Best/worst live medleys

1st Official Post

    Not sure if this has been done before but I was inspired by the recent appearance of In the Cage in the track of the week.


    For me, the cage medley from Three Sides Live and Live over Europe are up there with the very best with the inspired choices of Slippermen/Duke's Travels sandwiched in between Cage and Afterglow.


    Shout out too to The Lamb Stew medley from the Trick tour which partnered the bombast of Fly on a Windshield perfectly with the beauty of Crawlers.


    And what didn't work so well? The medley from the shapes tour was too choppy for me, as was the Old Medley from 92. Also, the jump from Fading Lights into Cinema Show on the Last Domino tour still jars a bit.

    Even though I saw it live, the TIOA "medley" from the MAMA tour has to be a contender.


    I can't remember the exact songs in it but I know Karma Chameleon was in there somewhere. And from what I remember, that didn't go down particularly well.

    I agree that the various Cage ones are strong. I also like how they became a sort of anchor point in the show across various tours, with tweaks on most tours. Of those I lean towards the IT tour, both versions. The 1st version for the inclusion of Apocalypse, the 2nd version for unusually giving us 3 complete songs. I thought it got a little overlong on the Mama tour when I think they could've lost the Slippermen bit.


    There seem to be mixed opinions of the WCD tour medley. While always looking forward to the Cage ones, I quite liked the WCD one partly as it broke that pattern. But it was a pity the Volcano and Lamb snippets were so brief though I get that they probably wanted to maintain a certain momentum and the breakdown sections of both would have disrupted that. The Musical Box was the highlight of that one for me.


    The Fading Lights/Cinema one is divisive, I totally get why it was too jarring for some but I liked it because it was quite a sudden wrench. At the first of the 3 TLD shows I saw it was the starkest surprise of the set, and I enjoyed that. I also liked the revival of the 1978 Afterglow segue.


    I have a soft spot for the 1982 opening sequence of Volcano/BTL/FYFM. Starting with DOAV was so unexpected then with it being uncoupled from the main set's established closer, which made it a real buzz.


    I've never been keen on the Firth/IKWIL melding on the last 2 tours. It didn't bother me much as part of the 92 medley but those two bits on their own didn't do it for me, mainly because of the mid-Firth start.


    Yes the Mar/Squonk ones on the Mama tour were by far the clunkiest and least effective. It's where they came closest to being like one of those crooners/old-style entertainers who do one or two verses of several songs, with audience applause at each change. I half-expected PC to shout "Hey, d'you recognise this one?!" etc. The TIOA medley mirrored that too. I raised an eyebrow over it at the time, but it seemed to somehow fit where they were then and PC's growing status as a showman.

    Abandon all reason

    Like 1

    My favourite was the ITC medley from 3SL, mainly because the transitions really worked so perfectly and the playing was obviously superb. Although I loved may of the components of the other medleys, they tended to have clunky transitions that sounded kinda forced. The one exception is the Dance On a Volcano to TLLDOB in the Old Medley on the WCD tour, which I thought was very smooth.

    I love the It/Watcher of the Skies Medley from the second encore on the 1976 tour. I just love the way It fades into the start of Watcher. Phil's drumming is truly exceptional here.

    Best:

    Old Medley- We Can't Dance Tour.

    Old Medley- Live Over Europe 2007.


    Worst;

    Old Medley- Three Sides Live.

    It don't convince me how Phil sings and the mix with The Colony Of Slipperman. :/

    Best medley: In the Cage-The Cinema Show-The Colony of Slippermen-Afterglow.

    It just works so well!


    Worst medley: The Old Medley from Mama Tour.

    I feel like they weren't convinced as well as they changed it four times if I remember correctly.


    Honorable mention: Dance on a Volcano-Drum Duet-Los Endos

    Hey, guys. First post here. Might as well put in my $0.02. :)


    Best: In the Cage/In That Quiet Earth/Supper's Ready (or Afterglow, either one works for me), with the 2007 one a close second (ITC/The Cinema Show/Duke's Travels/AG). Honourable mention goes to Dance on a Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos (I never cared all that much for the DDs, and I think excluding DOAV from post-Abacab tours was a mistake). The It/Watcher of the Skies medley from the 1976 tour is an awesome way to finish a show (if I had been Tony Banks, then I'd have kept it as the standard encore number, followed by The Carpet Crawlers, which, to me, is the perfect way to say goodbye to the audience after hearing it on the 2007 and 2022 tours, I'm surprised the band didn't consider it sooner).


    Worst: ITC/TCS/ITQE/The Colony of Slippermen/AG (the transition from ITQE to TCOS is too jarring and having the latter as well as the former makes the medley a little too bloated - either one or the other, guys). The 1992 Old Medley is another contender (starts off with a good strong half but the second half starting with Firth of Fifth pretty much kills the momentum for me, plus the I Know What I like sub-medley puts the brakes on everything save for the extract from Stagnation), which is curious because the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Musical Box medley from the 1977 tour is brilliant.


    Unfairly Criticised: The 11th Earl of Mar Medleys (all 4 versions of it, although I do wish the band could have worked out which one was best and stuck with it instead of changing it constantly throughout the tour). The 2022 medley (Fading Lights/TCS/AG) was OK, but not great - the transition from FL to TCS was a bit too rough, and I feel it would have worked better if the band had held off the segue until well into the instrumental part of FL.

    Edited 2 times, last by Swevicus: Typos. ().

    Quote from Swevicus

    Worst: ITC/TCOS/ITQT/The Colony of Slippermen/AG (the transition from ITQT to TCOS is too jarring and having the latter as well as the former makes the medley a little too bloated - either one or the other, guys). The 1992 Old Medley is another contender (starts off with a good strong half but the second half starting with Firth of Fifth pretty much kills the momentum for me, plus the I Know What I like sub-medley puts the brakes on everything save for the extract from Stagnation), which is curious because the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Musical Box medley from the 1977 tour is brilliant.

    I'm a little confused. What is ITQT? Also, I assumed TCOS was Colony of Slippermen, but then you Have Colony of Slipperman typed out later in the same medley.


    I'm confused as to what the actual medley is.


    In the Cage
    The Colony of Slippermen

    ???

    The Colony of Slippermen (again?)

    Afterglow


    Welcome to the board!

    Thanks. :) The medley consists of In the Cage > The Cinema Show (no "O" in the abbreviation with a spelling fix) > In That Quiet Earth > The Colony of Slippermen > Afterglow. I hadn't slept when I wrote that comment and only now do I see all the typos and smeg ups.

    • Official Post

    Hi there

    I watched some of the live videos again recently .


    Genesis have played a number of different medleys on their tours. I know that these medleys don't really have many fans, but I was wondering which ones the fans like better and which ones they don't.


    Personally I like the "Fading Lights / Cinema Show / Afterglow" medley from the last tour ( but the first time I heard it I thought: what's the hell is that?)


    I also really like the "Cage" medley with the end of "Supper's Ready" from 1986.


    I used to like the Old Medley from the '92 tour, but not so much anymore.


    And you?

    Maybe we an also add a poll later ....

    • Official Post

    I have moved your post into this thread


    thanks Backdrifter for the heads up!

    The Cage medley from the Mama tour will always be my favourite. The whole thing is perfectly played and ITQE especially, is played with real power. I love watching the footage of that concert. The whole band are on fire and Phil's at the top of his game both singing and drumming.

    Quote from Sarahjandi

    The Cage medley from the Mama tour will always be my favourite. The whole thing is perfectly played and ITQE especially, is played with real power. I love watching the footage of that concert. The whole band are on fire and Phil's at the top of his game both singing and drumming.


    YES!

    • Official Post
    Quote from Sarahjandi

    The Cage medley from the Mama tour will always be my favourite. The whole thing is perfectly played and ITQE especially, is played with real power. I love watching the footage of that concert. The whole band are on fire and Phil's at the top of his game both singing and drumming.

    agreed!



    Quote from willow

    Personally I like the "Fading Lights / Cinema Show / Afterglow" medley from the last tour ( but the first time I heard it I thought: what's the hell is that?)


    I also really like the "Cage" medley with the end of "Supper's Ready" from 1986.

    also agreed. I first found the new medley 2021/22 strange, but it somehow worked. Fading Lights and Afterglow are both some sort of swansong tracks and then this pure joyful playing in the middle.


    The 86 cage medley with the Apocalypse is also great