“Seen it on the TV” - Tribute band vids reviews by Alan Hewitt.

This time round, the focus is exclusively on some interesting “tributes” to Genesis and some of the solo members which have recently come into the TWR archive.

Genesis Project: “Live In De Borderij” Zoetermeer Holland 13th December 2002

Yet another tribute band from Europe and a surprisingly good one at that! Musically, the performance captured here is really top notch and filmed surprisingly well. Once again, the emphasis is on the “Golden Age” of Genesis’ music with everything you would expect getting an airing here. What is disappointing here isn’t the performance by the band, but the audience’s reaction (or lack of it) to the show - can’t win ‘em all!”

Track Listing: Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers/In That Quiet Earth/11th Earl Of Mar/The Return Of The Giant Hogweed/Firth of Fifth/Dancing With The Moonlit Knight/The Musical Box/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Fly On A Windshield/ Cuckoo Cocoon/In The Cage/One For The Vine/The Cinema Show/Watcher Of The Skies/Get ‘Em Out By Friday/Who’s Who?/Blood On The Horizons/Supper’s Ready/Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos.

Giraffe Performs The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Live At Progfest 5th November 1994

I have had the audio recording of this performance for quite some time now and was delighted to finally acquire its visual accompaniment. There is a decidedly humorous moment right at the start when the vocalist brings on a radio and tunes in to… Illegal Alien and then trashes the radio! Then we are back to the world of Rael as Giraffe put in a superb performance of The Lamb… Not the hi-tech version given to us by The Musical Box but one equally as vivid and thrilling nonetheless - great stuff!

Track Listing: Intro/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Fly On A Windshield/ Broadway Melody Of 1974/In The Cage/The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging/ Back In NYC/Carpet Crawlers/Lilywhite Lilith/The Lamia/The Colony Of Slippermen/Ravine/In The Rapids/It/Watcher Of The Skies/Musical Box.

The Watch - Genesis Party. Dortmund Kippstelle 8th October 2005

A band that seem to be getting a fair amount of coverage recently and drawing good crowds at their recent UK gigs at which John Hackett and Nick Magnus performed with them. This is a strange show though. The Watch have their own unique brand of Prog Rock and mixing it with some of Genesis’ classic moments doesn’t really work for me but hey, I might have loved it had I been at the gig!

Track Listing: Intro/Damage Mode/Shining Bald Heads/Goddess/Get ’Em Out By Friday/Out Of The Land… And The Winner Is…/Can-Utility And The Coastliners/ The Vacuum/Anyway/DNAlien/My Ivory Soul.

Peter Gabriel Tribute Band - Rome 2005

An unusual recording this one, featuring a sound check for a gig rather than the actual gig itself! Nonetheless, the band here are tight and extremely accomplished as they run through some of Peter’s best known material. The singer is particularly impressive and on this showing, I would love to see a recording of the gig for which this was the sound check!

Steve Hackett - The Assembly Leamington Spa 1st December 2009

Okay, so I said I was focusing on the tributes this time so what is a Steve Hackett show doing here? Well, quite simply because it is a fantastic recording of what was the last show on Steve’s 2009 “Train On The Road” tour. Humorously titled “Custard Rather Than Red Wine” (watch the film and you will find out why) this DVD brings almost the entire show to you in vivid sound and vision although Sleepers is omitted for some reason. Don’t let that spoil your enjoyment though because this is a classy production brought to you by Eagle Dog Productions (whoever they are??) who are the same people who produced the excellent film of Steve’s gig in Genoa from March last year. If you are an existing Hackett fan, someone who, like me was actually at this gig, or merely curious about Steve’s current live show, then this is certainly an enjoyable experience. So enjoyable in fact, that I sent a copy of this to Steve himself and his mum, who appears on it at the end - bravo, June!

Track Listing: Mechanical Bride/Fire On The Moon/Every Day/Emerald And Ash/Ghost In The Glass/Ace Of Wands/Pollution B/The Steppes/Slogans/Serpentine Song/Tubehead/Spectral Mornings/Firth Of Fifth/Jacuzzi (with John Hackett)/ Acoustic Medley/Horizons/Blood On The Rooftops/Fly On A Windshield/Broadway Melody Of ’74/Los Endos/Clocks.