Posts by kb1977

Thank you for your comments. I agree with "Witchwood" so much about "forgetting moments where that person may have contributed something good" to me. In the case of my brother the introduction to Genesis was priceless. Their music has played such a role in my life. Luckily I overcame my shyness in my late teens and married a lovely lady who loved Genesis too which was a huge bonus. In fact I think she recently enjoyed the Steve Hackett concert even more than me.

And thanks to "Lazlor" so much. What a great first song to get you hooked to. I love the live versions of Musical box so much. I will listen to the live album later as it is not an album I listen to enough.

In the last few weeks I have lost my mum who was my last link to my childhood. Earlier this year my brother had gone too having caught covid. I have found great comfort in listening to so many Genesis songs in the last few weeks. My love of Genesis started by hearing the music coming from my brother's bedroom door. He was 4 years older than me and way ahead in terms of his musical tastes. The first song I can clearly remember was"one for the vine" and I have such a strong memory of hearing him sing along especially from the section starting from "follow me" and I can recall him sounding so like the original Phil vocal hitting all the high notes. He had a very good voice unlike me! Eventually I plucked up the courage and asked him what band produced this piece of music. He said it was Genesis and showed me the album cover which is still my favourite. A good friend painted me a version of it and it still hangs in my bedroom. After listening to Wind and Wuthering I worked my way back through his Genesis albums and then got every album after that seeing them live as many times as I could afford.

Back in the late 1970s my brother seemed to be in a place I would never get to. He had lovely girlfriends, a sport's car, a great job and he was a very confident and popular person. In contrast I was painfully shy and lacking in any confidence in myself. Sadly over the years a demon emerged in his life in the form of gambling. It started very small but became an overwhelming presence in his life. It cost him a marriage, any relationship with his children, his job and goodness knows how much money. I tried to help him out and gave him money once when he was in a real hole. The grip of gambling took an even stronger hold leading him to stealing money from my parents who had very little. I found that hard to forgive and my angry outburst led to him and me not speaking again. He ended up going to Thailand and lived there for the last twenty years of his life earning money anyway he could to gamble away. This June he caught covid and surrendered to it after a brief but futile battle with this horrible disease. I had to tell my mum her favourite son had gone and she never really got over it. She gave up the will to live and finally went three weeks ago. I think she was truly heartbroken to lose her first son who she loved so much. When I went to clear her room there was a large photo of him by her bedside.

I spoke to my brother's son the day he went and I wanted to focus on the positive things that I remembered. That is when I told him of hearing Genesis through my brother's bedroom door and how that led to my lifetime love of their music. Every time I hear one for the vine I still hear my brother singing along sounding so happy and perfectly in tune. Sadly he did not have the courage to win his battles but I am sure he found his way back home.

Just back from seeing the Hackett SO show in Bexhill, East Sussex. It was the first time I have seen him since 1980 and I would have to admit that I have not followed his solo stuff since then. I have to say it was a brilliant performance in a really beautiful venue. Fantastic acoustics and great audience. I will not discuss individual tracks to avoid spoilers although I guess the bulk of the songs are obvious given the name of the tour! I really enjoyed his solo stuff and the Genesis material was just great. I especially liked the songs associated more with Gabriel as the singer reminded me so much of him. When he sung the more Phil related Genesis songs I was a bit less convinced. Anyway it was a great night and I will definitely seem him again.

Such a shame as I was so looking forward to Monday night's concert. However, always going to be a risk. I feel sorry for people who have travelled a long way to see these shows. Hopefully they might add a few extra dates when they announce the rescheduled dates for these shows.

Maybe he could just do a group of shows in the same venue to minimise the travelling which must be tough for him at the moment with his health issues.

Thank you for that. Nice to see such positivity

So pleased to hear that. Thank you I am looking forward to the O2 concert so much.

A few thoughts ahead of the UK shows. I feel incredibly fortunate to able to go and see the band who have been such a huge part of my life since the mid-70s. This time I know it really is the last time. I thought that at Twickenham in 2007 and as they left the stage I said my goodbyes. So this is a huge bonus to get to see them perform one last time. I realise that due to Phil's ill health it is not going to be anything like the shows from the past. However, I feel it is hugely courageous of him to take centre stage and perform given his health issues. I hope everyone at the concerts will recognise that and give him a huge welcome and recognise his contribution to the music scene for so many years. He has been such a talent as a singer, song writer, drummer, producer and in so many other areas of the industry. It is also great that unlike Phil, Tony and Mike have aged so well. With Nick and Daryl it should be an amazing musical show and I welcome the backing vocalists to assist Phil. So I hope you all have a great time and most of all that Phil can look back on these shows as a really special way to end his musical career. Thanks to Genesis ... I owe you so much for how you have enriched my life.

I was just at "finals day" at my local tennis club and got chatting to various people who were also going to some of the UK Genesis shows. It was so nice to chat with people all as excited as me about the new concerts. Most were going to the O2 like I am but others were going to be at Manchester or Liverpool. So nice to find that I was not alone in being a dedicated fan of this amazing band.

I found one other Genesis Podcast which I listened to and I did not enjoy the Revelation Music podcasts which inject humour which I did not find funny at all. It fell very flat. I like the Tabletop ones as they love the music as much as I do. I guess everyone reacts to things differently and it is a matter of taste.

Looking forward to that very much. We are so lucky to have had such great Genesis documentaries over the years especially the ones linked to the new tours. A fascinating insight into how the band works so well together.

Just seen this discussion of podcasts. I too have listened to all of the podcasts on Tabletop Genesis and have to agree with an earlier contributor that these got me through the second UK lockdown (three months...). I had these on during my morning run/walk on the seafront in Eastbourne where we had just moved to a few months before. It was like having some friends come around to discuss all my favourite albums. I have to admit that I have listened to them several times each now and I always enjoy them. It has given me a good reason to revisit some albums I had listened to less in recent years.

If anyone is interested I can recommend two BBC podcasts. The first is the Soul Music podcast which takes a different song each week and gets people to discuss what it means to them.

Link below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008mj7p/episodes/player

The second is Midnight meets podcast which features several musicians. Interesting to hear some of them mention how they got their big break. A very nice one with Phil Bailey who discusses his work with Phil Collins.

Link below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08pm9sl/episodes/downloads

PS not sure if you can download these overseas!

I think we have to be realistic and not expect too many of the older songs.Looking back at the last tour one major surprise song (Ripples...) and a few medleys might be as good as we get this time. I also think they will minimise instrumentals as it leaves Phil with nothing to do sadly. As someone who loves watching the whole live stuff on video it makes me feel sad to realise the days of Phil jumping up on his drum kit and playing with real passion are now in the past. As Phil used to say before they played Ripples in the 1978 tour it is about the approaching of old age and the passing of time"....and time catches up with everyone in the end. I see this tour as the final chance to say goodbye to the band that have been such a key part of my life since I first heard them in the mid-1970s. I am going in not expecting too much and I certainly do not feel they owe me anything. They have given me such huge pleasure over the years and made my life much richer in every way.

I think anyone's view on this depends on your age and when you first saw them. I was lucky enough to see them many times on the Duke tour and I have fantastic memories of each of these shows. Phil was certainly highly skilled at commanding the audience by then and the setlist was very strong. I also think the smaller nature of the venues added so much to the quality of their performance. My first show on the tour was at Guildford Civic Hall (about 20mins from my home then...) and the venue was so intimate. I have no idea of the exact capacity then but it cannot have been much over a thousand. It was a warm up concert but it was still so special. When I saw them at much larger venues in the future some of the magic was inevitably reduced. Anyway a great question but hard to answer.

My first Genesis show was at Guildford Civic Hall (as it was then...) for one of the warm up gigs on the Duke Tour in 1980. Fantastic memories of seeing then first in such an intimate setting. Phil had a few issues with his voice that night so they played around with the set a bit. I managed to see them later at Brighton and Hammersmith (twice) on the same tour. Those were the days of cheap concert tickets and fairly easy to buy. Members of their fan club had fantastic access to tickets back then! Nice memories....