The Phil Collins Big Band – live in Montreux 1996 – review

17 July 1996, Montreux – Auditorium Stravinski (Switzerland)

According to press reports, Phil Collins fulfilled a long-cherished dream when he performed alongside 19 other musicians at the 30th Montreux Jazz Festival. The Phil Collins Big Band was set to arrange songs from Genesis and Phil's solo career for a big band. The rush for tickets was so great that an extra concert was scheduled for late afternoon. I was lucky enough to get tickets for both concerts.

The afternoon show

The concert day was opened by a certain Richie Havens. Accompanied only by his guitar, the Woodstock legend played songs such as the gripping Freedom from 5 pm onwards. Havens had come to Montreux at Phil's invitation. His performance was nice, but at just under an hour, it was definitely too long. The audience's relief was palpable when he finished and made way for the real stars.

In the centre and slightly raised, Phil sat at the drums; beside and in front of him were Daryl, Brad, Nathan and the Vine Street Horns, as well as – touring with Phil for the first time – the horn section of the WDR Big Band and a percussionist named Luis Conte. They kicked off with Two Hearts, and – typical of most of the songs that evening – it came across as a fresh, unusually lively version.

Phil did an excellent job on the drums. Hearing twenty musicians playing his songs at the same time was a great pleasure. And it was astonishing just how much new life could be breathed into well-known pieces such as That's All.

Quincy Jones conducting

One by one, various additional guests invited by Phil came on stage: Quincy Jones, who took over as conductor from then on; David Sanborn, whose performance – including on In The Air Tonight – I found disappointing; and finally Tony Bennett. Like Havens before him, Bennett also sang for a touch too long. After Bennett's performance, there were just a few more songs before the encore. For the first time that evening, Phil stepped down from his place behind the drums and grabbed a microphone to sing two very beautiful cover versions. Then came just Sussudio, and the concert was over.

The absolute highlight of the performance was The West Side, played relatively early on. What Phil managed to achieve on the drums is almost impossible to describe, and at times during the concert it was simply beyond comprehension. Phil's speed and, at the same time, his perfection were breathtaking, and the sound was simply fabulous. The concert had lasted one and a quarter hours.

Even though it included some excellent songs, it wasn't quite enough for me. Why didn't Phil play a single track from … But Seriously and Both Sides? And why did he play so little from Genesis? I reckon he could easily have left out a few songs by his guests, Havens and Bennett, in favour of his own material.

Another disappointment was the audience's reaction, which was far cooler than one might have expected. As in Geneva, this was mainly down to the older ladies and gentlemen in the front rows, who clearly couldn't relate to Phil's music but had come anyway, against their better judgement. So I wasn't at all surprised when these people left the hall before the encore.

The evening show

But there was still the main concert to come. Hoping for a better atmosphere and perhaps to hear one or two extra tracks from Phil's repertoire, I headed back to the Auditorium Stravinsky at 9 pm. And sure enough, the fans were now finally in the majority. The band were clearly playing with more enthusiasm, and the audience responded gratefully. Phil started cracking jokes and kept addressing the audience, something he hadn't done at the previous concert. Unfortunately, his French hadn't improved yet, so he switched to English and explained the concept of the concert as follows: "We're going to play my shit, but differently!" As far as the songs were concerned, however, nothing had changed at all.

They played exactly the same set as at the first concert

Setlist

Two Hearts
That 's All
In The Air Tonight
Invisible Touch
The West Side
Against All Odds
Hand In Hand

Tony Bennett-Set:
Watch What Happens
Over The Rainbow
People
Old Devil Moon
The Lady Is In Love With You
There Will be Some Changes Made

Drum-/ Percussion-Duett
Los Endos
Always
Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
Sussudio

All in all

Thrilled by nearly four hours of live music, but a little disappointed by the meagre selection of Collins and Genesis tracks, I left the venue for the second time. The Phil Collins Big Band? Excellent sound, but a bit more of that wouldn't go amiss…

Author: Oliver Höhne
first published in it-magazine #20, September 1996, first published in English on our website in 2026.