“Genesis Set Changes” - An investigation of the music that the group have presented to their audience worldwide (Part Two). By Alan Hewitt.

1978 - This year witnessed Genesis’ break into the hit parade with the worldwide success of the Follow You Follow Me single. The new album; And Then There Were Three saw them survive the departure of Steve Hackett and emerge even stronger.

A world tour followed which took them to Japan for the first time and with the tour there were different sets in each of the territories it passed through.

1. April 1978 (USA/Canada): Eleventh Earl of Mar/In The Cage/Burning Rope/ Ripples/ Deep In The Motherlode/Fountain Of Salmacis/Down And Out/One For/One For The Vine/Say It’s Alright, Joe/Squonk/The Lady Lies/Cinema Show/Follow You Follow Me/ Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos/I Know What I Like.

2. May/August 1978 (Europe/UK/USA): Eleventh Earl Of Mar/In The Cage/Burning Rope/ Ripples/Deep In The Motherlode/(Ballad Of Big)/Fountain Of Salmacis/Down And Out/One For The Vine/Squonk/Say It’s Alright, Joe/The Lady Lies/Cinema Show/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/Follow You Follow Me/Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos/I Know What I Like.

3. October/November 1978 (USA/Canada): The only difference to the set this time round was the inclusion of the old favourite Dancing With The Moonlit Knight at several US shows.

4. November/December 1978 (Japan): Eleventh Earl Of Mar/In The Cage/Burning Rope/Ripples/Deep In The Motherlode/One For The Vine/Squonk/Say It’s Alright, Joe/The Lady Lies/Cinema Show/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/Follow You Follow Me/Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos/I Know What I Like.

1980: The two year wait was finally rewarded in March 1980 when Genesis released their new LP: Duke with a massive tour of the UK and USA - over seventy dates in all. With a scaled down stage show, there was no economising with the music with a set that lasted for over two and a half hours which was as follows: (Back In NYC)/Deep In The Motherlode/Dancing With The Moonlit Knight/Carpet Crawlers/Squonk/One For The Vine/Behind The Lies/Duchess/Guide Vocal/Turn It On Again/Duke’s Travels/Duke’s End/(Say It’s Alright, Joe), The Lady Lies/In The Cage-Raven-Cinema Show/Afterglow/ Follow You Follow Me/Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos/I Know What I Like/(The Knife).

1981: Abacab saw a radical departure in the group’s writing and also a more up dated stage show which included the first Vari-Lites which have since become a mainstay of the Genesis show on every subsequent tour. The group toured Europe, USA and finally the UK between September and December 1981 for which there was the first of a growing tendency towards standardisation of the set and it usually ran as follows:
Behind The Lines/Duchess/ The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Dodo-Lurker/Abacab/ Carpet Crawlers/Me And Sarah Jane/Misunderstanding/No Reply At All/Firth Of Fifth/Man On The Corner/Who-Dunnit/In The Cage-Cinema Show-Raven/Afterglow/ Turn It on Again/Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos/I Know What I Like/

There were also certain exceptions to this set, ie Me & Virgin (played at opening gigs in Spain), Like It Or Not (played in Philadelphia and Largo USA). On the final night of the tour in Birmingham, fans were also treated to an extra encore of The Knife.

1982: Another busy year with the release of a third live LP and a tour which took in the USA, Canada, Europe and the first extensive tour of the UK since 1980. The group decided to “dust off” their twelve string guitars for this tour and several oldies were included in the set: Dance On A Volcano/Behind The Lines/Follow You Follow Me/Dodo-Lurker/Abacab/Supper’s Ready.Misunderstanding/(Man On The Corner)/Who-Dunnit/In The Cage-Cinema Show-Raven/Afterglow/Turn It On Again/Los Endos/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Watcher of The Skies/(I Know What I Like).

At several US shows the Phoenix Horns joined the band to perform the new single; Paperlate in addition to the above material.

October 1982 also saw the long-awaited reunion between Genesis and Peter Gabriel at the Milton Keynes Concert Bowl which resulted in a treat for older fans with the following set: Back In NYC/Dancing With The Moonlit Knight/Carpet Crawlers/Firth of Fifth/Musical Box/Solsbury Hill/Turn It On Again/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Fly On A Windshield/Broadway Melody Of 1974/In The Cage/Supper’s Ready/I Know What I Like/The Knife.

1983/84: The Genesis album once again gave the band several hit singles as well as a whole new following who were brought into the fold by the new direction which the band had taken. Once again, a massive US tour occupied the winter months and the group wound up the year with five sell-out shows at the NEC in Birmingham. A new computerised light show was matched by a slicker set with several medleys of older material. The set ran as follows on the opening night: Dodo-Lurker/Carpet Crawlers/That’s All/ Mama/Illegal Alien/Eleventh Earl Of Mar-Ripples-Squonk-Firth Of Fifth Medley/Man On The Corner/Who-Dunnit/Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea/Keep It Dark/It’s Gonna Get Better/Follow You Follow Me/In The Cage-Cinema Show-Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers Medley/Afterglow/Abacab/Los Endos/Misunderstanding/Turn It On Again.

After that gig the set was established (with minor alterations as follows): Dodo-Lurker/ Abacab/That’s All/Mama/Eleventh Earl Of Mar-The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway-Musical Box-Firth Of Fifth Medley/Illegal Alien/Home By The Sea/Second Home Bv The Sea/Keep It Dark/It’s Gonna Get Better/Follow You Follow Me/In The Cage-Cinema Show-Raven- In That Quiet Earth Medley/Afterglow/Los Endos/Misunderstanding/Turn It On Again + Sixties Medley.

1986/87: The group went about solo projects in the intervening years but came back with a vengeance in 1986 with their sixteenth studio album in as many years. Inappropriately titled Invisible Touch, the last year has seen the band much more “visible” than ever before. Their touring schedule took in America, Australia and New Zealand ( a first for the band), Japan and Europe finishing off in the UK.

In each territory there was a different set…

1. September/October 1986 (USA/Canada): mama/Abacab/Land Of Confusion/That’s All/Domino/In Too Deep/The Brazilian/Follow You Follow Me/Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea/Throwing It All Away/In The Cage-In That Quiet Earth-Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers-Apocalypse In 9-8 Medley/Invisible Touch/Los Endos/Turn It On Again + Sixties Medley.

2. November/December 1986 (New Zealand/Australia): Mama/Abacab/Domino/Your Own Special Way/In Too Deep/The Brazilian/That’s All/Home By the Sea/Second Home By The Sea/Throwing It All Away/In The Cage/Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers/In That Quiet Earth/Apocalypse In 9-8 Medley/(Afterglow)/Invisible Touch/Los Endos/Turn It On Again+ Sixties Medley.

NB: The Apocalypse medley only survived for the first few shows in New Zealand/ Australia before reverting to the more typical medley culminating in Afterglow. In Too Deep and Your Own Special Way were performed with the help of a four piece string section at every Australian show due to Musicians’ union rules.

January/February 1987 (USA/Canada): Mama/Abacab/Domino/That’s All/ The Brazilian/In The Cage-Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers-In That Quiet Earth Medley/ Afterglow/Land Of Confusion/Tonight. Tonight, Tonight/Throwing It All Away/Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea/Invisible Touch/Los Endos/Turn It On Again + Sixties Medley.

March 1987 (Japan): The set for these Japanese gigs was the same as the preceding US tour.

May/July 1987 (Europe/UK): For all of these shows the set was the same as it had been for the 1987 US dates with the occasional omission of Tonight, Tonight, Tonight.

Well, that completes this look into the development of the Genesis show and I hope it has been interesting. I must thank all of those people who have provided me with information on the various sets and hope that if any of you out there have any additional information you will let us know, thanks.