Genesis - The Invisible Touch Tour 1986/87

  • They certainly didn't play it by the time they got to Leeds Roundhay Park!


    Judging from what I remember of the make up of the audience, I don't think many of them would have recognised Apocalypse if it jumped up and bit them.

  • If I remember correctly it was dropped after Australia / NZ. There are two possible reasons for this. One is the challenging singing that MoonlitKnight mentioned, the other is an interview bit Phil did back then basically saying that the drumming was quite challenging and he fucked it up on one or two nights and decided to change it. I am still trying to find the correct quote (if there is one), cause this is all based on stuff I read in forums etc.

    ... make tomorrow today!

  • It was dropped after New Zealand and never got played on the Australian leg. There is a recording of that last performance and you can hear Phil's poor voice breaking a number of times in Apocalypse and ASAEIE. He clearly gets rattled in Apocalypse as he completely messes up the words also:

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    • Official Post

    It was dropped after New Zealand and never got played on the Australian leg. There is a recording of that last performance and you can hear Phil's poor voice breaking a number of times in Apocalypse and ASAEIE. He clearly gets rattled in Apocalypse as he completely messes up the words also:

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    That’s tough to listen to, but I guess expected as he had been singing his heart out for an entire decade at that point. I’ve always thought Apocalypse sounded like an incredibly demanding vocal piece, even on the album, Peter sounds like he’s straining. Singing like a banshee like that for years on end will inevitably do permanent damage. Same thing happened to Robert Plant.

  • That’s tough to listen to, but I guess expected as he had been singing his heart out for an entire decade at that point. I’ve always thought Apocalypse sounded like an incredibly demanding vocal piece, even on the album, Peter sounds like he’s straining. Singing like a banshee like that for years on end will inevitably do permanent damage. Same thing happened to Robert Plant.

    ouch ...

    besides, Phil never took lessons or did anything to train his singing ability, that also wasn't good.

    ... make tomorrow today!

  • I saw Genesis in Detroit that tour. We slept out for tickets with 500 others. Fantastic.

    My buddy and I were air-drumming to ITC/Medley, waiting for Afterglow, and when heard Apocalypse 9/8 we freaking lost it.

    I think the best concert version is King Biscuit at the Los Angeles Forum: Touch To Supper's Ready

  • I saw Genesis in Detroit that tour. We slept out for tickets with 500 others. Fantastic.

    My buddy and I were air-drumming to ITC/Medley, waiting for Afterglow, and when Apocalypse 9/8 we freaking lost it.

    I think the best concert version is King Biscuit at the Los Angeles Forum: Touch To Supper's Ready

    I had a 45 minute drive to make today. About halfway thru the drive Supper’s Ready came on the radio (Sirius XM Deep Tracks). Talk about a divine trip.

    • Official Post

    Today in 1987, the last show of the Invisible Touch Tour took place at Wembley Stadium.


    Tour report: https://www.genesis-news.com/c…987-Tour-report-s482.html

  • Today in 1987, the last show of the Invisible Touch Tour took place at Wembley Stadium.


    Tour report: https://www.genesis-news.com/c…987-Tour-report-s482.html

    My first ever gig was Wembley Stadium, 2 July 1987. I've been to quite a number of Wembley shows (old stadium and new) but this one had the best atmosphere by miles. The crowd were really up for it, not for Paul Young though whose band got a similar reception as the Blues Brothers at Bob's Country Bunker. Not my favourite setlist and I remember the disappointment of Suppers Ready not making an appearance despite the pre-show video saying that they'd brought it back, but the performance was brilliant and the light show back then was really something. Best parts: Mama, In The Cage Medley, Second Home, Los Endos.

  • Also for me it was the first real concert seen, that of the Invisible Tour, but in Milan on 19 May 1987. Within a month and a half I would then see Peter Gabriel on June 10th and Steve Hackett in an acoustic concert in July. Great shows!!! I had already seen Peter Gabriel in 1980 and 1983 with my brother, but I was still a child , I was not a fan yet and I don’t remember much.

  • I of course enjoyed the show but I did not find it as thrilling as the previous few times I'd seen them, Abacab, TSL, SOTB and Mama. Genesis were absolutely huge as was Phil Collins but for me the atmosphere was not quite as magical. Where I was there were certainly some people nearby who were clearly disappointed by not hearing a few Phil Collins big hits.

  • The light show was incredible. The musicianship was first rate. But, definitely not as good as the 4 times I had seen them previously.


    I remember being in seventh heaven after hearing In That Quite Earth and parts of Supper's Ready.....which segued immediately into Invisible Touch. I was not ready to go from those highs to that low.

  • I remember being in seventh heaven after hearing In That Quite Earth and parts of Supper's Ready.....which segued immediately into Invisible Touch. I was not ready to go from those highs to that low.

    If you thought the album they were touring contained lows surely you'd have to be prepared for that juxtaposition!


    See also 82, the complete SR immediately followed by Misunderstanding. Not a low for me personally, and I thought it was a smart sequence, but it must've annoyed the hell out of some.

    Abandon all reason

  • I just wish they would have thrown in one or two deep cuts. All in all the setlist was a bit ... expectable ...?

    Entirely logically. They were touring a massively successful album, with multiple hit singles, to huge audiences including many (possibly a majority) who didn't have the fan history we do and for whom the Cage medleys were 'deep cuts' . The setlist was exactly as it should've been.

    Abandon all reason

  • Entirely logically. They were touring a massively successful album, with multiple hit singles, to huge audiences including many (possibly a majority) who didn't have the fan history we do and for whom the Cage medleys were 'deep cuts' . The setlist was exactly as it should've been.

    Perhaps you are right - from a marketing point of view. But of course it's their decision. If they wanted, they would have done something like Squonk or Buring Rope or whatever, wthout changing the setlist too much. Besides, they did Your own special way down under, which could be from the deep cuts category as well.

    some are wise ... and some otherwise

  • Perhaps you are right - from a marketing point of view. But of course it's their decision. If they wanted, they would have done something like Squonk or Buring Rope or whatever, wthout changing the setlist too much. Besides, they did Your own special way down under, which could be from the deep cuts category as well.

    It goes beyond marketing. As well as their usual preference for focusing on their new material they'd have wanted to take account of the need to satisfy a huge new audience wanting to hear 80s stuff. On that basis the set struck just the right balance.


    You could list almost anything in the 'if they wanted...' category. Wasn't YOSW something to do with local union rules at the time and their being required to use local musicians, in this case the strings?

    Abandon all reason

  • Wasn't YOSW something to do with local union rules at the time and their being required to use local musicians, in this case the strings?

    Yes. The local musician's union rules specified that you must employ local musicians. That is usually done by having a local support act. Genesis, instead, used a string section.


    Phil used strings on "A Groovy Kind of Love" during his Australian dates on the But Seriously tour and on "You Know What I Mean" during the No Jacket Required tour.

  • I was never a fan of YOSW (like most the planet it seems).


    But when I heard live version with strings it completely changed my opinion of the song, and I now enjoy the album version too. But the live version from the WAW tour is also excellent.

  • I think the vast majority of the humongous crowds for the IT tour came for the hits on IT and the previous album, so the setlist had to focus on those. I think including the full ITQE was quite a deep cut, even more than Apocalypse onward, so I was very happy with that.