Genesis
Live In Frankfurt Am Main - 30 October 1981

THE REVIEW

The average duration of a Genesis concert was around two and a half hours, sometimes even approaching three hours, but history suggested that this was likely the correct duration. In the years '80-'81, the historic English band changed face once again, adopting characteristics that reflect the multicolored abstraction represented by the torn pages that make "Abacab" an at least mysterious album.

The tour in support of the new LP presents a rough show, at times rocky, which takes much from the recent past, juxtaposing the new songs without much hesitation. It opens with the already tried and tested "Behind the Lines/Duchess", a lively overture from "Duke" here stripped of the substantial part of the "Duke's Suite" of which only "Turn It On Again" remains at the end of the show. From the 1980 album, the less than irresistible "Misunderstanding" is retrieved, a performance nonetheless pleasant and slightly extended in the finale. From the new phase, the group first presents the powerful "Dodo" which along with the curious interlude "Lurker" is the most fitting calling card for the menacing and pounding lead-in of "Abacab", which now has its new instrumental tail with a reprise of the main melody before the closing. Much of the show is a revisit of many songs already the backbone of concerts from previous years like "Dance On A Volcano", "Afterglow", and the inevitable "The Carpet Crawlers". It's noteworthy how a harmless song like "No Reply At All" works well live, and stripped of the brass section, it’s Stuermer's guitar invention that solves the hitch in a satisfactory way for the final performance. The much-disliked "Who Dunnit" is negligible, performed with Rutherford on drums in a curious skit, mysteriously this song is one of Tony Banks' favorites. Very beautiful and successful are "Me And Sarah Jane" and also "Man On The Corner", of spectacular impact is "In The Cage". 

From this tour, the three live sides of "Three Sides Live" will be drawn, but this high-quality bootleg is more indicative of the period and the ability of Genesis to be a great live band.