Genesis Project - Jan 21, 2012
De Lakei, Helmond (NL)
Many lovers of progressive rock regard Seconds Out
by Genesis
as being the best live album ever recorded. When these prog
pioneers released this double album in 1977, it was the first acquaintance with
the band for many people. That also applied to some members of the Dutch
tribute band Genesis Project
(GP, website). Recently
they'd finished some successful performances of the classic Genesis-album
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974). The
band wanted to continue with the performance of one album in its entirety. Lead
singer Roland van der Horst (Mangrove)
suggested playing Seconds Out
completely, but that wasn't all. They had planned to perform the
original set list that Genesis had used in 1977 for the
Wind And Wuthering
tour. The recordings for Seconds Out
were mainly taken from this tour.
Being a real Genesis-fan I was really curious to experience how they would manage this difficult task. The only way to find out was to visit one of the Genesis Project Play Seconds Out-shows. I had chosen the venue Lakei at Helmond which is closest to my home town. The band didn't perform the entire set of two hours and a half as a whole. Instead they did two sets with a break halfway. At the end of the second set the usual encores were included. I won't mention all the songs GP performed, but I like to tell you something about the way they copied the music of Seconds Out.
It soon turned out that singer Roland van der Horst didn't sound like Phil Collins. However, he sung the Peter Gabriel parts about the same as Collins did, which means that occasionally he also added some extra vocal lines to the original lyrics. He was even dressed like Collins in 1977 wearing a sports shirt with a name and a number on it at the back. He also almost perfectly copied the tambourine solo in I Know What I Like. However, probably the most important part was when he sat down behind a second drum kit every time a song contained a large instrumental part. Just like Phil Collins did during that tour. It really looked spectacular to see him play the drums next to Remco Engels (Mangrove). Both drummers played together on tracks as Cinema Show, ...In That Quiet Earth, Dance On A Volcano, Drum Duet and Los Endos. They both did a good job in copying the drum parts of the original album.
However, bassist Sven de Haan (ex-Salmon) succeeded in sounding just as Michael Rutherford in those days. Not only his bass playing was excellent, but also the way he used his bass pedals in songs like Afterglow, Cinema Show and Los Endos. Therefore I gave him my thumbs just like Sven did to the audience several times. Guitarist Edwin Roes (For Absent Friends) turned out to be an excellent musician who played the guitar parts of Steve Hackett practically without making any mistakes. The legendary guitar solo of Firth Of Fifth
proved that he really masters his guitar. This piece
was performed without the piano intro − just like Genesis did... Especially
band leader Ebert Zwart kept the sound
of Genesis under control with his magnificent keyboard playing. Sometimes his
solos were really breathtaking for example in songs as
Cinema Show and
Robbery, Assault & Battery.
Sure, not everything went smoothly during this long trip down memory lane. For instance, Roland told the audience that the track Inside And Out never was recorded by Genesis, but he was immediately corrected by one of his band mates, because it has been released on the three-track EP Spot The Pigeon (1977). And during the closing section of Supper's Ready drummer Remco lost one of his cymbals, although he ended this strong epic piece without any problems. The overall feeling was very positive, because the audience relived those fine musical moments of the seventies. For me it was a great experience to see them perform the music from Wind And Wuthering, one of the best albums Genesis ever recorded. GP outstandingly performed this rather complex music. Bravo! Hopefully they'll record one of the Seconds Out-shows for a DVD-release so that we can enjoy this performance over and over again.
Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)
|
| Roland van der Horst |
Being a real Genesis-fan I was really curious to experience how they would manage this difficult task. The only way to find out was to visit one of the Genesis Project Play Seconds Out-shows. I had chosen the venue Lakei at Helmond which is closest to my home town. The band didn't perform the entire set of two hours and a half as a whole. Instead they did two sets with a break halfway. At the end of the second set the usual encores were included. I won't mention all the songs GP performed, but I like to tell you something about the way they copied the music of Seconds Out.
It soon turned out that singer Roland van der Horst didn't sound like Phil Collins. However, he sung the Peter Gabriel parts about the same as Collins did, which means that occasionally he also added some extra vocal lines to the original lyrics. He was even dressed like Collins in 1977 wearing a sports shirt with a name and a number on it at the back. He also almost perfectly copied the tambourine solo in I Know What I Like. However, probably the most important part was when he sat down behind a second drum kit every time a song contained a large instrumental part. Just like Phil Collins did during that tour. It really looked spectacular to see him play the drums next to Remco Engels (Mangrove). Both drummers played together on tracks as Cinema Show, ...In That Quiet Earth, Dance On A Volcano, Drum Duet and Los Endos. They both did a good job in copying the drum parts of the original album.
However, bassist Sven de Haan (ex-Salmon) succeeded in sounding just as Michael Rutherford in those days. Not only his bass playing was excellent, but also the way he used his bass pedals in songs like Afterglow, Cinema Show and Los Endos. Therefore I gave him my thumbs just like Sven did to the audience several times. Guitarist Edwin Roes (For Absent Friends) turned out to be an excellent musician who played the guitar parts of Steve Hackett practically without making any mistakes. The legendary guitar solo of Firth Of Fifth
|
| Ebert Zwart |
Sure, not everything went smoothly during this long trip down memory lane. For instance, Roland told the audience that the track Inside And Out never was recorded by Genesis, but he was immediately corrected by one of his band mates, because it has been released on the three-track EP Spot The Pigeon (1977). And during the closing section of Supper's Ready drummer Remco lost one of his cymbals, although he ended this strong epic piece without any problems. The overall feeling was very positive, because the audience relived those fine musical moments of the seventies. For me it was a great experience to see them perform the music from Wind And Wuthering, one of the best albums Genesis ever recorded. GP outstandingly performed this rather complex music. Bravo! Hopefully they'll record one of the Seconds Out-shows for a DVD-release so that we can enjoy this performance over and over again.
Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)
