The Milton Keynes gig was one of the first bootlegs I ever got (this was when you got a bootleg in the post and then copied it for three other people). I've listened to it once. I guess you just had to be there!
I get that. The recording I have isn't brilliant, and the performance is a bit ragged too.
But it was an AMAZING night, and I still smile when I think of it. I'd be interested to hear other people's views on it. The atmosphere was incredible.
Queued all day in December '76 outside the Free Trade Hall, Manchester to get tickets for the W&W tour got to 20 feet from the door and told 'Sold Out''.
We went to queue at the Free Trade Hall in '76 as well. Caught the train up to Manchester on the Sunday evening and arrived to find a show was just finishing and crowds of people were exiting the venue, but no sign of a queue for Genesis tickets. Asked about it and were told they'd put them on sale earlier than had been advertised in the music press and they were now sold out. After a brief moment of panic we decided to phone all the other venues in travellable distance, not really expecting any success this late on a Sunday night, but surprisingly got a reply from the Liverpool Empire who confirmed they would be on sale at 9:00am on Monday. Caught the train over to Liverpool but when we got to the Empire around midnight there was no sign of a queue again. When I'd queued overnight for tickets for the Lamb tour the queue had started forming early evening, so the alarm bells were already ringing but we decided to stick it out anyway even if something didn't seem quite right. In any case by then there were no trains back home so we were stuck there overnight anyway. Absolutely freezing cold night with ice forming on the pavement, we has a space blanket each to keep warm and a bottle of whisky for sustenance but in the end had to take it in turns to jog around St George's Hall opposite the Empire to keep warm. By morning a big queue had formed and we felt a bit better that we were not only in the right place at the right time after all but were in prime position at the front. Then around 9:00 a guy came out of the theatre and explained that tickets couldn't go on sale after all as there had been a delay at the printers and they hadn't received the tickets yet. Word got passed down the queue and things looked like they might turn a bit ugly, so we appealed to the guy's better nature and he said he'd see what he could do. Eventually he came out again and said if we went into the box office and booked our seats they'd give everyone an envelope for us to address and they'd send them on to us when they received them. Got four tickets each for both the early and late shows and later managed to get a spare front row seat for Manchester from a friend , plus Birmingham and London from postal applications and then got down to London again for two of the Earls Court shows in June, the most gigs I ever managed in a single tour.
Starting in 1972 this is the final tally:
Foxtrot '72 - Stoke Trentham Gardens
Foxtrot '73 - Manchester Free Trade Hall
Selling England '73 - Manchester Opera House
Lamb '75 - Manchester Palace Theatre both nights
TOTT '76 - Hammersmith Odeon two nights, Stafford Bingley Hall
W&W '77 - London Rainbow, Birmingham Odeon, Manchester Free Trade Hall, Liverpool Empire early and late shows, London Earls Court 2 nights.
ATTWT '78 - Knebworth
Duke '80 - Birmingham Odeon, Manchester Apollo, Stoke Trentham Gardens, Liverpool Empire both nights
Abacab '81 - Cologne Sporthalle, London Wembley Arena 2 nights, Birmingham NEC 2 nights
Encore '82 - Hamburg Wihelm Koch Stadium, Birmingham NEC 2 nights, Deeside Leisure Centre, London Marquee
Six of the Best '82 - Milton Keynes Bowl
Mama '84 - Birmingham NEC 4 nights
IT '87- Leeds Roundhay Park, London Wembley Stadium
Silver Clef Concert '90 - Knebworth
WCD '92- Leeds Roundhay Park, London Earls Court
CAS '98 - Birmingham NEC
TIOA '07 - Manchester Old Trafford
And that's it for me. Won't be going to the Last Domino tour if/when it happens, not really interested anymore and wouldn't pay that sort of money to see anyone anyway. In hinsight I think I hung on a few years too long after my enthusiasm had waned a bit, I think you can see that from the list, down to one or two shows per tour when we get to the mid-80s. Regret not being a couple of years older so I could have seen them with Ant and a few more times pre-Foxtrot, the 69-72 period is my favourite era.
aged 14 at hammersmith 1982. In the days of sending off a postal order for a ticket and then would wait weeks to see if got anything 😄. ..well yes did get tickets..probably about 8 rows back. Remember seeing the stage set up...no curtains hiding everything...and the 2 drum kits seemed to fill the stage. In the days before you knew the setlists being available i remember Phil saying that as he had been touring for 10 years to celebrate...suppers ready!..at the time i couldn't have asked for anything more...good times
Saw them twice:
-WCD-tour in Rotterdam, being only 13 years old. Was a great experience especially since it was my first 'big' concert.
-TIOA in Amsterdam in 2007. I really enjoyed this one too.
Every tour from Duke through the 2007 reunion tour.....except the Calling All Stations tour. I had tickets for that one, but they cancelled the American leg of the tour.
Really wish I had seen them sometime between 1973-1977
Lamb, w&w and Duke are the tours I wish I had seen
Well The Lamb was performed superb by The Musical Box - so at least I have an idea how that tour was
—Abacab Tour, 1981, Landover, MD
—Three Side Live Encore Tour, 1982, Columbia, MD *(favorite show!).
—Mama Tour, 1983, Landover, MD
—Invisible Touch Tour, 1987, Landover, MD; and Washington, DC.
—Turn it on Again Tour, 2007, Washington, DC.
Display MoreWe went to queue at the Free Trade Hall in '76 as well. Caught the train up to Manchester on the Sunday evening and arrived to find a show was just finishing and crowds of people were exiting the venue, but no sign of a queue for Genesis tickets. Asked about it and were told they'd put them on sale earlier than had been advertised in the music press and they were now sold out. After a brief moment of panic we decided to phone all the other venues in travellable distance, not really expecting any success this late on a Sunday night, but surprisingly got a reply from the Liverpool Empire who confirmed they would be on sale at 9:00am on Monday. Caught the train over to Liverpool but when we got to the Empire around midnight there was no sign of a queue again. When I'd queued overnight for tickets for the Lamb tour the queue had started forming early evening, so the alarm bells were already ringing but we decided to stick it out anyway even if something didn't seem quite right. In any case by then there were no trains back home so we were stuck there overnight anyway. Absolutely freezing cold night with ice forming on the pavement, we has a space blanket each to keep warm and a bottle of whisky for sustenance but in the end had to take it in turns to jog around St George's Hall opposite the Empire to keep warm. By morning a big queue had formed and we felt a bit better that we were not only in the right place at the right time after all but were in prime position at the front. Then around 9:00 a guy came out of the theatre and explained that tickets couldn't go on sale after all as there had been a delay at the printers and they hadn't received the tickets yet. Word got passed down the queue and things looked like they might turn a bit ugly, so we appealed to the guy's better nature and he said he'd see what he could do. Eventually he came out again and said if we went into the box office and booked our seats they'd give everyone an envelope for us to address and they'd send them on to us when they received them. Got four tickets each for both the early and late shows and later managed to get a spare front row seat for Manchester from a friend , plus Birmingham and London from postal applications and then got down to London again for two of the Earls Court shows in June, the most gigs I ever managed in a single tour.
Starting in 1972 this is the final tally:
Foxtrot '72 - Stoke Trentham Gardens
Foxtrot '73 - Manchester Free Trade Hall
Selling England '73 - Manchester Opera House
Lamb '75 - Manchester Palace Theatre both nights
TOTT '76 - Hammersmith Odeon two nights, Stafford Bingley Hall
W&W '77 - London Rainbow, Birmingham Odeon, Manchester Free Trade Hall, Liverpool Empire early and late shows, London Earls Court 2 nights.
ATTWT '78 - Knebworth
Duke '80 - Birmingham Odeon, Manchester Apollo, Stoke Trentham Gardens, Liverpool Empire both nights
Abacab '81 - Cologne Sporthalle, London Wembley Arena 2 nights, Birmingham NEC 2 nights
Encore '82 - Hamburg Wihelm Koch Stadium, Birmingham NEC 2 nights, Deeside Leisure Centre, London Marquee
Six of the Best '82 - Milton Keynes Bowl
Mama '84 - Birmingham NEC 4 nights
IT '87- Leeds Roundhay Park, London Wembley Stadium
Silver Clef Concert '90 - Knebworth
WCD '92- Leeds Roundhay Park, London Earls Court
CAS '98 - Birmingham NEC
TIOA '07 - Manchester Old Trafford
And that's it for me. Won't be going to the Last Domino tour if/when it happens, not really interested anymore and wouldn't pay that sort of money to see anyone anyway. In hinsight I think I hung on a few years too long after my enthusiasm had waned a bit, I think you can see that from the list, down to one or two shows per tour when we get to the mid-80s. Regret not being a couple of years older so I could have seen them with Ant and a few more times pre-Foxtrot, the 69-72 period is my favourite era.
Quite the haul there. Saw them at the Silver Cleff thing as well.
Trick Tour, 1976, Starlight Bowl, Burbank, California
W&W Tour, 1977, Los Angeles Forum
And Then There Were 3 Tour, 1978, Los Angeles Forum
Duke Tour, 1980, Long Beach Arena
Three Sides Live Encore Tour, 1982, Los Angeles Forum
Invisible Touch Tour, 1987, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
We Can't Dance Tour, 1992, Tacoma Dome, Tacoma Washington
Turn It On Again Tour, 2007, Hollywood Bowl (Final show of the tour)
It's hard to pick a favorite show. Every time they surprised me, thrilled me, left me wanting more.
Saw them in Gelsenkirchen 1992 for the first time. Was also my first ever concert, 68,000 people, quite amazing for someone who was 15 at the time.
Then Dortmund 1998 - another great show, I believe it was the only sold out show in Germany during that tour.
I also had tickets for Bielefeld in the same year, it was an extra show that never happened. We were all in the venue waiting until someone told us at 9pm the band won't play. Strange experience...
I saw them plenty of times in 2007
Brussels dress rehearsals
Hamburg
Düsseldorf (2)
Frankfurt
Stuttgart
Hannover
Munich
I will also be in the UK this year (if it happens)
I saw them live a couple of times, starting with the Invisible touch tour (and also the CAS tour)
I have seen Phil solo a lot more, though.
memorable shows were Southampton 1992 and Dortmund 1998, then of course Rome in 2007
Saw them on the four most "recent" tours, incl. Calling all stations.
I have very little memories about the 87 show, actually. The Dance tour was a bit weak, compared to the others.
Display MoreSaw them in Gelsenkirchen 1992 for the first time. Was also my first ever concert, 68,000 people, quite amazing for someone who was 15 at the time.
Then Dortmund 1998 - another great show, I believe it was the only sold out show in Germany during that tour.
I also had tickets for Bielefeld in the same year, it was an extra show that never happened. We were all in the venue waiting until someone told us at 9pm the band won't play. Strange experience...
I saw them plenty of times in 2007
Brussels dress rehearsals
Hamburg
Düsseldorf (2)
Frankfurt
Stuttgart
Hannover
Munich
I will also be in the UK this year (if it happens)
Christian, as a former history teacher, I’m super fascinated by the fact that you saw Genesis in Germany not too long after communism fell there. Was Gelsenkirchen in East Germany? What was that concert like? I saw your from Dresden. Did you grow up in East Germany? I love getting to know people from different backgrounds.
Christian, as a former history teacher, I’m super fascinated by the fact that you saw Genesis in Germany not too long after communism fell there. Was Gelsenkirchen in East Germany? What was that concert like? I saw your from Dresden. Did you grow up in East Germany? I love getting to know people from different backgrounds.
no, actually I was born in Remscheid, which is something like 70km away from Gelsenkirchen. It’s in the Ruhr Area and the concert took place in the stadium of the football club Schalke 04.
I moved to Dresden in 2007, so I cannot tell you what it’s like. But I do have a circle of friends here and we talk about music a lot with a beer or two (not at the moment but that will hopefully change). And they have the eastern background, driving to Hungary to get specific records, being in Berlin listening to Genesis 1987 when they played on the other side of the wall etc.
more interesting in that respect might be the Berlin shows Phil did in 1990, that was after the wall came down but before reunification.
That’s all very interesting! I wonder if there is video of those Phil concerts out there?
84
92
Duke
Abacab
Three Sides Live
Mama
Invisible Touch
We Can't Dance
2007 reunion
I had tickets for the Calling All Stations tour, before they cancelled the US leg
Display MoreDuke
Abacab
Three Sides Live
Mama
Invisible Touch
We Can't Dance
2007 reunion
I had tickets for the Calling All Stations tour, before they cancelled the US leg
That's great. Did you see a show each on every tour or did you see more sows? Which ones? And which was was your all time favorite Genesis gig?
That's great. Did you see a show each on every tour or did you see more sows? Which ones? And which was was your all time favorite Genesis gig?
Just one show on each tour. Favorite was Three Sides Live Tour. It was outdoors, just outside of Chicago, the band were at the top of their abilities, and they played a ton of Gabriel-era stuff, including all of Supper's Ready. Never thought I would see that live. It was great....Phil told the usual Cinema Show lead-in story....instead of the usual "I'm going to be late for the Cinema Show", he said "I'm going to be late, and Supper's Ready". Goosebumps.
