Wind & Wuthering Live - A look at some of the live recordings from the 1977 tour.

The 1977 tour in support of the Wind & Wuthering album was truly a global affair with extensive tours in the UK, Europe, the USA and Canada as well as the band's first visit to South America. For each of these tours, the live set was invariably altered in one way or another and we are fortunate indeed to have many live documents from the various parts of the tour generally available to fans and collectors.

UK Tour January 1977

"Wot Gorilla, Lilith?" Rainbow Theatre London 1st January 1977

The band's opening night of the tour has so far been captured on this mediocre audience recording released by the infamous Japanese "Highland" bootleg company. Recording quality is not of the greatest but this is compensated for to some extent by the presence on this recording of the only performance of both Wot Gorilla and Lilywhite Lilith on the entire tour. Bizarrely enough, this recording also includes a performance of Inside & Out which was not performed during this part of the tour! Interesting to hear that the band were still uncertain of which tracks to perform in the set.

Track Listing: Eleventh Earl Of Mar/Carpet Crawlers/Firth Of Fifth/Your Own Special Way/Robbery, Assault And Battery/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/Lilywhite Lilith/Wot Gorilla/One For The Vine/Squonk/All In A Mouse's Night/Supper's Ready/I Know What I Like/Dance On A Volcano/Inside And Out/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/The Musical Box (Closing Section). Source: Audience. " CD Set. Quality: Fair.

"A Living Story"/"Second Night At The Rainbow" Rainbow Theatre London 2nd January 1977

A pairing of excellent quality recordings here. "A Living Story" is perhaps one of the most famous of the band's bootlegs and its vinyl version is a collectable item in its own right. I have coupled it here with a much later release "Second Night At The Rainbow" for the sake of completeness. Both recordings are taken from radio broadcasts of the gig, the former includes tracks from the equally famous Shrine Auditorium 75 show. The latter is taken from the "British Biscuit" radio broadcast. Both are excellent quality recordings which make enjoyable listening.

Track Listing (A Living Story): Squonk/All In A Mouse's Night/Eleventh Earl Of Mar/ One For The Vine/I Know What I Like/Watcher Of The Skies (*)/Lilywhite Lilith (*)/ The Waiting Room (*)/Anyway (*)/It (*)/The Musical Box (*). Source: FM Radio Broadcast. 1 CD. Quality: Excellent.

Track Listing (Second Night At The Rainbow): British Biscuit Intro/Squonk/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/One For The Vine/All In A Mouse's Night/Eleventh Earl Of Mar/ I Know What I Like/British Biscuit Outro. Source: Pre-FM broadcast reel. 1 CD. Quality: Excellent.

"Live In London" Rainbow Theatre London 3rd January 1977

The UK tour in particular seems to have been very well served with FM radio broadcasts and mix desk recordings. Thankfully the bizarrely selfish and ultimately self-defeating attitude of "fans" who have retained these recordings in their own collections for years in some cases, thus depriving the many other fans eager to hear this material; finally seems to have been broken and this recording is the latest in a line of excellent documents of the 1977 UK tour. Taken from a mixing desk tape of the third of the band's gigs at The Rainbow Theatre. Sadly the recording is incomplete but nonetheless, what is available shows the band still in the process of working out their live show. Phil's introductions are priceless, and listening to this recording easily gives the lie to Chris Welch's asinine comments about Chester's drumming! Excellent quality throughout and another essential addition to any collection.

Track Listing: Eleventh Earl Of Mar/The Carpet Crawlers/Robbery, Assault And Battery/ Your Own Special Way/Squonk/One For The Vine/Firth Of Fifth/All In A Mouse's Night/Supper's Ready/I Know What I Like/Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Musical Box (Closing section). Source: Mix Desk Tapes . 2CD set. Quality: Excellent.

"In A House Of Dreams" Southampton Gaumont Theatre 20th January 1977

This was the first of the so-called "hidden" recordings to surface into the general collecting pool much to the chagrin of the hoarders! By now, the band had their show down by heart and it shows in this superb recording. The nerves, so evident on the earlier recordings are now gone, replaced by a confidence which is well deserved. A complete recording, this shows the power and majesty of the band at the height of their powers and is an essential addition to any collection.

Track Listing: Squonk/One For The Vine/Robbery, Assault And Battery/Your Own Special Way/Firth Of Fifth/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/I Know What I Like/Eleventh Earl Of Mar/Carpet Crawlers/All In A Mouse's Night/Supper's Ready/Dance On A Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/The Musical Box (Closing Section). Source: Mix Desk Tapes. 2 CD Set. Quality: Excellent.

USA/Canada Tour February/March 1977

Sadly the US tour does not appear to be represented by any soundboard or mixing desk recordings although no doubt, now that the floodgates have begun to open, that may change. At least one gig was captured in part by a US radio station, however.

"Chicago On The Air" Auditorium Theatre Chicago 16th February 1977

Taken from an excellent radio broadcast this recording fleshes out the US leg of the tour quite nicely. Sadly incomplete, this show nonetheless, brings the excitement of these gigs to life. The recording is also rounded off by several tracks from the equally famous Chicago gig from October 1978 (+) and several studio cuts (*).

Track Listing: Squonk/One For The Vine/Robbery, Assault And Battery/Your Own Special Way/Firth Of Fifth/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/I Know What I Like/Eleventh Earl Of Mar/Supper's Ready/Dance On A Volcano (+)/Los Endos (+)/ It's Yourself (*)/Match Of The Day (*)/Pigeons (*)/Inside And Out (*). Source: FM Radio broadcasts/Studio recordings. 2 CD Set. Quality: Excellent.

Onondaga County War Memorial Syracuse NY 26th February 1977

A recent addition to the archives, this recording is a complete audience recording from the mid point of the US tour. Sound quality, as you might expect, is not of the greatest especially thanks to what sounds like a mini fireworks display that appears to be going on for most of the gig! Makes an interesting comparison with other audience recordings from the tour.

Track Listing: Squonk/One For The Vine/Robbery , Assault & Battery/Your Own Special Way/Firth Of Fifth/Carpet Crawlers/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/I Know What I Like/11th Earl Of Mar/Supper's Ready/Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos. Source: Audience 2 CD Set. Quality: Fair.

South American Tour May 1977

The band's trip to Brazil in may of 1977 was one of the first (if not the first) visits by a major Western rock band to that continent. Fortunately, an excellent live document of one of the shows from Sao Paolo has recently surfaced.

"Sao Paolo 1977" Ibirapuera Stadium Sao Paolo 21st May 1977

Previously the only document from this part of the 1977 tour was a greatly inferior audience recording from another of the gigs in this city. The recent arrival of this recording taken direct from a mixing desk tape, has thrown this part of the tour into sharper relief. A well balanced sound mix gives us an excellent demonstration of just how tight a musical unit the band were by this stage of the tour. Also of interest for the appearance of Inside & Out in the set, replacing Your Own Special Way.

Track Listing: Squonk/One For The Vine/Robbery, Assault & Battery/Inside & Out/ Firth Of Fifth/Carpet Crawlers/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/I Know What I Like/Eleventh Earl Of Mar/Supper's Ready/Dance On A Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Musical Box (Closing Section). Source: Mixing Desk Tapes. 2 CD Set. Quality: Excellent.

European Tour June/July 1977

The band's final shows of their seven month tour, demonstrated exactly how popular they had now become. Moving out of theatres and into arenas, the band were finally able to perform in some of the most prestigious halls in Europe. Even more fortunate for the fans is the fact that several of these shows are available in excellent quality.

"Before Riches" Earls Court Arena London 24th June 1977

The band were now of such stature that they were easily able to fill this cavernous arena for an amazing three nights in succession. Capitol Radio recorded the second of these gigs and it is another excellent document from the final stages of the tour.

Track Listing: Squonk/One For The Vine/Robbery, Assault & Battery/Inside & Out/Firth Of Fifth/The Carpet Crawlers/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/I Know What I Like/11th Earl Of Mar/Supper's Ready/Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/The Musical Box (Closing Section)/The Knife. Source: FM Radio Broadcast. 2 CD Set. Quality: Excellent.

"Zurich 1977" Hallenstadion Zurich 2nd July 1977

Another recent addition to collections, this is another mixing desk recording. Quality is excellent throughout and well-balanced sound makes this another essential addition to any collection.

Track Listing: As above minus The Knife. Source: Mixing Desk Tapes. 2 CD Set. Quality: Excellent.

"Live auf den Olympiahalle" Olympiahalle Munich 3rd July 1977

No listing of live recordings from the 1977 tour would be complete without this one. Sadly, the mixing desk recording of this gig, which was not only the last of the tour but also Steve Hackett's last gig with Genesis; remains unavailable to collectors. What we have here is an average quality audience recording which gives some idea of the size of the massive halls the band were now playing - an essential historical document nonetheless.

Track Listing: As above. Source: Audience Tapes. 2 CD Set. Quality: Fair.

In addition to the above, the following recordings are generally available from the 1977 tour…

UK Tour: Liverpool 9.1.77 (evening show), Manchester 11.1.77; Southampton 19.1.77.

US/Canadian Tour: St Louis 6.2.77, Madison 9.2.77; Detroit 12.2.77; New York 23.2.77; Hartford 25.2.77; Cleveland 27.2.77; Buffalo 28.2.77; Montreal 2.3.77; Philadelphia 8.3.77; Atlanta 13.3.77; Los Angeles 24.3.77; San Francisco 25.3.77.

European Tour: Stockholm 4.6.77, Cologne 17.6.77; Rotterdam 30.6.77.

In addition to the above, there is also the following TV and private footage known to exist from the 1977 tour.

Rainbow Theatre London 1.1.77 (Japanese TV: 11th Earl Of Mar/One For The Vine/ Your Own Special Way/Firth Of Fifth).

Tyne Tees TV (UK): Your Own Special Way.

Mike Douglas Show US TV : Your Own Special Way/Interview/Afterglow.

Moody Coliseum Dallas 19.3.77: Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos/ The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/The Musical Box.

Earls Court Arena London 25.6.77 (Privately shot footage 20 minutes approximately)

There is also reputed to be complete TV concert footage from one of the band's gigs in Brazil and also from gigs in Paris, Houston or AustinTexas were also reputedly filmed by people at the venue but details of any of this material is subject to conjecture at best at the moment - so DON'T ask the editorial staff for copies!