“Drum Beats Over Dublin” - Phil Collins in concert at The Point Theatre Dublin on Thursday 5th July 1990. Review by Brian and Joe McGrath. Photographs by Guido Truffer/David Birtwell.

We were lucky enough to see Phil Collins on his first ever solo gigs in Ireland at the Point Theatre in Dublin. We had been looking forward to the concert very much.

The shows were sold out months in advance and at first we could not get any tickets so in the end we were forced to buy tickets from a tout which cost £50 each (now that is what I call devotion to duty - AH). This was our first show at the Point too and as we arrived the queue was already forming but it wasn’t long before we were allowed in. As usual there was an array of T shirts, posters etc but we settled for grabbing a bite to eat and a quick chat with Chester Thompson’s drum roadie: Brad Marsh who was a really nice guy to talk to.

As show time approached we got more and more excited. The Point holds about 7000 people and from where we were we could see the stage masked in what looked like a carousel from a fairground. The show began at 8.25 pm as the carousel was lifted to reveal Phil and the band who arrived on stage to the sounds of the set opener: Hand In Hand and from where we were standing we couldn’t actually believe that we were seeing Phil Collins after all this time.

The next song was Hang In Long Enough, a strangely appropriate song considering how long we had hung on waiting to see Phil in Ireland! This was followed by a ballad version of Separate Lives featuring a duet with Bridgette Bryant.

Colours was brilliant and at the end of the song Phil and Chester launched into a fierce drum duet trading licks off each other which had the crowd cheering. This was followed by In The Air Tonight which was one song that we had always wanted to see live, just to hear how loud it actually is. Well, tonight it sure was LOUD and it was great to see Phil and Chester drumming at the end which drew a fantastic response from the audience.

Throughout the show the lighting was fantastic, emphasising the power of the music. The Band’s sound was excellent too, and Phil’s voice was in fine form and not showing any sign of the laryngitis which had troubled some of his shows earlier on the tour.

After the band introductions which get longer as his band gets bigger, they performed You Can’t Hurry Love, Two Hearts and Sussudio which had everyone out of their seats and singing and dancing in the aisles.

After a short break, the band returned for the encores which consisted of A Groovy Kind Of Love, and a great version of Easy Lover backed by the Seriousettes. As usual he chose an oldie to finish with and this time it was Always. The show proper finished with Take Me Home, which had the entire audience singing at the top of their voices. By this time Phil and his band had been on stage for almost three hours and still nobody wanted to leave,

When Phil returned to take a well-deserved bow, he said that he would bring Genesis over to Ireland next time. All in all we thought that the show was BRILLIANT and we hope that it isn’t too long before he comes to Ireland again.