"Moonlit Madness" - ReGenesis live in concert at The Wheatsheaf, Stoke-On-Trent, Saturday January 11, 1997. Review by Alan Hewitt.

ReGenesis round two took me to Stoke and what better way for me to celebrate my twentieth anniversary as a Genesis fan than by seeing this marvellous band in concert?

The Wheatsheaf is a popular venue in Stoke and is just the right size for concerts to become magical events and tonight's show certainly fell into that category! The set opened with "Watcher Of The Skies" setting the tone for what was a truly magnificent performance.

Continuing through the extended fantasy of "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed" in which guitarist Steve Marsh certainly lived up to his famous namesake's image as he sat hunched over his guitar fervently riffing as if his very life depended on it! Steve also featured heavily on "Firth Of Fifth" along with the glorious keyboard playing of Doug Melbourne both of whom combine into one glorious union of sound, colour over which both Glyn Protheroe's vocals and Nigel Appleton's powerful, yet restrained percussion completed this rendition of one of Tony Banks's finest moments. The story of "Little Cynthia and Little Henry" followed drawing us into the macabre world of "The Musical Box" by which time the entire audience was completely entranced. I again found myself, as I had done when I first saw the band last August, both visually and aurally transported back to 1973 and there is no higher praise I can give than that! A trip to the world of Rael followed with "In The Cage" in which the honours go to the combination of Andy Hyams' dirty bass effects and Glyn's rasping vocals which really did capture the drama of this classic moment from "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway".

Glyn Protheroe of ReGenesis performing "The Musical Box" Picture courtesy of Mystic Records

Unexpectedly, "Supper's Ready" appeared next in all its glory; a truly joint effort by everyone in the band as well as some banter with a certain member of the audience who shall remain nameless but I am sure you can all guess who! This was followed by a delicious version of "The Cinema Show" in which the keyboards and guitar wove an indescribable magic over the proceedings into a magnificent version of "Afterglow" which I saw through a haze of tears - it was that good!

The cosmic lawnmower of "I Know What I Like" and the supercharged "The Knife" rounded off a magnificent show , before the band returned to surprise us all with a marvellous version of "Carpet Crawlers". Then it really was time to go home; all over for another show but what a show! I am sure this performance will live in the memory of those who were lucky enough to see it- thanks guys for making an old Genesis fan extremely happy!