at it from now it turns out that Tony Banks was right. Many songs most fans had expected did not get played. Instead the set was full of long songs like Domino and Home By The Sea or instrumental attacks like Los Endos and Firth Of Fifth. In between were medleys but also gems like Ripples and Carpet Crawlers. Despite all debates the largest consensus was reached with a potential “negative topic”: Hold On My Heart is manure and the weakest point in the set.
Genesis performed a rollercoaster ride of their works, albeit on an astonishingly high level and with Phil Collins who sang surprisingly well. The greatest thing about this tour was the return of the “singing drummer”, as Phil likes to style himself. He sat behind his drumkit whenever possible, and for Follow You Follow Me he dared do the “stage multitasking trick” of drumming and singing simulaneously. Many people in the audience were heard wondering why Phil was playing the drums so much. Other concert goers found it peculiar that Genesis did not play their “old hits” like In The Air Tonight (someone asked me about that in Dusseldorf) and that Daryl was allowed to play an oversized solo, and that a drum duet is followed by another seven minutes of instrumental music. Los Endos ought to have been the end of the regular set. The guys really could have dared do that.

For many people in the audience the show will have been an eye-opener: This was no Phil Collins concert, but a Genesis show. Imagine that! This was another thing Genesis proved in 2007: The band does make different music than their front man.