The Musical Box - Mainz (GER) 2007

some thrity-five years later...

We beam ourselves back into the year 1973. The little boy that is typing these words right now is looking forward to his tenth birthday. The portable mono cassette players the older boys proudly brandish at the bus stop in the morning blare out Sweet, T.Rex or Slade (if you were lucky) or Marianne Rosenberg, Peter Maffay and Bata Illic (if you were not). Five more years were to pass before the little boy would hear the name “Genesis” for the first time and a long and unfinished story would begin with the And Then There Were Three album.
In spring 1973 nobody would have guessed that a British band called Genesis would one day ascend to the olymp of pop music history, that they would sell millions of records and lure thousands of people of all ages from their armchairs and into the stadiums. Genesis record a live album that later will be a cheaply priced release (at DM 9,80; approx. 5€) in German record stores because of the “bad sound” (or because of whatever, at least the band never were quite happy with the release). Songs from the studio album Foxtrot the band had released a year before make up the bulk of the show. Foxtrot also features the archetypical prog longtrack, Supper’s Ready. Unfortunately one still has to wait for the official release of the complete gig, because Supper’s Ready is not even included on the carelessly marketed record. Imagine what would have happened had the band followed the example set by Yes who released their groundbreaking album Yessongs as a sumptuous 3LP set along with a matching feature film!
Some thirtyfive years later time-worn fans sit in an old factory hall in front of a stage that looks as if the band had nicked all the curtains (the fine white ones with the gold border) from their moms’ hampers and hung them up in a semi-circle. A couple of spot lights, black light, a disco ball from the club next door, and that is all. Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells (why does that always remind me of pea stew?) fade to quiet, the lights go out: Here we are in H.G. Wells’ time machine, only we go more than thirty years back into the past.
I am none of those who can remember the order of the songs (the history of The Musical Box and the details of the shows can best be discovered on the homepage of WIV Entertainment). Neither am I one of those who precisely remember whether this sequence was better than the other. I perceive emotions that come from the stage or from the audience around me and have my own feelings. And these are very special that night in Mainz, with so many like-minded people around me.
A couple of weeks ago we were treated to the Selling England By The Pound show in Frankfurt. This night we get a lively impression of how rough the early years of Genesis were, of the power and wildness of songs like The Return Of The Giant Hogweed and The Knife. It is lyrical and fragile pieces of art like The Musical Box, though, that really point out the difference to later performances. Later one would hear the story interpreted almost like a fairytale, but in those early years the band (and most of all Denis, the singer) pointed out just what a game Cynthia is playing. Just thinking about the presentation of Old Henry, even without the mask, is so intensely creepy that it still gives me goosebumps.
The Phoenixhalle in Mainz cannot compare to the Jahrhunderthalle (in Frankfurt) or a theatre acoustically. There is an annoying echo to it, and everything sounds metallic, harder, a bit mushy, and the louder bits (e.g. The Knife) have a drone to them. The sound mixer still did a great job under these conditions. I guess it did not sound that much better thirty years ago.
What I take back home from the show is the feeling that I have experienced something very special, and gratitude for having had the opportunity to see a band that fuses passion, liveliness and perfection. If you feel I was exaggerating just ask yourself what the Genesis songs from that period mean to you, how often you have listened to these songs over and over again.Shortly after I completed this review I found out that the band are going to play a few “Black SEBTP” shows as a real final farewell for us. I urge you all and particularly the younger readers who have not yet experienced this band to go and see them! Let yourselves be enchanted by stories from a bygone age! Enjoy living rock music that, though it was often copied, never reached this special intensity again – except for The Musical Box shows!

Author: Harald Dreyer
Translation by Martin "martinus" Klinkhardt

...maybe even more powerful than the Selling Show

It is very different from the Selling England Tour. Vintage video and audio recordings do not help much, you have to have seen it. I am glad I decided to see the Mainz concert after I had seen the Saarbrücken show. The stage is almost bare, Gabriel wears fewer costumes than for the Selling Show. The absence of other instruments (e.g. double neck guitar) makes the sound much rougher and rockier. The simple stage design does not distract from the music, the lights make it even more intense.
The set list:
Watcher Of The Skies: As effective as in the Selling show. A red light comes on at the moment when Gabriel lifts his bat wings in the Selling England show. Otherwise there is only blue light, a great atmosphere and a terrific opening song.
Can-Utility And The Coastliners: This is one of the songs I only kind of liked but never really ‘got’. This has changed since the show due to the sheer power with which it is performed.
The Musical Box: No Henry story, no Old Man, but a young Gabriel screams out his ‘now’ – no frail old man’s voice here. This really got the crowd going. This version rocks more and is rougher than on the Selling Show.
Get’Em Out By Friday: Same as with Can-Utility. Before the show it was ‘just a very good song’ to me. The rendition was very convincing with fine effects at the end.
Supper’s Ready: The costumes are the same as for the Selling show. The absence of slides makes the song more intense and the band much louder. Stroboscopes are used again. Supper’s Ready cannot be played any better. The Apocalypse really thundered out.
The Return Of The Giant Hogweed: Is it possible to play anything in the main set after Supper’s Ready? Yes it is. The Hogweed returned after endless applause. I had never heard this one live before. The ending was most impressive with its strobe lights (did you notice I like them?) just like The Knife in the Selling show. What an end for the main set!
The Knife: This was the first encore, with less visual effects than in the Selling show. It rocked much more, though, particularly the end. I hardly believe that Genesis then had more power then TMB now.
The Fountain Of Salmacis: The second and final encore was another huge favourite of mine. Fountain is well-placed at the end of Nursery Cryme anyway, and it works great as the final song of the show. Terrific version. The ending was played a bit slower than on Nursery Cryme, which to me is a good thing – NC is occasionally a bit too fast for my liking.
The whole show was so powerful, it may even had more power than The Knife in the Selling show!
Since this was my last TMB concert (at least with Gabriel) I doff my hat to them and say thank you for five fantastic concerts. (But please continue, guys!).
Author: Daniel Müller
Translation: Martin Klinkhardt