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Rating: The Genesis Fakes!
How wonderful, I thought, finally a concert of authentic fakes in Rome on February 17th!! None other than "The Musical Box," the legendary Canadian band that has been recreating, almost identically, the early 70s Genesis concerts (from "Trespass" to "And Then There Were Three") since 1993. And what could be better than a fake like me reviewing a concert by fakes like them?!
Said and DONE!
I arrive at the Teatro Tendastrisce (which is the fake of a typical circus tent) with a bloody delay, and they give me a damn white plastic Lidl chair to enjoy the show already 10 minutes underway (damn, for 49 bloody euros they could have gone a bit further, right? Not asking for human leather chairs but... "almost"!).
The set design is truly recreated to perfection, and even the individual movements of the 5 members seem to be the same as the originals (I have a DVD of the Real Genesis from those years to prove my point!). The band started 15 minutes late (so much for punctuality!), and thus I missed the suite "Selling in England by Ten Pound" (fake version - with interest - of the eponymous track).
It's a shame because it really feels like being in the 70s, no wonder I suddenly had platform shoes and flared pants.
Am I in some kind of Time Machine, I wonder?!
Something similar for sure but without Spielberg-like special effects, AND THAT'S THE BEAUTY!
Everyone indeed seems to be 20 years old (in spirit), even if the average age seems more like that of Villa Arzilla's residents than that of a rock concert audience, especially the aging seniors who applaud the band, taking turns passing catheters to free their hands.
The parade of the band’s historic pieces continues with original slides (from the era!!) that caption the story: it starts with the famous "The Musical Box" and just a few expertly whispered verses "Play me Old King Cole…" are enough to set the already ecstatic crowd into a frenzy.
The reproduction is almost perfect: the drummer, for example, is bald, sings in the choruses, is left-handed, and slightly tilts his head EXACTLY like the old Phil Collins! (rumor has it he's even sleeping with Phil’s wife and she doesn’t even know it!)! UNBELIEVABLE! Not to mention the singer who, apart from a few slightly camp steps, has an almost identical voice to the old Peter.
In short, fakes with flying colors, holding up excellently against any comparison.
In over an hour and a half, the historic tracks of the band flow rapidly and memorably: Watcher of the Skies, Dancing with the Moonlight Knight, The Cinema Show, I Know What I Like (always a bit mediocre and a notch below), Firth of Fifth (truly superb!!), More Fool Me (so-so!), The Battle of Epping Forest, Supper's Ready (unforgettable!) and the now customary encore The Knife (which starts like a Doors song and makes young and old jump to their feet!).
A good concert? I’d say YES, definitely… especially for those who were 10 in ‘74 (like me) and only got to know the Genesis-Wave during "The Duke’s" descent (when you talk about bad luck…).
On the "clones or fakes" issue, I only say: WHO CARES! These guys played superbly and technically perfectly, not only reproducing the same arrangements of the original tracks but recreating the same "warmth" and enthusiasm of the deceased Original Genesis.
Latest gossip: it seems the 3 zombies will return together (without Gabriel) for a free concert in Rome on July 14th, at the Colosseum.
Which doesn’t rule out that these three old codgers might play more "fake" than The Musical Box.
As they say: better fake than poorly accompanied!
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