I was going to go and see them in Liverpool but when I went on the website to get tickets they were far more expensive than what I paid to see Steve Hackett last year and I thought that paying more for a tribute act than one of the original members is just wrong. I am not mean but it didnt feel right to me.
THE MUSICAL BOX - A Genesis Extravaganza 1970-77 - Tour 2018 and beyond
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I was going to go and see them in Liverpool but when I went on the website to get tickets they were far more expensive than what I paid to see Steve Hackett last year and I thought that paying more for a tribute act than one of the original members is just wrong. I am not mean but it didnt feel right to me.
I feel exactly the same but I’m gonna make an exception with this band. They must be good if PG took his kids along to see them.
Another band I believe are worth paying more to see are Australian Pink Floyd of which Gilmour allegedly said ‘actually they’re better than we were.’
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I believe they’re the only tribute to get the original band’s endorsement. PG even took his kids along to see their concert to show them ‘what daddy used to do’ whilst PC has said they play the songs better than they ever did. They’re in London in October if anyone’s interested.
Phil even played with them when they made a trip to Switzerland while Phil was still living there.
They deserve the love.
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Phil even played with them when they made a trip to Switzerland while Phil was still living there.
They deserve the love.
Wow! Respect ✊ I did not know that!
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Steve played with them as well. Love what these guys do. Saw them for the first time in 2004 and it was like being in a time machine. I was barely born when Genesis toured for SEBTP so my knowledge was limited to still photos and really crappy VHS bootlegs. TMB brought it all to life for me. I've seen them countless times and it's always a great show. Sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for this new tour.
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Steve played with them as well. Love what these guys do. Saw them for the first time in 2004 and it was like being in a time machine.
A time machine or a musical box? 😂....I don’t suppose we’ll see Steve anymore now that he has his own show on the road, more’s the pity!
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We have updated the tour dates list
plenty of North America dates were added
YAAAAY!
That means they'll be in my area in either February or March. WOO-HOO!
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YAAAAY!
That means they'll be in my area in either February or March. WOO-HOO!
Ha! I noticed that big blank spot in schedule as well with one NYC area date in the middle. Waiting for Philly area shows to be announced...
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Saw them in Lisbon last night for the first time. My thoughts on it: technically speaking it was excellent save for the poor audio technician going back and forward all the time in the stage switching the instruments and arranging the set.
The music sounded as good if not better and more aggressive than the studio version of the albums. The lead singer ranges from "similar" to "exactly the same" in terms of imitating Gabriel's voice, but he nails it most times.
Didn't like the "obrigados" (thank yous) between songs nor the parts where they broke character. The guy playing keyboards wasn't a band member and was completely out of place clothing wise. But he was very good playing.
The initial Wind's Tail medley was amazing, particularly Blood on the Rooftops. But none were dressed in costume. The Lamb part got tremendous applause from the audience (after all, the original Genesis did two shows in Portugal back in '75 to promote it, and it is recalled as one of their most bombastic concerts). The audience sang during The Carpet Crawlers and the lead singer did some incredible jumps and moves.
Last part was amazing, and ending with The Musical Box (ft. Fox Lady) was absolutely perfect.
Overall score 7/10. Pros, the musicianship was fantastic, the Lamb part and the After the Ordeal parts got the most applause. Cons, it didn't seem like a faithful recreation of a Genesis concert for the most part (this tour's purpose is a bit of an antithesis to that, though), we didn't get to hear some fan favorites such as The Knife or Watcher of the Skies (before the encore people started shouting song names and when someone said "Supper's Ready", the guy playing Mike Rutherford pointed at his wrist. People chuckled.)
I hope I get to see them doing a proper reenactment in the future. This first experience left a good if somewhat bittersweet taste.
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I saw Musical Box in Basingstoke. Not great; their departure from replicating entire shows from the 70s wasn't brilliant.
Their 'medley' was very stop-start with some of the segues a bit of a shambles. And playing Hackett-era material with two guitars is just plain wrong. Worst of all was the drum 'sound': way too loud in the mix and nothing like anything heard originally or in concert (I have the bootlegs!). I don't question the drummer's abilty; technically very good indeed but disappointing in 'style'.They used to be unique in their approach. Now just another (expensive) tribute band, imho.
Cheers,
RS -
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I saw Musical Box in Basingstoke. Not great; their departure from replicating entire shows from the 70s wasn't brilliant.
Their 'medley' was very stop-start with some of the segues a bit of a shambles. And playing Hackett-era material with two guitars is just plain wrong. Worst of all was the drum 'sound': way too loud in the mix and nothing like anything heard originally or in concert (I have the bootlegs!). I don't question the drummer's abilty; technically very good indeed but disappointing in 'style'.They used to be unique in their approach. Now just another (expensive) tribute band, imho.
Cheers,
RSIt sounds like they're modelling their shows after what Steve Hackett is doing rather than recreating what the original band sounded like. I actually prefer the Steve Hackett model of bringing the old songs into the modern age.
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the MB singer is the biggest problem for me , his voice, he is not a pure artist is an imitator,
do not have the emotion nor the theatricality in the voice. in "the Lamb" its very bad ,in some older songs its a bit better.
After watching them play "the Lamb" in 2012 I was thinking that I liked to have seen the
show of the MB, but with the sound of a 1975 audio recording, so they stayed on stage only to do playback
After listening to more than 60 diferent concerts of The "lamb" It is difficult for me to connect with the
voice of "Musical box" vocalist
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The band has announced a full UK & Ireland tour for early 2020
https://www.genesis-news.com/n…eland-Tour-2020-n566.html
and
https://www.genesis-news.com/c…1977-tour-dates-s662.html
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Smaller venues. I wonder if their departure from the Gabriel set list replication in Extravaganza Part 1 wasn't that well received??
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My show is in two days! Report to follow.
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My show is in two days! Report to follow.
Looking forward to it!
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OK - It's almost 2 in the morning here as I begin to write this - yes, I am still too amped from the show tonight to go to bed. The short review: I have seen TMB perform for the last 20 years and this show tonight was one of my very favorite performances by them ever. Yes, it was that good.
I know some were disappointed that they didn't recreate a specific Gabriel-era tour this time around, esp. those who had never seen them before. Others were disappointed not to get the traditional "warhorses" from them this time around (e.g., Watcher, Supper's Ready, The Knife, etc.). However, seeing the show tonight, I think I can sense what motivated them to put on such an out-of-the-ordinary show.
They have been doing three shows in rotation for ages: Nursery Cryme/Foxtrot, SEBTB, and The Lamb tours in alternating years. Back in 2009, they did a ATOTT tour as a change of pace. Afterward, they went back to the rotation they used before. So, think how they might have thought a year or two ago - "We've been doing this a while. We would like to change things up to give the audience something new and to give us a challenge to do something we haven't done before. Let's even play songs live that Genesis themselves rarely/never played but deserve greater exposure." Reasoning along these lines would give us something like the eclectic setlist that they ended up playing.
Now, as a seasoned veteran of seeing TMB live, I absolutely adored this. I adored this show so much that, as soon as I got home, I bought a ticket to one of the two North American tour-finale shows in Atlantic City in June. I simply want to see this again.
The first section with the Trick and W&W songs mostly as instrumental medleys worked for me (I guess being warned in advance they would be that way might have helped my perception). I also thought the singer did quite a passable job with "Blood On The Rooftops" - he is a Gabriel soundalike, not a Collins one, but it still sounded good. And I got to hear BOTR live for only the second time ever (The Genesis Show also performed it about a year ago - to my knowledge, the mother band never played it live).
The Lamb section was great, but really it should have been - they have had plenty of practice with those songs. Still, they were excellent versions which were very well-received.
The third section was the real highlight of the night. Did I really hear an actual FGTR track live? Yes, I did. Did I actually hear "Time Table", "Seven Stones", "Looking For Someone", and "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" live? Yes, I did (I love those songs, esp. Can-Utility). Did I actually hear "The Cinema Show" with the "Aisle Of Plenty" outro? Yes, I did (another thing the original band didn't ever do live, if I remember correctly - the haters of AOP might not have liked to hear it, but I loved hearing the last two songs of SEBTP played just like the album). Hearing "After The Ordeal" live was unexpected and appreciated - I know there are detractors of that song too (not the least of which Tony Banks himself), but I have always liked it. It will never be considered an all-time Genesis classic, nor should it be - it was still great to hear live. "Dance On A Volcano" was tremendously well done too.
The songs that got the most rapturous ovations were the aforementioned "The Cinema Show/Aisle Of Plenty", the closer "The Musical Box" (w/ foxhead and red dress), and the climax of the night, a stellar "Firth Of Fifth" - both the "Tony" and the "Steve" of the band absolutely nailed their parts. The keyboardist played the introduction on piano perfectly and the guitarist performed the legendary solo to perfection. The whole band were sincerely awed by the ovation they received at the end of the song. A spectacular performance of the great song.
So, I loved the show - so much so, as I said earlier, that I'm seeing another. Usually one show per tour from them is sufficient for me - not this time. This assortment and presentation of songs was just wonderful to hear. They won't do a show like this all the time, perhaps not again - but I'm glad they are doing it now. It must be nice for them to play the Trick/W&W songs and the other rarely-played songs. I'll look forward to their tour reproduction shows in the future; for now, I'm loving this.
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Great review OneForTheVine. I have always wanted to see them live in concert but for one reason or another have never managed it.
That is about to change as I have got tickets to see them in Edinburgh Feb 2020 (10 1/2 months to wait) on their Genesis Extravaganza II tour
