| Hall of Famer artists Genesis are currently on its ‘Last Domino’ tour that will span only 14 dates here in the US. The band has already been touring Europe over the last few months as they had to push their 2020 tour into 2021 due to the pandemic. Outside of the first show in Chicago, all of the rest of the dates are scheduled on the east coast. Its been 14 plus years since Genesis played Buffalo, but surprisingly, the show only sold moderately well (around 10,500 by accounts). Regardless, the fans that were in attendance were clamoring to see them. Even though vocalist Phil Collins recently made a stop in Buffalo (2 years ago to be exact), the entity that is “Genesis” has been missed. As on his solo tour, Collins son Nic Collins was enlisted as the Genesis drummer. | |
| The start time of 8pm got pushed back to 8:25pm. The band took the stage and then went into a medley of instrumentals “Behind the Lines” and “Duke’s End.” Already you can see both guitarist Mike Rutherford (which handled bass on these sections) and longtime Genesis touring member Daryl Steurmer (who handled the guitar) were locked in right form the get go. They both played of each other with ease for the entire set. Another song off of ‘Duke’ was up next in “Turn it on Again.” Collins, who many know is very physically frail, did his best to hit the high notes. At times he struggled and at times he succeeded. The overall playing by the band the entire night was pretty spot on. Keyboardist Tony Banks playing is nothing short of exemplary! He lead the way the entire evening and it was a travesty to see him not get a small solo (at the very least.) One of the most popular songs that came out of the 1980’s was Genesis’ “Land of Confusion.” The video was on constant rotation on MTV and really kept Genesis in the forefront of the MTV generation. Rutherford brought out a double neck that he played on the medley “Fading Lights/The Cinema Show/Afterglow.” Genesis got a little more personal as Steurmer and Nic Collins joined Rutherford, Banks and Phil Collins towards center stage and played a few tracks including a solid version of “That’s All.” | |
| Of course, Genesis is primarily known and built its foundation as a progressive rock band. I can honestly say, they really held true to this form as over half of the selections were from that period in the bands history. “Second Home by the Sea’ and “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ should have wetted the appetite of those long time fans. When the band was introduced, it was noted that Steurmer was celebrating his 69th birthday. Lots of fans attempted to sing Happy Birthday but it never came together properly. Before the song “Domino,” Collins was very interactive with the crowd getting them to cheer when he called on certain sections. | |
| The 2 hour and 20 minute set was capped off by an encore that featured the fun “I Can’t Dance.” It even had one of the backup singers and Nic Collins mimicking the dance moves the band created in their video back in the 1980’s. it was a fun set and even though Collin wasn’t at his best physically and at times vocally, he was more than adequate and for this legend and band, that is more than most bands can do at their peak. |
Setlist:
Behind the Lines/Duke’s End
Turn it On Again
Mama
Land of Confusion
Home by the Sea
Second Home by the Sea
Fading Lights
The Cinema Show
Afterglow
That’s All
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Follow You Follow Me
Duchess
No Son of Mine
Firth of Fifth
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
Domino
Throwing it All Away
Tonight Tonight Tonight (partial)
Invisible Touch
Encore:
I Can’t Dance
Dancing With the Moonlight Knight
The Carpet Crawlers
We would like to thank Cristina Parvu for the photo pass.
