"Paying Tribute" – A look at some of the Genesis tribute bands which have appeared (and disappeared) over the years.

The first thing that needs to be said about this feature is it is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every tribute band that is out there as there are hundreds of not thousands of them worldwide! Rather to paraphrase Mr Collins’ excellent phrase, this is a selection of tribute bands.

I first became aware of the existence of the tribute band phenomenon in the early 1990’s when friends of mine on both sides of the pond began to recommend that I go to see the bands that they had seen. Now, the one on this side of the pond I declined purely on the basis of their then name: Geneside! Sorry folks that sounded dodgy then much less as it would these days. I will come back to them in a minute. The other band on the other side of the pond were the much more sensibly named Musical Box. The downside was, they were based in Canada! Surely my friend wasn’t recommending that I travel across the Atlantic to see a TRIBUTE band?!

Back to Geneside,eventually and very wisely, they decided to change their name to ...Regenesis and so they were the first tribute band I ever saw. Now, you have to bear in mind that back then there weren’t many of these ‘ere tribute bands around. They hadn’t taken off like the rash which has since erupted both here and elsewhere and so Regenesis were the only fish in their very own pond for a while. Thankfully it was a very big pond.

I still have very fond memories of them. They, like Genesis themselves, were prone to line up changes and during the time that I saw them had two lead singers – excellent singers in the shape of Glyn Protheroe and latterly, Tony Patterson. The rest of the band including Steve Marsh (gtr), Andy Hyam (bass) Nigel Appleton (drums) and Doug Melbourne (keyboards) made a joyful sound as they recreated the mystery and magic of the Gabriel era of the band. Throughout their time together the band explored that part of Genesis’ catalogue unearthing deep cuts as well as staging two adventurous reworkings of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, which, like Gabriel was to be their swansong and the band are currently on indefinite hiatus. They have left us, apart from our memories, a small but impressive catalogue of live recordings and even a handful of video performances – several of which feature me in the audience but don’t let that put you off!

Since putting Regenesis to bed, vocalist Tony Patterson has released a string of albums either solo or in collaboration with others such as long time TWR supporter Brendan Eyre and his old keyboard colleague Doug Melbourne, of which the latest, We’ve Been Expecting You is currently gathering critical praise.

More recently still, former vocalist Glyn Protheroe has announced the formation of his new Genesis project: The Genesis Tree which is (at time of writing this) soon to play it’s first gig in Leyton stone next February. Yours truly may be in attendance at that one.

1998 was to be an important year for me, for Genesis and for my explorations of tribute bands with several coming under my beady eye during that year.

The first of these was very much a chance encounter. Whilst in London attending the final dress rehearsal for Genesis’ Calling All Stations tour, someone mentioned that there was a tribute band playing in London that night should we go and see them? The band were called Invisible Touch and yes, I did go and see them. The venue was, as I recall, some grotty pub but the band comprising Dave Whitehouse (vocals), Phildas Bhakta (drums), Dave Woodward (Gtr), Tony Burton (Bass)*, and Richard Mills (keyboards) were to become regular features in my gig diary over the next couple of years before folding in 2000. They were an excellent band who provided the fix of post Gabriel music which Regenesis didn’t.

• Tony actually became TWR’s second webmaster.

The band’s manager, Duncan Philips was also instrumental (pun intended) in creating what was sadly to be a one off tribute to the music of Tony Banks. The band were called, quite appropriately, Strictly Banks and they performed their one and only eventually at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford on 6th September 1998. The band comprised several members of Invisible Touch including Richard Mills and David Whitehouse alongside Manir Donahue, Doug Boucher, Andy Monk and Sophie Capernaros. They managed to pull off what seemed the impossible and performed a selection of Tony’s solo material. I was involved in the project and provided the text for the lovely programme created for the event by Tibor Molnar and also did general toadying on the day of the gig. I still have my Strictly Crew T shirt somewhere although I doubt it will fit anymore!

November 1998 was also an important time as I finally succumbed to my American friend’s invitation to go and see the band he had been raving about: The Musical Box. Now, you have to understand that I only did this because I believed at the time that these were to be the last gigs the band was ever going to perform.

The trip to Canada was a memorable one for reasons which have already been outlined elsewhere in TWR but the main reason was: The Musical Box. How to describe their performances to someone who hasn’t seen them...? Musical archaeology. The Foxtrot and Selling England By The Pound shows that were performed that night in Montreal were stunning. Visually and musically. The band transported us back to the days of 1972-73 and I was in hog heaven!

Since then, thankfully the band have reconvened and are still very much alive and gigging. This year they bring us a recreation of the show which featured on the Genesis Live album. They have even faithfully recreated the doyen of Genesis live shows: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and I have seen most of these and more in shows in the UK and further trips to Canada. Now, as someone who is well known as not being a fan of the latter I have to say that the show demonstrated exactly how far ahead of the game Genesis were in 1974.

By the end of the 1990’s tribute bands were appearing with increasing regulatory bother here and abroad and managed the job of paying tribute to the band with varying degrees of success or failure, depending on your viewpoint.

The next one to attract my attention was Face Value who, a their name suggests, mixed the later era Genesis material alongside some of Phil’s solo stuff too. What made them unusual was that they were, at this time, a three piece band featuring John Wilkinson on vocals, Will Smith on guitar and Tony Cole on keyboards oh and good old Bertie the bisexual drum machine – yes a drum machine folks! The band were surprisingly good and during the years that followed I had the pleasure of attending many of their gigs before they called it a day in the mid 2000’s.

John Wilkinson was not long in returning to the tribute band scene however with Mama taking up the slack where Face Value left off. Featuring James Cooper on drums (more of him in a moment) along with the brothers Comish (Mark on guitar and John on keyboards ) the band have also gone through several line up changes since they began but the band are still very much a feature of the UK tribute band scene.

James Cooper had come to my attention with another Genesis tribute band: Moonlit Night. Formed by James with Mike Grant on bass/vocals, Barrie Cass on Guitar and an excellent keyboard player whose name eludes me right now! Purists would probably loath this band, Mike didn’t attempt to emulate either Phil or Peter in the vocal department but nonetheless the band were great fun which is what it is all about as far as I am concerned. Sadly the band did not last that long before going their separate ways. Mike has his own covers band, James is now an integral part of Mama and Barrie Cass has his own musical outlets.

G2enesis or G2 as they are more commonly known these days were next to appear on my radar and they remain one of the best that the UK has created. Drawing their inspiration from the Gabriel era and early Collins too, they are an altogether superb band which like most others have undergone several line up changes but who continue to draw crowds whenever they play.

We finally got a Genesis specific tribute band in my part of the country in the early 2000’s when The Carpet Crawlers got under way. The brainchild of Brian Cummins, the band also featured my old chum Neil Carter on drums and Andrew Keegan on keyboards along with an assortment of guitarists one of whom, Chris O’Connell has been making a name for himself with his own bands paying tribute to both Genesis and Phil. The Carpet Crawlers carried on for several years before being out on indefinite hiatus whilst Brian formed an excellent ELO tribute band with whom he regularly tours both at home and abroad.

The most recent tribute band that I managed to see fairly regularly were Los Endos who were established in the mid 2000’s and have gone from similar inauspicious beginnings as their predecessors to filling medium sized theatres whenever they go on the road.

There you have it, a somewhat brief look at some of the band’s that have trodden the boards performing the music of Genesis. It takes courage and no mean degree of skill to perform this music to any degree of success and Genesis fans will not hesitate in saying if things aren’t right. Fussy bunch, aren’t we? Wherever you are, if you have a band performing the band’s music, check them out. After all, they are now the keepers of the flame now that Genesis are no more.

A selection of tribute bands not included in this article...

The Music Of Genesis.
Supper’s Ready (Italy)
The Watch (Italy)
Entangled (Australia)
Genetics (Argentina)
The Genesis Show (USA)
Genesis Connected
Genesis Visible Touch
The Path (Germany)
In The Cage
The Security Project (US based Peter Gabriel tribute)
Dance Into The Light (Canadian Phil Collins tribute)
No Jacket Required
The Steppes (US Hackett tribute).