Trading Boundaries Voyage – Report on the 2026 Rhine cruise

The Trading Boundaries Voyage took place from 11 July to 25 July – organised by Trading Boundaries to mark its 30th anniversary. This venue hosts a host of artists from the prog scene; many of them perform in a stripped-back acoustic line-up, as it is a small, intimate venue. Steve Hackett has been performing there for many years – it's become something of a tradition – with his acoustic band, and last year an audio recording of one such performance was released (Live Magic at Trading Boundaries).

The Trading Boundaries Voyage has now taken this concept onto a ship for the first time. They chartered a Rhine cruise ship which sailed from Basel to Amsterdam in the first week and from Amsterdam to Basel in the second week. Although it was possible to book both weeks together, most passengers booked either one week or the other. The programme for both weeks was similar, but some artists only featured on one of the two legs. Martin Barre and Rick Wakeman only performed during the first week, whilst the second week featured several artists who only performed then. That's why I'd only booked the second week:

Line-Up

Caravan acoustic trio
Damian Wilson & Adam Wakeman
Chris Welch interviews Roger Dean
Mark Walker (Caravan) – Drum Clinic
Paul Carrack with drummer and guitarist
Pete Jones solo on keys
The Lamb Lies Down on Piano & Paper in Koblenz
Think Lloyd (Pink Floyd cover band from France, the only show on the sun deck)
Ray Wilson acoustic trio
Thijs van Leer / Menno Gootjes
Pete Jones / Rob Townsend
Marco LoMuscio at the organ in Strasbourg (Eglise Saint-Paul)
Chris Welch interviews Armando Gallo
Eddie Jobson (acoustic violin / keyboards) with his son Chris on guitar
Roger Dean Live painting presentation
Thijs van Leer / Menno Gootjes, Rob Townsend, Paul Carrack, Pete Jones

Support programme

There were also opportunities to explore a few towns and cities, such as Düsseldorf, Rüdesheim, Speyer, Strasbourg and Colmar. However, the main focus was, of course, very clearly on the concerts. With the exception of The Lamb Lies Down on Piano & Paper in Koblenz and Marco Lo Muscio in Strasbourg, all the concerts took place on board. There wasn't a proper stage there; instead, the area in front of the self-service coffee station in the lounge was simply cordoned off with a large 'Trading Boundaries' banner, and all the concerts took place in front of it.

Here are a few details about the performances that Genesis fans are likely to find most interesting:

Paul Carrack Set:

Satisfy My Soul
Life In A Bubble
Tempted
Bet Your Life
Love Will Keep Us Alive
Shame On You, Shame On Me
Where Did I Go Wrong?
The Living Years
If I Should Fall Behind
How Long
Groovin'

It was a relatively short set, but the evening was still young, so we managed to persuade Pete Jones – more or less on the spur of the moment – to sit down at the keyboard even before his actual performance.

Pete Jones Set after Paul Carrack:

Firth Of Fifth piano intro / Guide Vocal
For Absent Friends
The Musical Box (komplett)
Harold The Barrel
Hygge (Tiger Moth Tales)
Long Goodbyes (Camel)
You Know What I Mean (From this point onwards, Mark Walker from Caravan takes his place on the drums, which had been set up for Paul Carrack)
Afterglow
A Trick Of The Tail
Against All Odds
I Know What I Like

In Koblenz, Ray Wilson joined Ali Ferguson and Kool Lyszek on board, only to leave the ship again that very same evening after the concert.

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Frank Grabowski about their show:

Steffen Waidelich & Frank Grabowski
The Lamb Lies Down on Piano & Paper

In the morning, the passengers first disembarked and made their way to the Görressaal at the Rheinische Philharmonie. We were keen to see how our joint project, 'The Lamb Lies Down on Piano and Paper', would be received by the guests of Trading Boundaries. There was a great deal of interest – the historic hall was filled to capacity.

For me, Frank Grabowski, it was a special return to Trading Boundaries. Back in 2018, I had my first exhibition in the UK at Roger Dean's gallery during a Genesis Weekend with The Watch, Richard Macphail and Dale Newman. It was all the more wonderful, then, to be able to present our joint project with Steffen on this exclusive cruise.

Steffen played his very own interpretation of Genesis' legendary album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway on the venue's superb concert grand piano. I sat right next to him at my workbench, colouring in the sketches I'd prepared earlier in my studio, all in real time. The audience were able to follow the creation of the pictures as it happened via a projection. For us, that is precisely what makes this concept so special: Steffen's music gives the pictures their rhythm and atmosphere, whilst the sounds gradually give rise to independent works of art right before the audience's eyes.

We have already tested and refined this interplay between music and painting during several performances. Nevertheless, every performance is different, because the music provides fresh inspiration each time. In Koblenz, a total of 20 works of art were created, which were coloured live during the performance to the accompaniment of Steffen's virtuoso playing. The audience's enthusiastic reactions were a wonderful confirmation for us that the combination of The Lamb and live painting works.

A very special moment awaited us during the interval. Armando Gallo, the legendary Genesis photographer, author and renowned expert on the band's history, came to see us backstage. He presented us with his new book *Remembering… THE LAMB*, with a personal dedication. We were both particularly delighted that he, of all people – having documented the history of Genesis for decades as a contemporary witness and photographer – was so enthusiastic about our idea of blending music and painting.

Setlist

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,
Fly on a Windshield / Broadway Melody of 1974
Cuckoo Cocoon
In the Cage
The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
Back in N.Y.C.
Hairless Heart
Counting Out Time
The Carpet Crawlers
The Chamber of 32 Doors

Break

Lilywhite Lilith
Anyway
Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist
The Lamia
The Light Dies Down on Broadway
Supper's Ready

Encore

The Musical Box

For us, therefore, this morning in the Görressaal was far more than just a concert. We were able to witness how music and painting come together directly and inspire one another – and how, as Steffen performed Genesis' The Lamb, a visual story all of its own emerged, image by image, before the audience's very eyes.

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That evening, Ray Wilson played with his trio on the ship:

Ray Wilson Acoustic Trio

Before the first song, he briefly recounts how he joined Genesis in May 1996, having been given a few songs to learn, including some he'd never heard before, amongst them In The Cage, which he subsequently came to appreciate greatly. But he began with the song he'd sung first at the audition:

No Son Of Mine
In Your Eyes
Inside
Another Day In Paradise
Carpet Crawlers (First verse with just guitar, no keyboards)
Home By The Sea
Propaganda Man
Follow You, Follow Me
Change
Not About Us
The Actor (Ray describes the track as the only progressive track he has written, apart from Makes Me Think of Home)
Another Day (Ray talks about his first bands, Electric Mistress and Cheap Dialogue, because the song is about a bandmate from back then who took his own life at the age of 14)
In The Air Tonight (For the first time in a long while, Ray recounts the story of how his mum rang him in 1996 and said, "Phil Collins wants his job back", just as Ray had only just started working with Mike and Tony in the studio. And when he met Phil backstage in Hanover in 2007, Phil apparently told him, "Tell your mum, I've got my job back!")
Solsbury Hill
That's All

Pete Jones's actual show took place on Wednesday; he began with a few songs from his latest album, The Turning Of The World, released in 2023. Then came an absolute highlight of the evening: Pete performed Spectral Mornings with lyrics by David Longdon, the former lead singer of Big Big Train. Here, too, it was just vocals and piano. Another surprise was his rendition of 'Solange man Träume noch leben kann' by Münchner Freiheit, which he actually sang in German, and you could even make out the words to some extent.

From Camel, of whom he is also a member, he performed:

Spirit of the Water, Lady Fantasy (playing the saxophone with one hand and the keyboard with the other),
Ripples (the instrumental section is only briefly hinted at)

Rob Townsend joined him, and they played:
The Virgin And The Gypsy (with Rob on the flute)
Déja Vu (Pete sounds a bit like Paul Carrack, who sang it on Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited II album – a shame he didn't play it himself during his set) with Rob on tenor saxophone.
The Fountain Of Salmacis
Harold The Barrel (repeated by popular demand)
More Fool Me

Armando Gallo Interview (Chris Welch)

Armando Gallo, the legendary Genesis photographer, was interviewed by the equally legendary music journalist Chris Welch, and during the interview he showed plenty of his photos from back then; however, there were also some of his photos of Hollywood actors on display, as Armando has excellent contacts with all the celebrities in Hollywood too.

Best of Show

On the final day, there was a sort of 'Best of' performance featuring some of the musicians who'd been on board the whole time. Thijs van Leer and Menno Gootjes played a few more Focus classics and jammed together with Rob Townsend. Pete Jones played:

Cuckoo Cocoon
The Cinema Show (complete with the instrumental section),
One For The Vine (he got a bit stuck on the lyrics here and there, but he manages to make even that entertaining), Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (intro) / Carpet Crawlers.

Paul Carrack sang Eyes Of Blue (among others), with Pete Jones on keyboards.

Pete Jones was definitely the artist who performed by far the most, and given his talent and entertainment value, you really can't complain about that!

All in all

If you can somehow afford the £6,900 for the cheapest twin cabin for a week, a week on a river cruise is definitely highly recommended. As well as the performers, you meet plenty of like-minded fellow passengers. As Trading Boundaries is based in the UK, more than half the passengers were also from there. There were also a few Americans, some from South America, Italy, and even a handful of Germans. Judging by the average age, it could just as easily have been a Schlager or folk music event.

The high price can also be explained by the fact that a luxury-class ship (Emerald Luna / Astra) was deliberately chosen, and the quality of the food at all three meals was very good indeed. Incidentally, due to the low water level of the Rhine between Mainz and Strasbourg, we had to change ships by bus. At least, however, we were able to sail past the Loreley as planned whilst Think Lloyd were playing on the sun deck.

You can register your interest on the website for the next cruise of this kind in summer 2027. It is likely that it will certainly not be any cheaper then.

Author: Volker Warncke
The Lamb… on Piano & Paper: Frank Grabowski

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