Well, yesterday was the day; I went and visited the Genesis concert in the Amsterdam ArenA.
I got my tickets back in
November, and where I was a bit sad at not being able to get field tickets, I now can say I'm glad I didn't. Being one of the tiny people at the very very back, I had a superb view of the whole show.
Sure, the band itself was very very tiny to us (a friend of mine came along; he's an avid Genesis fan as well), but the video wall and the large screens that were integrated in the decor were brilliant and really added to the experience. The bioculars we bought were mostly unused, but they weren't very good either.
Since the new tour is called "Turn It On Again", they started off with this song, followed by No Son of Mine. They also played a medly of the A Trick of the Tail-album, and some bits from other older albums to counter the "Best Of"-feeling most people would expect.
After all, they haven't made any new records since "We Can't Dance" (yes, I know, "Calling All Stations" is a Genesis-album too, but not in my book), so this would be a recognizable evening anyhow.
The light show was stupendous, with ample surprises.
Here is a shot I took during Second Home by the Sea:
Second Home by the Sea, with Bengal torches, impressive lighting and scary images.
More pictures to come.The show lasted for three hours, in which they played a host of songs, both old and very old. A pity they didn't do anything from Abacab, but hey, you can't have 'em all.
They also made room for Mama, Domino (including The Domino Principle), Invisible Touch, Tonight Tonight Tonight and I Can't Dance, and had a fantastic drum duet, which started out on two bar stools, which gradually moved to the drum kits Collins and Thompson had on stage.
All in all an evening well spent, and even the sound was good, which surprised me as ArenA is notorious for its tearjerkingly bad acoustics.
It's a shame that this will probably me the last chance to see these veterans perform live; I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
A pity I couldn't pay electronically at the merchandise stand, as I didn't have enough cash money on me to buy myself a t-shirt, but perhaps I can find something online.
Cheers, K.