I didn't become a Genesis/Phil Collins fan until I was in 7th grade, which was 1994-so I was too young to see any of their concerts before that.
Once DITL came out, I was only 15-and though I expressed interest in going to the concert, logistically it wouldn't have worked anyway cos I was in high school and I was hours away from home going to a prep school in a different state-and there really wasn't anyone there to go with me. Once CAS came out in 1997, I would've gone...but they ended up cancelling the US leg of that tour obviously.
The first I saw was Peter Gabriel on his Growing Up tour in 2003, when my wife-to-be went with me to see him at Milwaukee's Summerfest in 2003. Great show, lots of fun-even though it was hot, and fireworks interrupted (and kind of ruined) Father, Son which was his closing song!
In 2004 I went with my wife to see Phil during his FFF tour in Chicago. That was amazing! We had great seats in the center, so we were able to enjoy the full effect of everything! Plus it was a great stage setup and very comprehensive setlist!
A few years later (even though we lived in CO by this point) I went to see Genesis in Chicago with my brother. He tried to take backroads to the stadium and ended up getting us lost-we didn't get to our actual seats until about 20 minutes before the concert started. The whole time I was worried we would miss the start! It was a fantastic show, but my brother wasn't really a fan so he acted bored most of the time.
Life got in the way, and I missed the two or three opportunities to see PG again (would've loved to see Back To Front)...but in 2019 I went with a friend to see Phil again on his NDY tour in Denver. Despite the fact that Phil did no drumming, was seated the whole time, and TBH struggled to reach some of the higher notes, it was still a FANTASTIC time, there was lots of energy and the full-house audience all had a blast! There was definitely something to knowing that this was likely the last time we would see Phil live. Genesis never made it out to Denver during The Last Domino? Tour-so sadly I had to miss that one...
Finally, last year I went with my daughter (who is 12) to see PG during his i/o tour here in Denver. It was a great show, although I was slightly disappointed that he ended up actually playing more new songs than old songs that night. It was ok however, cos my daughter got to see him play ALL her favorites-so I was happy for that at least....
That all said, which of those was my best ever concert??????? I'd say based solely on the show itself, it's a tie between Phil in 2004 and Genesis in 2007. I guess I could use who I was with and the overall environment as a tiebreaker. I did like the Genesis TIOA stage setup and music better, but between almost being late and my brother acting bored the whole time...that kind of diminished the experience for me. So I would say the winner is definitely Phil on his FFF tour in 2004 in Chicago!! Incredible setlist, stage setup, seats, full house, my wife was with me and we both had a great time...it was just a very memorable experience.
Sorry for the long-winded history, but I felt the backstory helped make the reasoning for my choice make more sense!