"The Last Dance" - Genesis' farewell gigs at the O2 Arena, London reviewed by ALan Hewitt. Photographs by Alan Hewitt. Memorabilia: TWR Achive.

Well, all good things have to come to an end I guess. Genesis' story has gone on far longer than any of us expected. Its twists and turns have been documented throughout the pages of TWR and so it is only fitting that we document the band's final bow in these pages too.

Having seen several of the gigs in 2021 I was fully aware of what these shows were bringing to us, the audience but even so, there was the fact that these were historic gigs as they were to be the band's final ones after so many years. I had mixed emotions as I entered the O2 Arena for the first of them and I am sure I was not the only one who felt a lump in the throat as the band took the stage to be greeted by a standing ovation from the crowd something which evidently took the band by surprise and one which was repeated at the following two nights.

I am not going to analyse each gig in detail as they were fundamentally the same show each night, but I will concentrate on the elements which made the biggest impression on me. Duke's Travels/Turn It On Again got things off to a suitably upbeat start and once again, I was surprised by just how strong Phil's voice was on the latter. Of course, he had the additional help of the two backing singers: Patrick Smyth and Daniel Pearce who did a fantastic job throughout each and every gig. In fact, their presence frequently made the songs stronger by dint of the added vocal harmonies - something the band could well have made use of much earlier in their career. Tony, Mike and Daryl made it all look so easy with their confident performances but it was young Mr Nicholas Collins who stole the show from the outset and it was evident that he was determined to do himself, us and above all, his dad proud by playing his heart out!

Mama really was a song which should have been dropped from the set as it simply placed too much strain on Phil's beleaguered pipes but visually it was every bit as effective as ever. Land Of Confusion however, went from being one of my least favourite songs in recent years to one of my favourites this time round, aided no doubt by the new and vastly improved and topical visuals - the bouncing loo rolls still crack me up! Phil cranked his voice up another notch here and it was very impressive indeed.

Home By The Sea will always be a highlight of any Genesis gig. Phil did his best gamely with this one and thanks to the presence of Patrick and Daniel managed to pull something out of the hat vocally. Once again young Mr Collins went to town on the percussion and as for the visuals - even more stunning than usual but with a shade of Scooby Doo at times. Nowt wrong with that either! The one moment each evening which I knew would test my resolve came next and I failed… Fading Lights made me cry like a baby each and every night and I know I was not the only one in this. This epic really should have closed the show rather than the truncated version but even that was enough to blow me away. Coupling it with Cinema Show and ultimately Afterglow bathed in apocalyptic red light was stunning, simply stunning!

The acoustic medley comprising That's All, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and Follow You Follow Me was, like its predecessor back in 1998 a truly remarkable effort. Stripping back each song to its basic elements worked so well but the one thing that hadn't been removed was the EMOTION which the audience had as they sang along as if their lives depended on it.

After Fading Lights, the song which made the biggest impression on me each night was Duchess, already established as a latter-day classic Here it took on a poignancy all of its own. I wonder what was going through Tony Banks' mind as he played this one…? No Son Of Mine, replete with its new souped up visuals was remarkably effective driven along by the superb rhythm section of Messrs Rutherford and Collins (jnr) whilst Firth Of Fifth and I Know What I Like gave Mr Stuermer a chance to show off some of his best kicks which he did with evident glee. The new visuals were particularly inspired on this one and I loved the images of the old video cassettes - them were the days!

Domino - including the usual explanation of the "Domino Principle" and banter between Phil and the crowd was every bit as enjoyable as ever. Once again, new visuals took this to even greater heights of visual excellence.

The low point of the evening for me each night was Throwing It All Away. Sorry folks, I simply cannot stand this song. There are so many others in the band's catalogue which would have served much better but hey, I was obviously in the minority as the crowd lapped it up. Finishing the main set with both Tonight, Tonight, Tonight AND Invisible Touch was brave back in 1987 when Phil had full vocal capabilities and now… it could have verged on the suicidal but somehow he drew on unexpected reserves of energy to belt these two incredibly demanding songs out with gusto and verve and, to my delight, he proved me wrong and put in a bravura performance each night.

That left the encores...Predictably I Can't Dance - complete with self deprecating gestures from Phil - came first. I've never liked this song really and for this tour it felt really out of place - like that person at a party that everybody knows but doesn't really like - although even I had to smile when Nic led an unexpected chorus line of roadies across the stage during the final performance - nice touch!

Leaving the end of each show to be heralded by the magisterial Carpet Crawlers a suitably emotional note on which to bring the curtain down on a remarkable career. Peter Gabriel was present at the final show but thankfully he was wise enough not to get up on stage for this one as it would have detracted from the band's moment.

And there you have it; my last ever Genesis gig review. These gigs were an unexpected bonus for me. I thought I had said my farewells to the band back in October 2021 but others had other ideas! Anyone who witnessed these gigs will tell you that they were very special, of course they were. The band said their goodbyes in suitably emphatic style and so, in the words of the song… "These are the days of our lives, so remember…"

As usual, there remain a few thank you's to be said. First of all to Tony, Phil, Mike, Nic, Daryl, Daniel and Patrick for performing their hearts out each and every night. To the road crew without whom none of this would be possible and whose work often goes unnoticed. To those august people in "The Management"; Jo Greenwood and MR Tony Smith for their incredible support and kindness to our efforts here at TWR.

And of course, to the fans whose company made these gigs such enjoyable and emotional ones; Brian Lancaster, Aithon Cooper, Gerald Collins, Kate Green, Veronique Pelletier, Martin Crease, Christian Gerhardts, Matthew Hedrick, Asemund Hanevik, Oystein Hage, Jack Beermann, Dave Kerzner, Alex Araujo, Alan Caskie, Ian Collier, Traci Baker Thompson, Mike Lord, Jelisa Castrodale and Mr Daryl Easlea whom it was my great pleasure to meet at last!

And that's all, as they say…