Genesis spans 50 years of music on possible final tour
Whether it’s fair or not, the first question about any Genesis concert is, how is Phil Collins doing?
The answer, based on the evidence of the satisfying concert Wednesday at a packed Nationwide Arena, is that he’s physically, aging and affected by various health issues, and musically, he’s sound, strong and often pleasantly surprising.
The one-time Genesis drummer slowly ascended to the stage with the help of a cane, and performed from a swivel chair on the front of the stage, occasionally beating a tambourine.
His former place on the drums has been taken by his son, Nic Collins, and this time around, Collins took advantage of occasional judicious support from two backup singers.
Equally important to the group’s rich sound, if not as frequently in the spotlight, were longtime band members Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, along with Daryl Stuermer.
Genesis performed for more than two hours, without an opening act or an intermission, in a concert cannily structured to make the most of all of the musicians’ abilities as they exist now.
That meant that with Collins rooted in one spot, so were the other musicians, only occasionally shifting places between songs. Shifting video projections and sumptuous light displays added action to what might otherwise have been a static scene.
With five decades of material to choose from, the band shaped a tight but unhurried concert that started out expansive and explosive, gradually quieted down and became more intimate, and then opened up into exuberant celebration.
Collins seemed thoroughly at home, joking with the audience and encouraging sing-alongs, working the audience into a choral group in songs like “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight,” and surveying his kingdom with pleasure.
The band also chose, wisely, not to try to slavishly imitate the sounds of its original recordings, shifting the vocal range lower to suit Collins’ present voice.
How changes in Phil Collins’ voice led to difference in Genesis songs
The shift away from clarity and sweetness suits Collins, who has never been particularly convincing as a romantic. He now treats his voice more as a musical instrument than as a conveyance for lyrics, as he growls, purrs and stretches out or distorts words that might have grown overly familiar.
That approach particularly suited songs like the already thoroughly creepy “Mama,” in which Collins, bathed in eerie red light and his face magnified on the screen, looked convincingly demonic, or the corrosively bitter “No Son of Mine.” He gave a complicated edge even to simple, sentimental songs like “Follow You Follow Me.”
Collins now concentrates emotion that might otherwise be expressed in movement or percussion into his voice.
If this is in fact the last tour for Genesis, the show provided a solid conclusion for fans, representing the band’s various eras and incarnations with songs like “Land of Confusion,” “Home By the Sea” and “Domino,” giving each its full due both precisely and thoroughly, and taking advantage of deep, longtime connections among the members of the band.
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