"Once more unto...The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" - The Musical Box perform the seminal album one last time at the Hammersmith Odeon, London on Saturday 11th February 2023. Review and photographs by Alan Hewitt.

It seems a lifetime ago now since I first saw The Musical Box - it was in fact 24 years ago! A lot has gone on since then but what has remained constant is the musical and visual excellence which this band present in concert.

They returned to the UK in January/February bringing the spectacle that is The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway with them for one last time. My own relationship with this album has been patchy at best. However, you cannot help but be stunned by just how far ahead of the game in terms of visual presentation Genesis were in 1974. It is only now that shows such as this can actually be presented properly - technology has finally caught up with the music.

Taking my seat in the Gods at the legendary Hammersmith Odeon (it will always be the Hammy Odeon to me) I had a pretty good idea what to expect… or so I thought. First surprise was a highly informative documentary with slide show designer; Theo Botshuijver which featured some fascinating background to the project as well as the other visual shows which followed it for which Theo had a hand in the design. This threw up tantalising pro shot footage from the 76, 77 and 78 tours which raised a heap of questions all if which are outside of the remit of this review…

Eventually the familiar projection of the New York City skyline appeared and keyboardist Ian Benhamou set spines tingling with the intro to The Lamb… and we were off on Real (and Gabriel's) psychological adventure. What followed was just under two hours of pure magic. Even now not all of the album works for me, but like so many other albums, in the live context it takes on an entirely different life. The Lamb was no exception and there was still room for some further visual surprises. Highlights are difficult to select as there are so many in this album but without doubt, The Lamb itself and the opening tranche of tracks up to and including The Chamber Of 32 Doors were all simply flawless and music and visuals merged into a glorious union. In The Cage in particular never fails to get a reaction from these jaded old memory cells!

Lilywhite Lilith featured another visual surprise as the band had finally incorporated the "Dancing Lady" visuals first seen on a bootleg video clip from one of the shows in Liverpool in 1975. There were gasps from a few people as this unexpected item appeared taking even the cognoscenti by surprise.

What hasn't already been said about The Lamia and The Colony Of Slippermen? Not much but here once again, both were delivered flawlessly. I don't envy singer Denis Gagne having to get into the mutated sperm cell Slipperman costume every night but he managed it superbly and didn't miss a trick!

For encores we were treated to both Musical Box and Watcher Of The Skies greeted with cheers from the crowd. You would think that they would pale into insignificance compared to what had preceded them, wouldn't you? Oh no! They still retain the ability to surprise and thrill in equal measure.

Sad to think that this is the last time the band will perform this album but, like Genesis themselves, all good things must come to an end and The Musical Box certainly took their deserved bows in their stride. An impressive evening of magic. One to be hoarded in the bank of golden memories!