"Remembering My First Genesis Gig" - Frank Rogers reactivates his grey cells to tell us how he discovered the joys of Genesis in concert. Memorabilia: TWR Archive. Photos by Ted Sayers and Mike Ainscoe.

In response to an article in #85 of TWR our editor takes a trip back through the nostalgia records, recalling the Genesis gig at Deeside Leisure Centre at Deeside North Wales on 22nd September 1982. Our editor comments… “Humorous moments this evening included Phil’s exhortation to the crowd to take one step back so that all the people who were having their nipples crushed could get their breath! Musically I think this was the best show of the four for me but how was it for you, folks…?”

Well, if all gigs had gone to plan then this would have been my very first gig, of any band , however just a coupe of days earlier a friend said; ‘how do you fancy going to an open air gig to see Echo & The Bunnymen?’ And so yes, my very first gig was the free open air gig at Sefton Park in Liverpool. The Genesis gig would fall just before my eighteenth birthday.

In fairness, my memories of this event are somewhat faint. Following the death of my father in 1980, lots of things happened that are now just vague memories even a long outdoor team building weekend as part of my apprenticeship in 1981 are things I have very few memories of.

But I do have some memories of the Deeside gig my main memory is of being very close to the back but I managed to get a free seat in what was a standing only event (jammy b*gger - A H). Yes, I managed to get a seat on the barrier that surrounds the ice rink, and I was sat right next to the sound and lighting desks. A real bonus being able to see over the thousands of people in front of me.

Musically I remember being in complete awe, to see a band of this magnitude. I had only got into Genesis some eighteen months earlier and having a degree of musical isolation I was stuck for words.

Several of the tracks made me go ‘WOW’ and these were In The Cage and its attendant medley, Los Endos and of course, Afterglow. I remember being gob smacked sitting there wishing I could play keyboards like that.

After seeing this gig I went out and bought my very first keyboard and tried to learn how to play, sadly with very poor results! The keyboard was sold… But thirty years later, I decided to start again to realise a lifetime’s ambition and this time I am having far better results - nowhere near perfect but I don’t have to be. So when I sit in front of my keyboards now I reflect on how it all started … 22nd September 1982 Deeside. And also many thanks to the people who have helped me realise that ambition. The memory lives on. Apparently the venue was burned down a couple of years later but rest assured, it has been replaced with a new ice rink.