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For the very first final time
If you are up to something you better start doing it right. Phil has played
countless gigs all over the world. An aural attack a couple of years ago
forced him to slowly retire from the stage.
But Phil were not Phil unless he properly said good-bye. He has lost interest
in big extended tours, so there will be just one more. With a wink and
a nod he called it the First Final Farewell Tour. It is an ironic twist
of his history that, of all concert tours, the First Final Farewell Tour
will be the longest one in his career.
The complete Genesis
on solo tours
When rumours about a farewell tour came up in 2003, Phil had the idea
to perform in countries he had played only once before, if at all. That
was a big blow for his European and American fans who would not see
him anymore after his Trip Into The Light tour in 1997. But it did not
turn out that way. Instead of gigs in the Pacific region, Australia
and South America, a five-week tour through Europe was announced. The
First Final Farewell pt 1. There were two pleasant comebacks in his
live band in the shapes of Leland Sklar on bass and Chester Thompson
on drums. There was another curiosity that made the Farewell shows even
more attractive: Mike + The Mechanics were to open for Phil on all open
air shows. It fits the picture that Ray Wilson later told his audience
at the Acoustic Shows if he could be in the line-up, too. So Phil, the
Mechanics and Ray were on tour simultaneously – as were Peter
Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Canadian cover band The Musical Box. A somewhat
grotacious situation. Never before was there such a mass of concerts
for Genesis fans. It was as if they all wanted to say good-bye “just
to be on the safe side”, but they never were on stage at the same
time. Not even Mike and Phil. A shame, really.
…But Seriously: Good Bye!
The only thing about the European gigs that points at Phil once having
been a part of Genesis is the circumstance that messieurs Stuermer and
Thompson share lots of Genesis live history between them. The songs,
however, were a sampler from a solo career that spans almost a quarter
of a century enlivened by one and a half drum duets. As opposed to previous
tours, the songs closely resembled the studio versions, and Phil remained
obstinate about keeping the set list unchanged despite protestations
of his most loyal fans. On My Way was dropped after a couple of shows,
while Always was added as an encore for some shows, but apart from that
nothing changed. Phil performed his hit mix in a very professional and
occasionally breathtaking way. Everywhere he stood on stage and said
“This is my last tour” – and he was booed everywhere
for it. Over and over again Phil made clear: I am serious about it.
He did not fail to thank everybody for their support, even back in the
days of Genesis. Genesis? Oh right, I dimly remember.
The rubber duck finale
Few weeks after the European tour Phil plays North America. Testify
may have been a flop, but the arenas are full or sold out. The Americans
were given a glimpse of Genesis. Misunderstanding, that song Phil wrote
when he was lovesick and that gave Genesis their commercial breakthrough
in the States – Misunderstanding was performed. Okay, so it’s
his song, but it still sent shivers down one’s spine. People were
ecstatic. Again, Phil would say “This is my last tour” every
evening, the audience would boo, and then he would sometimes say “I
will be back”. A land of confusion indeed.
Part two of the First Final Farewell tour somewhat turns into a mocking
of the European tour. This was not helped much by a postcard in the
tour programme on which Phil would explain European idiosyncrasies to
Americans. Well, doesn’t matter. Ft. Lauderdale marks the end
of the second Farewell tour leg while, for Sussudio, the crew drops
not confetti but rubber chickens onto the stage. Meanwhile, the debate
about his first final farewell tour continued.
All "un"-quiet
in the East
After the celebrated North American tour there ensued a silence in Phil’s
camp. It is not until January that rumours are confirmed: The tour will
not be continued before October 2005. At first there was talk of a two
part tour with a Christmas break. Yet again, no luck for the “rest
of the world”. This time most shows were announced for Eastern
Europe. Add to that some rather exotic tour locations such as Tel Aviv,
Beirut and Dubai and it proves a good move because Phil had not played
here before at all. It does not take wonder that the shows in Helsinki,
Tallinn and Prague sold out in no time at all. In the meantime, additional
show have been scheduled for all three cities. Poland, on the other
hand, will host no show at all.
Miscalculated? An expensive
patchwork farewell
All of a sudden Germany was treated to the Farewell tour again. Two
shows were scheduled for the brand new LTU arena, equalling more than
100,000 tickets. They were labelled benefit shows at the same time.
Ticket prices soon became a source of annoyance. One had to shell out
between 57 and 92 EUR [roughly US$70 to 110; translator’s note],
17 EUR of which go directly to the Little Dreams Foundation. It is fascinating
to see just how high the “basic” and “inevitable”
costs run for two benefit shows celebrating LTU airline’s anniversary
in the LTU(!) Arena. Fans on the British Isles did not have to think
long whether they wanted to journey to Dusseldorf or Prague. After all,
the Collins camp relented and announced the “only UK concert 2005”
to be played in Glasgow. A couple of weeks later another (only?) UK
concert was added for Glasgow. Irritations continued.
The tour dates appears only in a slow trickle. The tour t-shirts for
autumn could well be labelled “Patchwork Farewell Tour 2005”.
Fans had to wait very long for concert announcement for the shows they
were promised in Greece, Turkey and Ireland. Then another show was announced
for Belfast (the “only UK show in Northern Ireland”?) and
Dubliners, too, can count themselves lucky that Phil will take his farewell
(and a pile of money) from them. Top of the list is surely Bloomflied
Stadium in Israel. One has to pay an average of a fifth of one’s
monthly income to see Phil.
...til death do us apart
People in South America, Australia and Asia, however, still have lots
of time to save up their money for the tickets. Contrary to previous
plans, Phil is not going to play there because of the rehearsal schedule
for the Tarzan musical. Next year Phil has private obligations such
as his son’s schooling. This is what Phil explained in his forum.
But he still wants to go there. He will try.
It is a peculiar situation. After three legs of his Farewell tour he
has not been to any of the countries he actually wanted to go to on
this tour. At the end of 2005 he will have played some 75 shows and
counting. It may well turn out in the end that Phil takes the same amount
of time for his Farewell as his former band colleague Peter Gabriel
needs for a new record: an eternity. Who knows? Perhaps it is similarities
like these that will bring Genesis to reunite on stage – for a
First Final Farewell tour.
translated by Martin Klinkhardt |
