"Reflecting Off A Mirror Image" - The Musical Box - The …And Then There Was Phil Tour 2026, The Pavillion Theatre, Glasgow - 16th June 2026. Review by Martin Kelly.

The Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow’s city centre is directly opposite where, once upon a time, stood another theatre that holds a lot of historic moments and milestones in the career path of Genesis - The Green’s Playhouse aka The Glasgow Apollo. Having wowed audiences since they first played there as part of the series of Charisma Records promotional tours with Lindisfarne and Van Der Graaf Generator, Genesis found Glasgow audiences to be especially receptive to their style and substance of music performances and presentation.

Friends and colleagues of mine tell me that Genesis stole the show there every time they played, and eventually they would headline there after the release of Foxtrot. But one fateful night in October 1973 at the beginning of the Selling England By The Pound Tour saw them make a decision in the wake of a massive electrical problem with their PA and lighting that caused them to postpone the show.

Enough was enough! Things had to change. So, they turned to Tony Smith to become their manager. That decision was key because what followed meant that Genesis not only took care of the music - whatever ideas they had about stage presentation, Tony Smith would help with that too!

Fast forward to the end of 1977 and this year. Towards the end of 1977, Dutch lighting engineer and designer Theo Botschuiver is given a commission to provide something completely new for the 1978 tour after the visual spectacle he helped create for the Wind & Wuthering Tour. Tony Smith (yes, him again!) approaches Theo, and Theo comes up with the idea of six computer-controlled moving mirrors place in amongst the overhead lighting rig. And despite saying that he would never revisit that part of his career again, the legendary Genesis tribute band, The Musical Box asks him if he would help re-create the mirrors for the next stage of their “re-creative tribute band” journey - this time to concentrate on the Phil Collins era of Genesis concerts between 1976 and 1980. Initially he refuses, until he relents ! And, boy, I’m so glad of that change of mind.

In the now customary manner in which TMB conducts things, with this new tour and stage show, they have been continuing their more-recently acquired trait of not being so wrapped up in re-creating an entire show from one particular tour, but instead cherry-picking the most effective and spectacular musical and visual highlights from 4 tours - the biggest selling point being the re-creation of the mirrors used in 1978 for the And Then There Were Three Tour - often referred to as The Mirrors Tour. Reflecting on the show (my apologies - I couldn’t resist that), if a song wasn’t performed during the Mirrors Tour, then whatever other tour that song was performed, it would be performed with a similar visual presentation to whatever other tour is was done - more on that later, but as I proceeded into the Pavilion, it was abundantly clear that one other element was also in place - the intimacy of a theatre gig on The Duke Tour, and this would later prove to be significant.

What was also clear was that the stage layout and equipment was predominantly as it was in 1978 with a number of additions particularly in the all-important keyboard office - it was a collection of all the keyboards Tony Banks used on each tour promoting every album from A Trick Of The Tail up to and including Duke with the exception of the Polymoog. It wasn’t needed! Everything else was in place as it should be. As the lights died down, the anticipation was electric!

SET-LIST SPOILER ALERT - go straight to END OF SPOILER if you’ve yet to see the show.

Opening with The Eleventh Earl Of Mar, this was the perfect opener as it had been in 1978. The power, majesty and beauty was evident. A great start.

And then One For The Vine was performed in a hybrid between how it was originally performed in 1977 and subsequently in 1978 and 1980. Because Tony had acquired a Yamaha Electric Grand Piano after the WInd and Wuthering Tour, One For The Vine live from 1978 onwards sounded very different than it had in 1977. Here, Ian Benhamou opted to try and sound more like the original studio version - much use of the Mellotron was made and it was clear that the team had worked hard on sound.

And then we came to Burning Rope - having heard how it was performed at Knebworth in 1978, TMB clearly tried to emulate the studio version more than the live version, an attempt that, in my opinion, was admirable, because unlike most Genesis songs, I felt Burning Rope was one of the very few songs that lost something quite substantially when translated on to the stage. This was the plus side of TMB taking less care of trying to sound exactly like Genesis live, and, in particular when playing in a theatre. This was a something of a tour-de-force. Some transitions needed a bit more polish, but I’ve no doubt later in the tour these will have been ironed out.

We were then introduced to Ripples and here, again, was where re-creation and artistic license melded into one glorious sound-and-light spectacle. Here the band again re-created the studio version sonically, but visually we got our first taste of why the mirrors were re-created - and what a sight it was! Here we got a laser at the start of the instrumental middle section and I saw why it was that the audience could be clearly applauding at Knebworth 1978 - the laser! It danced to the rippling sound of the piano that led a quite stunning light-and-mirror effect with the end mirrors swaying to the music in the finale involving the chorus - we most certainly were sailing away! Whilst the confines of the Pavilion stage meant that only three of the six mirrors could be installed, we still got the effect of that moving, swaying water. Stunning.

The playing prowess of the band was evident in “Wot Gorilla?” A very technical piece requiring dexterous skills and timing. If the reason to move on from the Gabriel era to the Collins era was to demonstrate the playing skills of the band, this was amply demonstrated here.

It would lead to what I felt was one of the highlights of the show, and that was what I’m calling The TMB Duke Suite. For me personally this was the most emotional part of the show because I was seeing for the first time the re-creation of a show I had actually attended across the road at the aforementioned Glasgow Apollo - The Duke Tour, in April 1980. The light show didn’t include the Mirrors at this point but they used all the lighting effects on that tour and the aforementioned musical prowess of the band really shone, particularly during Duke’s Travels. Comprising Behind The Lines, the Drum Duet leading into Duke’s Travels and Duke’s End - this was epically done, and a lump in the throat during the reprise of “Guide Vocal” was felt. The band had succeeded in stirring the chills and emotions of that night 46 years ago. Of particularly note were the drums. I have yet to hear any band get very close to that iconic drum sound Mr Collins brought forth in Duke other than The Musical Box! As well as the keyboards, they’ve got the drums spot on. This showcased the band as performers.

After the interval, the band then treated us to more crowd favourites and a big surprise later on. Firstly, as expected, Dance On A Volcano - epically performed as it had been in 1976 complete with keyboard solo. Then, as if to re-create the A Trick Of The Tail vibe on the album came Entangled. Here some technical problem afflicted the start of the song requiring a change of guitar, but getting over that, watching this being performed in a theatre was divine. The lads nailed the vocal harmonies as well.

Then came Squonk. The sheer power of the Moog Taurus Pedals came to the fore, and instead of re-creating the Seconds Out live version, the little piano flourishes on the original studio versions were played. It was heavy, and it was pure story-telling theatre. Superb!

Then came the familiar da duh, da duh, da duh etc……Deep In The Motherlode. Again we had the whole band taking us on that journey to the Gold Rush. Another powerhouse of a song very well played.

Then came this first of two big surprises - a song Genesis never performed live. This was the start of a Wind And Wuthering Medley beginning with…….Blood On The Rooftops!!!! And the aforementioned keyboards played a huge part here and perhaps answers the question why this was never played by the band - because Tony Banks perhaps felt didn’t have the variety of keyboards and sounds at the time to pull this off and do the sing justice with the rig he had for the Wind And Wuthering Tour. In contrast, Ian did have those keyboards and sounds, and this was “key” to the success of this piece. Full marks to the band for making this work.

As the road crew worked to adjust equipment in the background was the original opening of Unquiet Slumber For The Sleepers, and then Bang!!!!!…..the band came in with …In That Quiet Earth. Again, the band sought to re-create the studio version which in my view meant that power was restored that was a little lost live in 1977. However, when it came to the keyboard solo, things went a little awry. Ian was using an ARP Quadra to trigger the ARP2600 synth module and during a critical part of the solo there was a very audible problem with whatever sound that came up. Ian recovered the matter really well, but it shows that this show is still in its infancy. This led to Afterglow - naturally…..and here the mirrors were in full flight. I hadn’t realised just how much dry-ice smoke was used by Genesis until I saw this. The mirrors and the lights at the end were stunning - my one constructive criticism is that maybe Ian can get more of the Mellotron Choir out and broaden the sound because it sounded muted which dampened the effect. If you’ve ever heard the choir on the 1978 tour, you’ll know that it sounded huge. No dampening of the enthusiasm of the crowd though - by this point, the crowd gave them a standing ovation before the encores - and what a set of encores we got!

Firstly, another mini-surprise - we might not have got Turn It On Again, but we got Follow You Follow Me, and again attempting to sound like the studio version with Latin percussion was evident here. A very nice inclusion and an acknowledgment of the importance of a 4-minute song that won Genesis a new audience.

Then came another tour-de-force re-creating the 1978 live version with the lights and mirrors - In The Cage!!!! Denis Gagné relished singing this, and the climax with the lights and mirrors was jaw-dropping. I was particularly impressed with Ian’s keyboard playing on this.

What followed was the next big surprise and for anyone not knowledgable of the band might not have had a clue what it was…….the off-cut that didn’t make it on A Trick Of The Tail - It’s Yourself!…… this was beautifully done and of course that led to Los Endos!!!

The band had clearly looked carefully at footage of the 1978 presentation with the mirrors and the laser, because here, accuracy was very important. When it came to the Los Endos climax, the band‘s playing matched the visuals. The laser and the mirrors were out-of-this-world and were matched by the power of the band.. When the final chord and cymbal strikes were played, the crowd was on its feet!

END OF SPOILERS.

Summary - it is clear that the band knows where they are going with this tour and set up. Despite some clear technical problems and logistical challenges, this didn’t deter the band from putting on both a stunning playing performance, and a stunning visual show. With some of the rough edges smoothed off, this show will be as legendary as the ones they did before.
Some pointers to manage expectations -
1. If you are expecting a Phil Collins soundalike in Denis Gagné - dont! He doesn’t pretend to sound like him in song. Denis sings really well and plays drums really well, but don’t expcet him to sound like Phil.
2. If you are expecting an exact re-creation of a particularly tour with a particularly set list from a particular tour - again, dont! TMB has moved away from that this time round just as they did a few years ago. They have, instead, re-created elements from 4 different tours and cherry-picked the best moments both musically and visually. In my view, it works because of the attention to detail that they have applied to their playing, the instrumentation and in the visuals. What they have done with the mirrors and laser is truly jaw-dropping, and is a treat for anyone who didn’t see them back in 1978, as well as for those who did! I felt that this had made up for something I missed out on.
3. If seeing this show at a smaller venue, a smaller stage and access might limit the number of mirrors on stage. One venue meant there were no mirrors at all!
4. The band members still stick to their Genesis roles faithfully - Denis Gagné (Phil - vocals, drums, percussion); François Gagnon (Steve and Daryl - guitars and bass including a guitar used by Daryl Stuermer); Sébastien Lamothe (Mike - guitars, bass, bass pedals, backing vocals); Antoine Baril (Chester and Bill - drums and percussion), and Ian Benhamou (Tony - keyboards, backing vocals, 12-string guitar)

So, there you have it. It was a thoroughly entertaining evening and I couldn’t help feel that, all in all, this had made up for the Collins-era Genesis tours I had missed prior to 1980, and re-created one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had - all thanks to that fateful night across the road in Glasgow in October 1973! The Musical Box deserve all the plaudits for all the work they have put in.