The Musical Box - Mannheim 2007

A very stormy night...

I That was a stormy night. Literally. A storm rages across Germany causing severe and tragic accidents. With all the bad news on the radio and on TV I am afraid that the concert may be cancelled, but I still leave Ludwigshafen for the Rosengarten in Mannheim. Many people are standing in front of the building that was erected in 1903. They are trying to sell tickets of people who won’t be able to see the show because to the storm. It hurts to see so many tickets for The Musical Box that will probably not find a new owner. There is some good news, though: The concert will take place.
A couple of weeks before I arranged to meet another member of the IT fanclub forum at the stall of Eclipsed magazine. Unfortunately the contact did not happen, but then it would have been difficult to recognize each other because the stall is not there because of the bad weather. There are some old acquaintances, however, such as Michael Bäcker of Empire magazine and other ‘usual suspects’.
My pal and I have a drink and I can hardly wait to enter the Mozart Hall to marvel at The Musical Box again after 2003.
As we want to take our seats we notice that they have already been taken. We check the seat numbers on our tickets. Strange – these are our seats. The gentlemen who occupy our seats show their tickets. Lo and behold, they have the same seats. A closer look at their tickets reveals that they are for Roger Cicero. Cicero, the swing master from Berlin, who may soon contend for Germany at the Grand Prix d’Eurovision de la Chanson. “Oh dear, you have come to the wrong hall. Cicero is in the hall next door!”, I explain to the friends of swing (I’d rather avoid the term ‘swinger’ in this context :lol: )
We are all set. The light goes out and we hear Tony Banks, er, David Myers play the first chords on the mellotron. Watcher Of The Skies is a great start into this grand old journey through time. Halfway into the first number my pal Sven and me notice some guests get up and make their way to the exit; two of them are right behind us. “Oh, this must be the wrong concert!”, one of them says with surprise in his voice. Well, the fact that it takes half a Watcher Of The Skies to realise that you are not listening to swing music, is as strange as it is funny.
Vocalist Denis Gagné introduces the second piece in his best old Gabriel manner: Dancing With The Moonlit Knight. This song is particularly close to my heart because it was the first Gabriel era song I heard on audio cassette when I was fourteen. Back then I somehow disliked the first bars of Selling England By The Pound and, consequentially disdained the whole album for some two years. It was only after I had worked my way back from Invisible Touch to Selling England that those barely tolerable noises turned to most celestial sounds I have been drooling over for close to 20 years now. For what it’s worth, I am listening to the end of the Moonlit Knight as I am writing this. It’s fantastic!
The next pieces are the terrific Cinema Show, the ‘hit single’ I Know What I Like and the legendary Firth Of Fifth. It features the Genesis guitar solo that has been played most often; it also shows what Mike Rutherford could do on his instrument back then. I would number him and Yes’s Chris Squire among the best bass players. TMB’s bass player (and occasional guitarist) Sébastien Lamothe pulls of this feat easily. He plays them on special instruments for people of the left-handed persuasion.
The song after that is The Musical Box. It shows how much Genesis’ music has developed between 1971 and 1973. The song has a much harder sound than the whole Selling England album. It begins to really rock after 3 ½ minutes. I love the dynamic range of this exceptional song. The stage show is impressive and demonstrates what it must have been like back then when not all those third-class singers could afford to use vari-lights and other visual effects. Genesis then and The Musical Box today prove that it is the interaction of stage show and music that creates the magic. Shivers run down my spine when Denis Gagné comes on stage as the old man and Francois Gagnon (reserved like Hackett back then) leads into the closing section of the song.
The next number should be More Fool Me; a song I tremendously enjoyed in 2003 because drummer Martin Levac has an uncanny resemblance with Phil Collins. From far he looks like Phil, sings like Phil, drums like Phil (to the point of moving his head the same way as Phil) and even talks like Phil. In 2003 the audience were so surprised by his introduction of the song that there was a special applause.
Instead of More Fool Me it’s Francois Gagnon playing Horizons. The audience listens to the fine sounds of an acoustic guitar. When it ends I immediately begin to hear the first bars of Supper’s Ready, but that piece is yet to come. Before that this terrific band shows that The Battle Of Epping Forest is one of Genesis’ most difficult pieces. It was never one of my big favourites, but it does impress me live.
After that the big moment had come. The lead singer told the classic story of the clean green grass of the park, the worms and the little birds, introducing Supper’s Ready. Denis Gagné introduces the songs with short, clipped sentences typical for Gabriel (as if he had trouble breathing or swallowing) – it’s gorgeous. When the opus begins with ‘Walking across…’ I shed some tears of joy. Aged 33, I have never seen these songs performed live (at least not by Genesis themselves). Supper’s Ready is a very special thing. I forget everything around me and simply enjoy the band’s performance.
The evening comes full circle: After the storm before the concert The Knife as an encore is the tempestuous finale that proves once more that The Musical Box are so much more than just a cover band. Their concerts are almost theatrical to a point where ‘Musical’ gains a second meaning. It is a pity that this event will not be performed anymore – ever.
The concert early this year has strengthened my appetite for Genesis 2007 although we may expect only some bits of the 70s. But who knows? There may perhaps come a reunion with Gabriel and Hackett. I have begun saving money for it!

Author – Marcus Dörr
Translation – Martin Klinkhardt