MAN DOWN. AGAIN

By June of 1977, Genesis were back on the road in Europe after playing an extensive (and successful) North American and Brazilian tour. They started out in Stockholm on the 4th before moving on to Berlin. The band then played four shows in Paris (recordings from these concerts in the French capital were released a few months later as the extraordinary live album Seconds Out), followed by dates in Cologne, Offenbach am Main and Bremen in Germany, before three shows at London’s Earls Court opened by Richie Havens.

The Wind And Wuthering tour succeeded in consolidating Genesis’s standing; at long last they were stars in the UK, popular throughout Europe and had a growing following in America, added to which they gained their first and fantastic foothold in the South American market. The five musicians were, quite simply, in magnificent form. New boy Chester Thompson was the perfect drummer for Genesis, with his great technique placed at the band’s service. Now, more confident than ever in his role as frontman and having acquired a certain amount of rapport with the audience, Phil Collins sang perfectly, ironing out the few imperfections of the previous tour, and his contribution on drums was spectacular, not only in the instrumentals…In That Quiet Earth and Los Endos, but also in sections of One For The Vine, Robbery, Assault And Battery, Firth Of Fifth, Supper’s Ready and, doubling up on drums, the final sections of Afterglow and The Musical Box.

Mike Rutherford was at the top of his game as an instrumentalist too, playing on his new Shergold double-neck guitar with a 12-string at the top and bass at the bottom, not forgetting his essential contributions on bass pedals. Tony Banks was phenomenal as always on his array of keyboards, while Steve Hackett (who on the previous tour had stopped playing sitting down) appeared at perfect ease, with his guitar solos enjoying greater space than usual.

With major success finally knocking on their door, what more could Genesis want? However, for one band member, all their success did not appear to be enough.

“Steve has since said, apparently, that had he got in the car with me that day, he wouldn’t have left the band.”
Phil Collins

“I was starting to write more and more material and it was harder and harder to incorporate that into a band format. Plus, I wanted to work with other people. Brilliant though the members, 1975] was a bit like turning on a tap.”