Genesis and Solo on Video

Video - Genesis and Related on VHS, VCD

For non-Genesis, non-solo member video material, please consult the Others page by clicking on the corresponding button from the list above.

As always, see anything you like, email me. A great deal of the VCD and most of the VHS footage I also have, probably in better quality, on DVD. All VHS tapes are NTSC. The video format of the VCDs and DVDs is more questionable--probably the ones I describe as only being able to play on my computer are PAL. Colored entries in the VHS section represent clips I do not have on digital media. Some of these clips have now become available in official form as bonus DVD material on the 1976-1982 box set and the individual 2007 reissues of the studio albums.

These are in chronological order as closely as possible--since some have multiple clips from widely varying time periods, they were hard to organize chronologically. All dates are written in the European style, as in day/month/year. Click on the text links below to scroll directly to the entry you're interested in.

Page Summary and Menu

VHS

Genesis (various bits): Belgian TV, Shepperton, In Concert '76, VH1 BtM

Genesis (various bits 2): Midnight Special '73, Seconds Out promo, '92 preview, etc.

Genesis (various bits 3): Live at Lyceum, 6/5/80; Bataclan Club, Paris, 10/1/73

Genesis (various bits 4): Live - Mama Tour, 25-29/2/84 (NEC); Lyceum, 7/5/80

Genesis (various bits 5): PG So. Bank Show, Genesis: Tokyo '78, 3 Dates, No Adm.

Tony Stratton-Smith Presents: Genesis in Concert, 30-31/10/73, Shepperton Studios

Genesis: in Concert, 9-10/7/76 (Glasgow/Staffordshire); Steve Hackett Live ('90)

Invisible Touch Tour, 1-4/7/87 (Wembley Stadium)

CAS Rehearsal, 28/1/98 (Sportshalle, Budapest Hungary)

Genesis: Behind the Music (VH1), 2000

Peter Gabriel '78/Steve Hackett '02, (Essen 15/9/78 and Philly 1/7/02)

VCD

Pop Shop (RVCD01), 20-21/3/72 (Belgian TV)

Bataclan '73 (RVCD02), 10/1/73 (Bataclan Club, Paris)

Tony Stratton-Smith Presents: Genesis in Concert, 30-31/10/73 (Shepperton)

Melody '74 (RVCD03), 12/2/74 (ORTF Studios, Paris)

Lamb VCD (various clips from tour, including Treffpunkte German documentary)

Genesis: in Concert ('76), 9-10/7/76 (Glasgow/Staffordshire)

Genesis: in Concert (RVCD04), 9-10/7/76 (Glasgow/Staffordshire)

Seconds Out Promo VCD, 19/3/77 (Moody Coliseum, Dallas Texas)

Earls Court '77, 25/6/77 (Earls Court Arena, London)

Lyceum '80 VCD, 6/5/80 (Lyceum Ballroom, London); 2 discs

Old Grey Whistle Test (Lyceum '80), 7/5/80 (Lyceum Ballroom); also promo videos

CAS Album Launch, 26/8/97 (Fernsehturm Am Alexanderplatz, Berlin)

Calling Chiddingfold Station, 23/9/97 (Servicemen's Club, Chiddingfold, Surrey)

Katowice '98, 31/1/98 (Spodek, Katowice Poland)

Vienna '98, 15/2/98 (Stadthalle, Vienna Austria); 2 discs!

VHS

Genesis (various bits)

Belgian TV (20-21/3/72): The Fountain of Salmacis/Twilight Alehouse/The Musical Box/The Return of the Giant Hogweed

Shepperton Studios (30-31/10/73): Dancing With the Moonlit Knight/I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)/The Musical Box/Supper's Ready

Genesis in Concert (9-10/7/76): I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)/Fly on a Windshield/Broadway Melody of 1974/The Carpet Crawlers/Cinema Show (pt 2)/Entangled/Supper's Ready (from Apocalypse in 9/8)/Los Endos

VH1 Behind the Music special (2000)

VH1 Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett special

Comments: This is one VHS tape with various officially filmed video clips from throughout a chunk of the band's history (72-76). All of these are available in better quality versions. The first clip is from a Belgian television program ("Pop Shop") which is probably from 20 and/or 21 March 1972, and features the songs listed above (in the title for "Giant Hogweed," they mispell "Giant" as "Geant"). There are some kind of cheesy graphics using photos of the band and the image from the Nursery Cryme album cover. I have an excellent version of this on VCD, as well as some on DVD. The second bit is from the SEBTP tour. No trick shots or effects here; just straight footage of them playing, including the intro stories. Clips from this footage are used in almost every bio movie of the band, as it is the only real pro-shot material which depicts the typical SEBTP show. Unfortunately it is very dark and the camera seems determined not to show you the slides being projected behind the band. I have multiple other versions of this in various media, the best being the DVD taken from the original 16mm reels. The third bit is from the end of the ATOTT tour; it's actually a movie (shown in UK theatres in '77, apparently) called "Genesis: in Concert," and it mixes cuts from the tour with footage of the band playing, the roadies setting up the stage, and utterly and totally random old film clips. Some great stuff, especially since you get to see Bruford on the drums. The venues for these two dates are the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow and New Bingley Hall, Stafford (respectively). Again I have multiple alternate versions of this footage: VHS, VCD, DVD. It has also been released officially as bonus footage on the 2007 reissue of A Trick of the Tail. The last bit is the VH1 Behind the Music special on the band, which includes clips from all the previous bits. The volume is much lower here than the other bits. The very beginning is missing, though it starts with the first single (Silent Sun), and in the middle a few seconds of the Sci-Fi channel show "Crossing Over with John Edwards" pops in there, but the show comes back, seemingly picking up almost exactly where it left off. It then runs on to its end with no problem, and the tape also even contains the next program aired on the channel, a VH1 special on Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett, if you like that sort of thing...I now have a better quality, full version of the Behind the Music show on another tape.

The quality of all of them is not so great. I really shouldn't even list this entry here anymore since all of my other versions of this material look and sound better. This does compile many of the more famous pro-shot clips of the band. Click on the links scattered through the comments above to go to the better versions.

Genesis (various bits, 2)

Midnight Special (20/12/73): Watcher of the Skies/The Musical Box

Seconds Out Live Promo (19/3/77): Firth of Fifth/Dance on a Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/The Musical Box (closing section)

Knebworth (24/6/78): The Lady Lies (partial)

Top of the Pops videos: Turn It on Again/Abacab/Paperlate

Genesis-No Admittance (from "In Concert")

Genesis '92 Concert Preview (from "In Concert")

Billboard Awards '91: No Son of Mine

Comments: This is a heck of a lot of different stuff put together on one tape. The first clip (which I now have on more than one DVD) is a fairly good quality and well-produced video of the band from the SEBTP period, probably recorded at NBC's Burbank Studios in California at the date listed above, with Pete in full regalia. Interestingly, the flute solo in "Musical Box," including the "Just a little bit more time" line, is deliberately not played by the band to make the song shorter--Pete almost forgets and is picking up his flute to do the solo, but has to put it back down again. The second clip is just as it is described above--I used to assume these songs came from the same gigs which were recorded for the official live album of the same name, but now I believe the date may possibly be as listed above, at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas (see my VCD copy of this clip for more info on what it's like--I also have it on DVD). Then we have a short clip from Knebworth '78 (very short), probably a miniscule clip from the BBC Nationwide programme called "Three Dates With Genesis." I have the full show with bonus clips on DVD.

Then there are various videos which I guess were played on the Top of the Pops TV program. "Turn It on Again" is probably just the standard promo video--it's just the band playing the studio version of the song in an unidentified location. Interestingly enough, this is not the version of the video used on the officially released VHS video volumes, though it was released on the Video Show DVD and as a bonus item on the 2007 reissue of Duke. I have an incomplete version of this video also on my second Lyceum '80 VCD. The other two numbers have the band on a stage with an audience, faking like they're playing to the soundtrack of the studio songs. They even have the appropriate horn section for "Paperlate." Phil sits at the drum kit and plays while singing, something he would never actually do on stage (actually, he did do it every once in a while--one or two lines of "One For the Vine" were sung from his drum kit). Though the "Paperlate" video is available officially on DVD, this version of "Abacab," played to the single edit of the song, I do not have in any other form.

Then we have the documentary about the making of WCD, which I have in better versions on DVD. This is a very interesting and enjoyable look at the band in a casual mode, working in the studio and answering various questions (which they seem to pull from a hat and then flip a coin to decide who will answer it). Then there's another show from the same TV program (which is called "In Concert"), giving you a preview of the set-up they had for the tour and how they developed it. There are some short clips of the rehearsal in Texas. Then we get to see Paul Shaffer introduce the band and they play "No Son of Mine" at the end of the Billboard Music Awards show (It's actually the '91 show, probably making this one of the first live performances from the WCD period). As I mentioned before, I have a good deal of this same WCD footage on DVD as part of a series of "TV Appearances" compilations. The video quality throughout is actually quite good--it gets steadily better as the tape goes on. There are a few bits where the video cuts out and then comes back on again, but this tape is generally worlds better than the first tape in this list.

Genesis (various bits, 3)

Live at Lyceum (6/5/80): Deep in the Motherlode/Dancing With the Moonlit Knight/The Carpet Crawlers/Squonk/One for the Vine/Behind the Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal/Turn It on Again/Duke's Travels/Duke's End/Say It's Alright Joe/The Lady Lies/In the Cage/Raven/Afterglow/Follow You Follow Me/Dance on a Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos/I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)

Bataclan Club, Paris (10/1/73): The Musical Box/Supper's Ready/The Return of the Giant Hogweed/The Knife

Comments: Important to note that the Lyceum show is not the same one as used on Musica, but from the night before. "Ripples" is not featured on the video--for some reason (though the "Ripples" from this date is on the second box set! "Lady Lies" from 6/5 is also on there). The sound seems just a little wavery on that one, and the video is rather dark, but it's professionally done as far as that goes, and it gives you a good look at how the band performed during the Duke tour. I have this clip on VCD and DVD. The Bataclan clip is very interesting since it is the only footage I've ever seen of an actual show from the Foxtrot tour (I have a much better version of it available on VCD--and two more on DVD). All the voiceovers are in French, the footage is grainy black and white, and every single song has been edited down by vicious editors. It begins by scanning a graveyard while a French narrator says some stuff. Then we see a title, then it goes into the second half of "The Musical Box" while the narrator describes the personnel in the band. Pete wears his fox dress for the closing section of the song. Then the band are interviewed in English, but it's impossible to make out the whole thing because the French narrator drowns it out by dubbing the English into French! Then we get to see part of "Supper's Ready," from the beginning up until the guitar solo of the "Ikhnaton and Itsacon" section, then it cuts straight to the "Eggs is Eggs" section and the song actually ends, in a different way than was done by the band in later incarnations. There is more interview, then "Hogweed," which has a huge chunk ripped out of its middle. There's a nice flash powder explosion before Pete screams "Giant Hogweed lives!" Pete does some running around and a lot of playing with his microphone stand, and then throws it on the floor. The audience call for an encore and then the sound kind of fades into the second half of "The Knife," beginning with Pete's flute solo. The song then continues till its end, and that's it. Nice to have this vintage footage, but if you'd like a copy please check out the alternate digital versions I linked to above.

Genesis (various bits, 4)

Genesis Live - Mama Tour (25-29/2/84): Abacab/That's All/Mama/Illegal Alien/Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea/Keep It Dark/It's Gonna Get Better/In the Cage medley: The Cinema Show, Riding the Scree, In that Quiet Earth, The Raven/Afterglow/Drum Duet/Turn It on Again medley

Lycem 7/5/80 (from Old Grey Whistle Test): Behind the Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal/In the Cage/Raven/Afterglow/Dance on a Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos

Comments: This is the official Mama tour video, plus some bits from the Musica show that were aired on that TV program called "Whistle Test." The first bit is totally excellent, great quality video and really well produced and directed. It was shot during the last shows of the tour, between 25 and 29 February of 1984 at the NEC in Birmingham. Phil is in fine form as front man, and really it's an all around great tour video (see my DVD version). Notice that the "Drum Duet" is without "Los Endos"--it was brutally edited out. Also the "Turn It" medley is a longer one featuring bits from "Karma Chameleon" and "Every Breath You Take"--pretty embarrassing...

The second section is remarkably similar to the 6/5/80 clip I have on a previous tape (I wonder why..? ;). The quality is not as good as the Mama bit. The Whistle Test clip ends very abruptly as soon as "Los Endos" gets to its last note. I have this footage on VCD and on DVD. It has also been released officially as a bonus DVD item on the 2007 reissue of Duke.

Genesis (various bits, 5)

Peter Gabriel on the South Bank Show (10/82)

Genesis Live in Tokyo (3/12/78): Eleventh Earl of Mar/Dance on a Volcano - Drum Duet - Los Endos/I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)

Three Dates With Genesis (Edited UK TV, 1978)

Genesis: No Admittance (Disney Channel, aired 22/3/92)

Promotional Videos: Hold on My Heart/No Son of Mine

Comments: Look out! I took up a lot of space describing all of this stuff (all of which I now have in better versions on DVD). Various clips, mainly Genesis, but starting with a UK television show detailing the making of Pete's fourth solo album, sometimes known as Security. This is probably my favorite of Pete's albums, and this show is probably the best behind-the-scenes/making-of-an-album show that I have ever seen (though I've recently seen a making-of movie about Steely Dan recording their album Aja which is also excellent). (This is the place to read my description of the show, but I do have it by itself on DVD.) The making of the WCD album show, which appears later in this tape and which I already have on DVD in various versions, has some great interviews and good footage of the band in their studio, but really doesn't succeed in accurately depicting the writing of the music. Genesis was clearly very uncomfortable about being filmed actually making music in their studio, and very little of the actual jam sessions or developmental stages of the album-making process are included in the show. Indeed, though the narrator speaks of several songs that were written but never recorded for the album, we get to hear none of them, and the songs that did get on the album are generally only ever heard in a near-complete state.

The Peter Gabriel show, however, documents the entire creative process of the album, starting from vague and very partial sound ideas Pete has taped off of various radio stations and TV specials and placed in a big heavy suitcase; and carries on all the way to the first live performances of the new album material, at the WOMAD festival of '82. We see Pete working on rhythms, bringing in individual band members one at a time to his studio to record their tracks, messing with the very beginnings of computer technology in his barebones but expensive studio (there's some wonderful footage of Pete messing with sampled sounds in a junkyard), mixing, recording vocals, and playing croquet with Tony Levin between takes. Even at this point in his career his producer (in this case, David Lord) is complaining bitterly about Pete's painstaking recording behaviors, and his habit of keeping all his options open until the last possible moment. It's wonderful to see how ahead of his time Pete was, and how primitive the computer equipment is--he really is working with the very beginnings of this technology. The picture is unfortunately quite bad--very washed out and blotchy. Though there are no break-ups or speed problems, the picture is strangely hard to make out. The TV show was played in two parts, which play continuously in one piece with no advertisements. The only problem with this show aside from the quality is that I wish it were longer--because of time constraints and keeping the process less confusing for viewers unfamiliar with the songs, the show was forced to follow and focus on only a few of the songs from the album from their beginnings to their end: the main songs dealt with are "San Jacinto," "Rhythm of the Heat," and "I Have the Touch." We get to hear these songs from their very beginnings, when they are only drum beats or strange sounds, to the final recorded versions. There is also a wonderful live performance of "Rhythm" with real African drums. Pete also provides some excellent explanations of the ideas behind the songs and their lyrics, which gave me much more insight into them than I'd had before.

OK, now I have to talk about the rest of the tape. The next bit of footage is an interesting, short bit of stuff from what is probably the last show of the '78 Genesis tour (see the DVD version). If the date given by the clip is to be trusted, and if my various gig guides are accurate, then this stuff is from the 3/12/78 gig at Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo. It does not match the audio I have of what is probably the 2/12 gig from Kosei Nenkin Hall, so this is probably right. There are some nice Japanese titles on here, including titles for IKWIL in English and Japanese, and an introductory title in only Japanese. Also the date is flashed up on the last number. The first two numbers start just a bit into the beginnings. The camera work is generally OK, though the close-up shots are clearly handheld and a bit sloppy. The picture is jittery and rather blurred, in the same vein as the PG show, though not quite as bad. There are several disturbances throughout the clip which slightly (and only momentarily) affect the speed: speed drops. It's not a bad performance, and Phil seems a tad ferocious with his vocals.

"Three Dates With Genesis" is a '78 UK TV special which follows Genesis on three of their dates for their world tour, including the only UK date at the Knebworth Festival in June of that year. This is a fairly famous clip from what Simon calls the "Nationwide news programme," and it appears in several forms of varying lengths. Unfortunately, this is the shorter version, weighing in at only 16 minutes (the longer version is over 45 minutes, almost three times as long! I have this full version on PAL DVD; the full version has also been released officially on the 2007 reissue of And Then There Were Three). In fact, though it claims to have three dates, you only see a very small amount of footage from two of the dates. The full program deals with the following three gigs: the Eistadion in Mannheim, Germany on 17 May; the Groenoordhal in Leiden, Holland on 20 May (this venue according to the narrator is actually a cattle market); and the Knebworth Festival on 24 June. This version features a very edited clip from "Cinema Show" at Leiden and "The Lady Lies" from Knebworth Festival--over the end of which the narrator talks. There is also some footage at the beginning of the show which is probably supposed to pass off as '78 tour footage, but is actually from the Seconds Out promo of 1977--you can tell because the band is playing "The Lamb" (which they may have only played once in '78, at Vienna) and Phil's hairstyle is totally different! You also hear a bit of "Endos" and a bit of "Watcher," which at this point had only been played by the Phil era band back in '76. There is one particularly humorous section of this show which was later used in the famous "History" video, where the narrator talks about how popular Genesis are and adds rather apologetically, "You might not have heard of them."

The show tries to pass off the promotional video for "Many Too Many" as a supposed practice session for the band at Knebworth. Though the video seems to have actually been filmed at the Knebworth stage, the band are clearly not practicing as Daryl and Chester are not present (speaking of which, no mention is made of them at all, though they are clearly visible in the "Lady Lies" footage), and the song played is clearly the studio version--plus they never played this song live! This video is unfortunately wavery and seems to have speed fluctuations, though for the rest of the show it is not noticeable. There are a few interesting shots of the major preparations and set-up procedures for the Knebworth show, plus an interview with an old guy who was apparently behind the planning of the festival--his presence on the show is very funny, since he's the last type of person you'd expect to see in a show about a prog rock band. The live footage of the band actually playing live is pretty good, since you get to see their light show with the lasers and mirrors--having basically not seen any of the '78 tour show before, this was enlightening for me.

Finally there's some stuff from '92: the "No Admittance" show from the original and more complete Disney Channel airing, for one. This show I have described elsewhere, in addition to the info I provided above, so I won't talk about it again. It's a nice look into the studio, and though not as informative about the Genesis compositional process as it could be, it does have some nice interviews and some nice bits with the guys joking around. On my VCR the picture was OK but almost constantly jittery, with jumping and rolling of the picture. In all likelihood this is just because I have a cheap VCR with no tracking control--in a better VCR this would probably play fine.

The bonus on the end of this tape is the inclusion of the "Hold on My Heart" and "No Son of Mine" promotional videos. Both videos have been artificially synched with the audio, and are not quite right. Now that these videos have been released officially, this footage is not particularly valuable, but it's interesting to look at these and realize the lengths we would all go to to get them; the quality is pretty good.

Tony Stratton-Smith Presents: Genesis in Concert

Shepperton Studios (30-31/10/73): Watcher of the Skies/Dancing With the Moonlit Knight/I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)/The Musical Box/Supper's Ready

Comments: This tape features the same taped performance of 1973 from the first entry in this section. It was taped on October 30-31 1973 at Shepperton Studios, UK. This version is better quality than its counterpart above, plus it includes the beginning number: "Watcher of the Skies," which the previous version was missing. It has its own charming quirks, however. A little "Play" graphic intermittently appears in the upper right corner. The sound seemed a tad off-synch with the video to me at first; by halfway through "Supper's Ready," it had grown to a full second of disparity. Near the very end of the song, it seems to repair itself somehow. Their regular set list from this tour definitely included more numbers (Battle of Epping Forest, Horizons, The Cinema Show, More Fool Me, Firth of Fifth, The Knife, and sometimes Harold the Barrel!), but for the purposes of this video shoot only certain songs were selected. If you could only choose a few of the more impressive, visually performed songs due to time constraints, though, you couldn't do much better in the choosing than has been done here (except for the tragic omission of "Cinema Show!"). If you've never seen Genesis' show from this tour, it's definitely worth a view. This was when they were at their height with costumes/stories/imagery. As an aside, another great way to see the SEBTP show, and see it live right in front of your eyes, is to see the cover band The Musical Box. I highly recommend their show, which is incredibly accurate and fantastic.

If you want to see this footage, you need to see the DVD from the 16mm reels.

Genesis in Concert ('76)/Steve Hackett Live ('90)

Steve Hackett Live (Nottingham, 1990): Camino Royale/Please Don't Touch/Everyday/'...in that quiet earth.'/Depth Charge/Wonderpatch/In the Heart of the City/Black Light/Horizons/Jacuzzi/Theatre of Sleep/Jazz Jam/Spectral Mornings/Clocks

Comments: This tape I received as a bonus in one of my trades, and it has a big upgrade to my original '76 footage. This version looks fantastic, with no roll or static or anything. A pleasure to watch (though it is now available officially in better quality). At the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow and the New Bingley Hall in Staffordshire. BTW, the "Entangled" which appears on the second box set claims to be from the Bingley Hall show, so this song and the one on the set could be the same thing. I have the '76 movie on two different VCDs and on DVD.

The second clip is a pro-shot Hackett tour video which does not seem to be officially available anymore. I was able to find an entry in Alan Hewitt's book that matches this video, so I can provide the full track list. Hewitt says this was recorded for the Central TV and released on video in '91. Other sources I've seen put this gig at Central TV Studio in Nottingham some time in October of 1990, which seems to pretty much jibe with Hewitt. (See my solo boot section on Hackett for an audio track from this performance.) Steve talks about the band being a new bunch of guys who he hasn't played with much before. "...in that quiet earth" gets an interesting treatment, with a flute solo and everything. The quality of the footage is again very good. I don't have this anywhere else.

Invisible Touch Tour

Wembley Stadium (1-4/7/87): Mama/Abacab/Domino/That's All/The Brazilian/Land of Confusion/Tonight, Tonight, Tonight/Throwing It All Away/Home by the Sea, Second Home by the Sea/Invisible Touch/Drum Duet, Los Endos/Turn It on Again medley/Do the Neurotic (studio, closing credits)

Comments: The official IT tour video, copied from the pre-recorded tape (which was out of print at the time, so I felt somewhat justified in trading for it). Obviously this has been eclipsed by the officially-released DVD version, so this entry is fairly useless, but I'll keep it here anyway because I'm crazy. The video proportion is widescreen (I'm one of those nerdy people who prefers letterbox to pan-and-scan). I have a bootleg that uses the entire audio track from this video (minus a little comment by Phil about pushing in the audience), but here I can actually SEE them doing their thing (I also have a DVD version transferred from VHS by a fan, and of course the officially released DVD version, a review of which is on the Compilations/Misc. page). I can see their incredibly dated clothes and hairstyles (especially Phil's hair, which is possibly the worst style he ever had: what some would call "hockey hair" I believe, it's long and shaggy in the back but almost bald on top). Another thing that it's great to see is the crowd. It is totally enormous. It's amazing how many people they crammed into the Wembley complex, and I was utterly staggered whenever they showed a shot of the audience. Phil, too, seemed impressed, as he snaps a photo of the crowd at the beginning of the show (or perhaps this is something he did before every show?). Incredible to think that they actually sold out the entire building four nights in a row. I don't think Genesis ever got any bigger than they were at the time of this video.

CAS Rehearsal

Sportshalle, Budapest Hungary (28/1/98): No Son of Mine/Land of Confusion/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Calling All Stations/Hold on My Heart/Alien Afternoon/There Must be Some Other Way/Domino/The Carpet Crawlers/Firth of Fifth (instrumental section)/Congo/Home by the Sea - Second Home by the Sea/Dancing With the Moonlit Knight (intro)/Follow You Follow Me/Lover's Leap/Mama/The Dividing Line/Invisible Touch

Comments: (I now have this on DVD! That's better!) This is an interesting, amateur video of almost an entire dress rehearsal gig played by the Ray era band. The 28 January gig was played to a nearly empty auditorium, so the person recording this video must have been sanctioned by the band to do so (the band could not help but see him in the audience, and indeed at at least one point Ray looks directly into the camera). This assumption is bolstered by the fact that before the concert there is footage of the band getting off at the airport and close-up shots of the band's equipment and the empty stage on which they will be playing. You also get to see shots of the band and their roadies setting up. It's very clear that the hall is very empty; the recorder stands quite a way away from the stage in order to get the whole stage in the shot, and the clear and empty floor in front of them is obvious. Before the show starts you hear a short improv on the part of the band.

This is certainly a dress rehearsal: the light show is in full force, and there's very little fooling around once the show starts. The only thing missing is the in between talking--not only did Ray not do any of it that night, but also the taper tried to cut out all of the pauses between songs by stopping the camera. This unfortunately results in multiple cuts: many of the songs start a few seconds in. The first three numbers seem ok, and CC, FoF, HBTS and IT are intact, but all of the other songs are cut in the beginning. SHBTS also has a cut towards its end for some reason. There are also occasional video disruptions--not more than four I'd say--which result in momentary speed drops. They last about a second or two each. During the middle of "Domino" and possibly in other places, the taper messes around with the focus. Most of the time the shots are in focus, though rather shaky as the camera is handheld. He gets some pretty good close-up shots of the various band members, as well as some good far shots showing the whole stage and the light rigs on the ceiling. The lighting causes some odd exposures, and often Ray's face is little more than a white blob, while glare from some of the instruments creates some interesting white vertical bars at times. Still, a pretty great audio/visual recording of an almost complete show.

I say almost complete for a reason. This was recorded onto a 2-hour tape and somewhere along the line the last numbers of the show ("Turn It on Again," "Throwing It All Away," "I Can't Dance") have been chopped off. The tape ends rather abruptly after IT is over.

I am nearly certain that the audio soundtrack from the original video recording of this gig was what was used to create the more common audio CD bootleg of this gig: "Nervous Restart." The description of that audio show by Halley and by Simon exactly matches the audio on this tape (except for the fact that the last three numbers are missing on my tape). This is curious since my audio version of this gig is clearly from a different source. It includes all of the in between stuff, and instead of having a cut in SHBTS has a big cut/splice in "Mama." Also had my videotape gotten all the way to the encores, I think I would have found that "I Can't Dance" was incomplete (as described for Nervous Restart), while my audio version has the full song. Clearly more than one person was recording that night...

Genesis - Behind the Music (VH1)

Comments: This tape comes from a repeat of the show named above, aired on 17 September 2002. The original filming date of the program I'm not sure about, but it must have been put together after the release of "Carpet Crawlers '99," as that is mentioned in the video. My guess is 2000. Anyway, the previous version I had of this, on my first VHS entry above, had problems. Its volume was low, its quality could have been better, and it was missing the beginning and had a weird problem in the middle with another recording cutting in. This version is complete and is better in quality. Taped by me! This is actually a pretty good special, though they do gloss over a few things in order to fit the whole history of the band into one hour (Wind and Wuthering, Abacab and Mama are barely mentioned--in fact, even We Can't Dance gets only a cursory description). I do not have this on VCD or DVD, so if you'd like a copy I will have to drag out my second VCR... :)

Peter Gabriel '78/Steve Hackett '02

Peter Gabriel, Grugahalle, Essen Germany (15/9/78): On the Air/Moribund the Burgermeister/Perspective/Here Comes the Flood/White Shadow/Waiting For the Big One/Humdrum/I Don't Remember/Solsbury Hill/Modern Love/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (partial)

Steve Hackett, Theater of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia Pennsylvania (1/7/02): Watcher of the Skies (intro and ending)/Hairless Heart/Firth of Fifth (instrumental section)(partial)/Riding the Colossus/Pollution - The Steppes/Gnossienne #1/Walking Away From Rainbows/In Memoriam/Vampyre With a Healthy Appetite/Spectral Mornings/Darktown/Camino Royale/Everyday/Horizons/Shadow of the Hierophant - Drum Solo - Los Endos

Comments: (I now have the Gabriel footage on DVD.) Being only Genesis-related and not purely Genesis in nature, this tape I have left as the last entry in the VHS section. It features some footage from Peter's second tour and a much more recent Hackett concert. The former is officially shot video, taken from a French TV broadcast (with our old friend the "Jimmy" logo up in the top right corner and subtitled song intros); the latter is an amateur handheld job which actually has a better quality picture than the official stuff. The Gabriel footage is OK, but not great; it's got lines and it's a bit jumpy. Its sound is a bit crackly at times (I have an audio-only version of this footage in my solo section which may be better in quality than this audio, and which actually includes all of "The Lamb").

I'm very happy to have the Gabriel footage, as he's one of my favorite solo members of Genesis and as I have very little idea what his early tours looked like. I don't know whether this was a typical show from this tour, but it certainly was an entertaining enough performance. The band open the show by walking through the audience up onto the stage, holding flashlights to guide their way. Pete climbs all the way to the top of a huge, 10-foot ladder, just so that he can slide all the way down it to begin the first number. The band all wear bright orange vests which are either supposed to be bulletproof or just the kind of vests street construction workers wear. Pete (and anyone else who can) wears heavy work gloves.

The TV station provides various titles at the bottom of the screen: song titles, band member names, and sometimes the words "PETER GABRIEL BAND" will flash on. It's a bit odd that this is a French TV station with French subtitles for Pete's song intros, since the gig was in Germany for "Rockpalast" and Pete speaks to the audience (when he can) in German. "Here Comes the Flood" features an interesting saxophone solo from the odd Michael Bolton/Rod Stewart-like Tim Capello, who shakes his butt and tries as hard as he can to look like a woman. He does a fine job on the sax and (occasionally) on the keyboards, though. This particular band line-up features Jerry Marotta on drums, Larry Fast on the synth, Tony Levin (of course!) on bass, and the charming Sid McGuiness on guitar, who has a wonderful way of smoking his cigarette during "Waiting For the Big One" without taking it out of his mouth. For this particular number, Pete walks through the audience singing the first verse or so, shaking everyone's hand. He then gets on stage and takes over the drums (!), while the drummer picks up a guitar and plays that in conjunction with the two other guitarists. I'd like to say that this song sounds about one million times better than the version on the original album--it's a great performance with lots of attitude.

There's a short video break-up in "Humdrum" and during almost all of "Lamb" the video is totally messed up; it turns black and white and rolls and is totally indecipherable. Also the audio is gone. The song is totally missing except for the last few lines of the last verse and the ending chorus--very unfortunate, considering this is one of the very few Genesis songs Pete ever performed on his own (however my audio-only version, mentioned above, has the full song). He sings this song in a slightly altered version of his Rael costume--at least, he has a leather jacket on.

Pete has some interesting lyrics on here. "I Don't Remember" actually appeared on his yet-to-be-recorded third solo album, and is sung here with almost totally different words (I liked the final version better). He seems to have a bit of a memory lapse in "Solsbury Hill" and ends up swapping two of the verses. The same thing happens in "Modern Love"--the first verse is sung last. This may have been intentional. After "Modern Love" you get to see the band go into their dressing room and rest. They begin talking a bit. After "Lamb," the band once again go to the dressing room, and the camera cuts between there and the cheering crowd, almost begging them to go on again. But they don't, and the word "FIN" is splashed on the screen.

Now that I've spent way too much time talking about the Gabriel footage, it's time to talk about Hackett's show. This is my only copy of this footage. This one was shot from in the audience, on an upper level. The picture is really quite good, though the recorder sometimes has some shakiness, and the focus sometimes gets off. There is some audience talking at times, but very little and not that annoying--sometimes the audience yells some things between songs--this is not that bad and only gets irritating when they do it at the beginning of "Shadow of the Hierophant." The taper gets some great, clear close-ups of the various band members, trying to go to them during their solos, and he gets some great shots of Steve's hands as he plays his many guitars. "Firth" sounds really great, as though it's going to be a nice, original variation on the old tune, but it cuts off after the first few minutes--the guy with the camera seems to have gotten spooked and swivels it all over the place and turns it off.

It's interesting to consider this kind of a rock concert, with Eric Satie covers in it ("Gnossienne #1") and almost 90% of it entirely instrumental--the first song with any lyrics is "In Memoriam," which Steve dedicates to the recently-deceased John Entwhistle. On "Vampyre" and "Darktown," Steve uses a silly-sounding "evil" voice effect which is more embarrassing than anything else; when he actually does sing on "Camino Royale," you realize why he shied away from doing too many songs with vocals. There is a short video drop-out in "Darktown." The Genesis numbers are done quite well, especially "Los Endos," which features what I believe is a clarinet solo and Steve's favorite riff from "Moonlit Knight." Actually, though I've had a bit of trouble getting into Steve's solo material, I found this show to be quite enjoyable. It's a good band and they play their songs well.

VCD

For those of you who may not be aware, a VCD is a data CD, copyable by any normal CD burner, that when stuck into a standard DVD player will play on your TV. At least, ideally that's what would happen. Of course, not all DVD players are the same, and not all VCDs work in all players, but they seem to work for all types of people more universally than you might think. It's the next best thing to a DVD.

Pop Shop VCD (RVCD1)

Belgian TV (20-21/3/72): The Fountain of Salmacis/Twilight Alehouse/The Musical Box/The Return of the Giant Hogweed

Comments: This is another copy of the Belgian TV performance that I have above on VHS; this one is on a CD that is somehow playable on my DVD player. This is totally excellent, because this format is much more reliable than VHS, and much less apt to break down with multiple playings. The quality is not perfect, but it is worlds better than my VHS copy. It's the first in a series of VCDs from RVCD, or Rare VCD. I do like this VCD, but I also have this footage on DVD in a slightly clipped version and a more definitive version. VCD has a slightly blurry, pixellated effect because it is played off of a CD-R.

Bataclan '73 VCD (RVCD2)

Bataclan Club, Paris (10/1/73): The Musical Box/Supper's Ready/The Return of the Giant Hogweed/The Knife

Comments: This fully functional VCD includes the Bataclan footage that I have on a VHS tape above. There are one or two differences. The first of course is the different medium--VCD, more dependable. The second is that this footage is in color and the VHS clip I had was in black and white. The third is that this one is better quality. The fourth is that this one is missing the beginning (on the VHS tape the narrator speaks in French while the camera scans a graveyard--that is not on this VCD). However, this beginning does very little for me, since it's all in a language I don't understand and there is no music going on during it, so it's ok that it's missing. One last difference is that on this version you'll see the word "Jimmy" up at the top right corner of the screen during the whole thing. It must have something to do with the TV program or station it was originally aired on. Every one of the numbers on here has been edited in some way; for info on that, and a better idea of what the performance is like, you can check my entry detailing this in the VHS section. I also now have this footage on two different DVDs; the GMDVD version is probably the best version I have.

Tony Stratton-Smith Presents: Genesis in Concert VCD

Shepperton Studios (30-31/10/73): Watcher of the Skies/Dancing With the Moonlit Knight/I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)/The Musical Box/Supper's Ready

Comments: (See my DVD version, much much better than this one.) This VCD features the famous Shepperton Studios video recording, also known erroneously as "Oxford" and I think one other misleading place name that I don't recall just now (Colston?). I have this recording from two different VHS sources as well--the second VHS source is probably better quality than this one. This footage is very blotchy and (as usual) too dark. The source or master recording was also too dark, but this one is particularly hard to make out. There's no snow or picture rolling or anything of that sort, the picture is just sort of generally blotchy.

Melody '74 VCD (RVCD3)

ORTF Studios, Paris (12/2/74): I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)/Supper's Ready

Comments: (I now have this clip on DVD.) Just two tracks here, all that was played for this television program (called "Melody"). The band played on what must have been a solid color stage, because it is majorly blue screened and various odd footage is played behind the band, filling up all of the background (in fact, the glowing rod that Pete holds up at the end of "Supper" totally disappears, as it is the same color as the background and gets keyed out). It lends the whole performance a very surreal character which only compliments Peter Gabriel's strange mime-like antics. He is particularly freaky in this show, with heavy make-up, and there is lots of close-up footage shot in slow motion of Pete making strange expressions and gestures into the camera.

If the RVCD people were planning on one release from each of the early tours, they chose a rather odd one for this--the Selling England--tour, as to me the much more obvious choice is the Shepperton Studios (or "Oxford") footage of October '73. However, in the case of the Melody tracks, the visuals are very strong and interesting. I can't stress enough how nice it is to have these on VCD; even though the video footage is compressed, it lacks any of the bad picture shake and snow that you would get from a VHS. There does seem to be a near breakdown at one point during "Apocalypse," but it resolves itself quickly. At the flash powder explosion that comes at the end of the song, smoke seems to fill the whole studio and there is a hard cut to a smokeless shot which makes me wonder if they did a take of the song without the explosion...

Lamb VCD

Comments: This is a sort of compilation of various footage from the Lamb tour, most of it amateur and most of it fairly awful. The first section of footage is from a German documentary program called "Treffpunkte," I think, and is the best quality stuff on the disc. It begins with a shot of Peter in the Slipperman costume--in fact all of the different clips on here, without fail, feature at least one shot of the Slipperman suit. The German show continues with an interview of a man who I think is Bill Graham, the guy who was behind the formation of the famous Filmore clubs. I'm not really sure exactly what he has to do with the Lamb tour--perhaps the show was just looking at the Genesis act as a flavor of the current music scene. In fact the show is more about Graham than Genesis, though it's a bit hard to tell as the whole thing is in German. You do get to see some backstage, behind the scene shots of the band members, and Pete putting on his make-up. There's footage from "In the Cage" and a version of the title track from the album is played over some rather unrelated footage of ads for various contemporary rock acts. There are also some ending shots of the band doing the encore number from the Lamb tour, "Musical Box."

This "Treffpunkte" footage is about all this VCD is good for, especially considering the existence of Chris West's great Lamb DVD, which makes use of all this footage anyway.

After the credits roll on "Treffpunkte," we are treated to three or four other sequences of amateur-shot Lamb footage, almost all of it over-exposed, blotchy and silent. It's probably needless to say, but I don't know the date or the venue of any of these performances, and it's very hard to tell (except when Pete is wearing the Slipperman costume) even what song they're performing. The first chunk is totally silent. The second chunk plays a bit of "Cinema Show" and then a very small bit of "Moonlit Knight" over the Lamb footage. It has some speed and picture problems, and eventually breaks up entirely and cuts over to some even worse quality footage, some grainy and very over-exposed and totally silent 8mm stuff. In fact, the quality on the VCD gets steadily worse from the beginning to the end. The final bunch of video has a lot of ugly cuts and totally indecipherable images, mixed in with unexplained shots of what appears to be a "Trick of the Tail" tour poster or something. Then there's some more Lamb footage, accompanied not by the correct music, not by some dubbed over music from another tour, and not even by silence, but by a loud incessant roar! This goes on for several more minutes than I really wanted it to, then abruptly ends.

Admittedly, a lot of the stuff on here I probably wouldn't want to watch again, but I for one have very little video footage of the Lamb tour, and watching this I saw more of the performance than I have ever yet seen. It's also nice to have the German documentary on disc. (Again, see the DVD section for something much better than this.)

Genesis in Concert ('76) VCD

Comments: At the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow and the New Bingley Hall in Staffordshire, this is the same '76 footage I have in several other places on VHS (I also have a better version on VCD, below, in addition to several DVD versions, including an official release--so you don't want this one!). This is, unfortunately, the same kind of VCD as my Lyceum '80 one (below), in that it does not work in my DVD player (this may be because it is in PAL video format). But, also like the Lyceum VCD, if I open the MPEGAV folder and double-click on the single .DAT file that's sitting in there, it can be converted by my QuickTime player into a viewable file. So it is watchable. Also the quality is very nice, even if it doesn't exactly fill my whole screen. There is at least one hiccup though--the title for "Cinema Show (part two)" fades in twice before the song starts. This footage, unlike the RVCD04 version below, is not clipped on the sides. That's the only thing it has over the next entry.

Genesis in Concert (RVCD04)

Comments: From the dates above, whose venues are respectively the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow Scotland and Bingley Hall in Staffordshire. Yes, yet another copy of this footage (and, in fact, still not the last one--I have this on DVD as well, in bootleg form and as a bonus DVD item on the 2007 reissue of A Trick of the Tail). I couldn't pass up a release from the great RVCD people, and I'm glad I didn't. After all, my other VCD copy of this (above) doesn't work in my DVD player, and this one does. Also, the quality is quite excellent for a VCD--very clean, with no flaws that I saw. There's little reason for any re-caps of what this footage is, I've described it before and most big fans may already be aware of what it looks like anyway. I do find it interesting that almost everyone in the band is wearing funny hats for IKWIL, and that Phil stands on a raised platform in very bright lighting for his vocals on the end of "Supper." I also find it odd that the camera points at various audience members whose expressions range between boredom and quiet intensity--none of them look very excited. When I watched the footage this time, I noticed that while in the past I had thought the stock video they played during songs such as "Cinema Show" and "Entangled" and "Supper" was rather inappropriate and apropos nothing, this time I found connections to the tones of the songs, and I think it works pretty well. Most fans would probably rather see what the band is doing throughout the whole song, but most concert film directors probably find it hard to believe that people can possibly sit through a movie of a straight concert without getting bored.

I'd call this VCD the perfect version of this footage--I would, but it has two problems. One is that the video seemed off synch with the audio. This may be because at one point I used my DVD player's fast forward, and that may have disrupted the VCD somehow (I doubt this, though). It's not that far off, though, a split second's difference. Actually I've found that most VCDs seem to be off-synch a tad--not sure why that is. The other problem is that somewhere in the process of transferring this footage to the digital format, the picture was blown up and zoomed in so that the left and right sides of the video are cut off. It doesn't seem to be much of a cut-off while you're watching the songs, but the titles for the songs on "Entangled" and "Supper's Ready" are missing a few letters each: "Entangled" looks like "ntangled" and "Supper's Ready" reads as something like "per's Ready." This is somewhat annoying. Even more annoying is that the credits which play at the end of "Los Endos" are almost all chopped in half, because they were all placed at the extreme edge of the picture. When the names of the band members come up, for instance, what should have read as "Phillip Collins" looks instead like "lip Collins."

I have been told that the zoom was a hard decision made on the part of the person transferring this. VCDs have no built-in guidelines for widescreen footage and without the zoom the screen was very shrunken and possibly the proportion was warped (if this is so, however, one wonders how the original VCD avoided this problem, since it is not zoomed or chopped off--possibly this is because the original VCD was transferred from an inferior source and the higher quality source for this VCD forced the screen into a certain proportion when transferred). So it was either chopping off the sides and having most of a great picture, or leaving it unzoomed and having an overall warped and tiny picture. So it sounds like the right decision was made. This is a good copy of this footage, possibly from a higher quality source than my DVD version.

Seconds Out Promo VCD

Moody Coliseum, Dallas Texas (19/3/77): Firth of Fifth/Dance on a Volcano - Drum Duet - Los Endos/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - The Musical Box (closing section)

Comments: I have this footage on VHS, and it is probably better quality than this version (I now also have it on DVD, which should be the best of all). Almost definitely, since this VCD does not seem to have been burned correctly. Errors have been added in. The affected song is "Los Endos," which is rather littered with hitches--the video stops, as does the audio, hangs, and then goes to black. Then it recovers and starts back up where it left off. This happens multiple times, and sometimes right before the hitch it will play a split second of music from a totally different spot in the song. There is also a single hitch at the very beginning of "Volcano," though the whole body of that song and indeed all of the other songs except "Endos" have no errors. The footage is a bit blurry, but other than that is quite clear. There is one actual video error (not due to a bad burn) in the second verse of "Lamb," where the speed suddenly drops remarkably and the picture rolls. This lasts about one or two seconds and then the footage recovers.

The way the show is filmed is fairly standard; you get some long shots of the whole stage and some closer shots of individual band members. The stage show in '77 was not particularly amazing: they had a nice lighting rig, but aside from that you have to entertain yourself by watching Phil wiggle his bum. There is a nice split screen effect during "Volcano" which allows you to see close shots of both Phil and Tony. During the ending section of "Endos" (the "Squonk" reprise), instead of showing the band playing, the video pans and zooms over still frames of the band and the stage show. It's rather strange, as the still frames are not particularly good quality and it is sometimes hard even to tell what they are depicting. At the very end of the VCD, after the Seconds Out footage is over, you see the tiniest split second of what I believe is the beginning of the Lyceum '80 footage from 6/5--apparently whoever transferred this to digital format took it from a VHS tape which had both shows on it.

I have to say that I question the date I have put on this video. I got it from Simon, who is usually fairly trustworthy, and it is certain that the Dallas gig was played on 19 March (multiple gig guides confirm this). Also during the encore number Phil is wearing a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt. However I could not find confirmation that this particular Dallas gig was actually professionally filmed, and I recall that all previous footage shot of the band was shot over a period of several gigs, usually (but not always) at the same venue (see the Belgian TV spot, or the Shepperton footage, or the In Concert '76 movie). However this footage seems to come from only one gig, which is a bit suspect. A good piece of evidence against this all being from only one gig is that Phil appears to be dressed differently for every number! He's wearing his Dallas shirt for the encore, but during FoF he has a tank top on, and during the "Volcano" medley he's sporting a long sleeve shirt! Did Phil really change clothes this much over the course of one show? Hmmm....

Earls Court '77 VCD

Earls Court Arena, London (25/6/77): One For the Vine/Firth of Fifth/In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow/I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)/Supper's Ready/Dance on a Volcano/Los Endos

Comments: With this amateur, audience-recorded video, I am once again reminded why I usually stick to professionally recorded stuff when it comes to video. This footage just isn't that good. The sound seems a bit slow, there are multiple cuts of various sizes, and the set is incomplete. The video starts about halfway into "Vine." The recorder seems to have had a pretty close-up view of the proceedings, a bit off to the side. There are multiple jumps in "Vine," and the song eventually cuts to the end of the FoF solo. Most of the end of FoF is there, but before the song really ends it cuts into ITQE--here we see a weird negative effect in the video, possibly "post-production" stuff or just the camera reacting to whatever light effects were going on. That song cuts into "Afterglow." Part of IKWIL is here, and part of the "Apocalypse" section of "Supper," near the very end of that section to near the end of the song. Then there is yet another cut into "Volcano." We get some bits of "Volcano" and "Endos."

I don't know. I wasn't very impressed with this. The Seconds Out VCD is much better.

Lyceum '80 VCD

Lyceum Ballroom, London (6/5/80): VCD 1: Deep in the Motherlode/Dancing With the Moonlit Knight/The Carpet Crawlers/Squonk/One for the Vine/Behind the Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal/Turn It on Again/Duke's Travels/Duke's End

VCD 2: Say It's Alright Joe/The Lady Lies/Ripples (ending only)/In the Cage/Raven/Afterglow/Follow You Follow Me/Dance on a Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos/I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)

Comments: (I have a cleaner and more complete copy of this on DVD, under the title "Duke's Travels in London.") This is simply a VCD version of footage that I already have on VHS, above. It's very similar to the VHS copy; sometimes the VCD format can make the video look rather pixellated, but I didn't notice that much at all on here. It does have the occasional glitch, but nothing really awful or very long-lived. The source footage probably has most of the problems that this has: mainly, that the video is way too dark. Between songs, it's very hard to see the band, and the audience is basically just a black blob. As long as the lighting rigs are doing their thing, you can see what's going on. There is a high-pitched tone behind the main audio which I believe is on my VHS copy also, but which is not really audible during the songs. The sound can get a bit wavery, the slightest bit sickly-sounding. This is a professionally shot video though and has some nice close-ups, some nice direction, and doesn't look that bad other than the darkness. Also this VCD version has the exciting distinction from my VHS version of actually having part of the usually entirely deleted number, "Ripples." It has the ending of the song, starting from the end of the bridge instrumental section.

One problem which the VCD has and my VHS copy does not have is gaps or pauses. Yes, that's right. One might imagine--or rather, one might cling to the vain hope--that once one moves out of audio CDs and into the realm of video CDs, one would leave pauses behind. But it is not to be. Between almost every number and sometimes between intros and songs the audio cuts out and the picture hangs for a second before carrying on. This is particularly annoying during the transition from "Moonlit Knight" to "Carpet Crawlers." Very fortunately, these gaps do not occur between most medleys: the Duke Suite songs "Behind the Lines," "Duchess," and "Guide Vocal" are fine. The transition between the "Cage" medley and "Afterglow" is also fine, as is that between "Volcano/Drums/Endos." There are some ugly gaps or breaks near the beginning of the show, however, which come during songs--the end of "Deep in the Motherlode" and the beginning of "Moonlit Knight." The video almost breaks up towards the middle/end of "Afterglow." Towards the end of the second disc, during the last couple of numbers, there are several small hitches. The encore does not have these hitches, however. Most of the show is faithful to the source material and looks and sounds as good as my VHS.

Old Grey Whistle Test (Lyceum '80) VCD

Rock Masters Introduction: Featuring a Japanese bartender who is also a licensed Genesis expert!

Lycem 7/5/80 (from Japanese TV program "Rock Masters"): Behind the Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal/In the Cage/Raven/Afterglow/Dance on a Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos

Music Videos: Misunderstanding/Follow You Follow Me/Abacab/Turn It on Again (incomplete)

Comments: (I have this footage from the original BBC show on DVD. It is also now available officially as a bonus DVD clip on the 2007 reissue of Duke.) As far as I can tell, this is not actually a functional VCD--that is, when I stuck it in my DVD, it didn't play, and the guy I got it from had the same problem (this may be because the footage is in PAL video format). However, when I put it in my computer and open the two files with .dat extensions, they can be translated by my QuickTime player and I can watch the video. Not ideal, but enough for me. I accessed these video files by going into a folder called "MPEGAV," which contains two files that can be opened by QuickTime (AVSEQ01.DAT and AVSEQ02.DAT). The first file has the Japanese intro and the second file has everything else. UPDATE: I recently tried this disc in my wife's IBM-compatible computer (I have a Mac), and guess what? Her DVD player software read the thing. It plays the Japanese intro and then takes you to a menu screen from which you can choose which song you want to play, or skip to the music video section. As it works on her computer, there's a good chance it may work on other people's computers as well.

The source of this footage is a fascinating conundrum--I'm sure other people have this thing and know where it's from, and some day I may even do some research on it and find out myself. As far as I can tell without doing any research, it appears to have come from a Japanese TV show called "Rock Masters;" the title comes in at the beginning. Then we are treated to a Japanese man sitting behind what seems to be a bar and talking about Genesis in Japanese (no subtitles). Then comes the entire Lyceum Ballroom 7/5/80 footage as originally aired on the Old Grey Whistle Test. Then credits roll, and I believe this is where the Rock Masters program ends. Then there are various official promo videos, introduced by a title screen with the words "Genesis Clips" on it, with "I Can't Dance" playing in the background. I believe this ending section was put together by a fan who knew the basics of video editing (like how to do a fade and how to put lame, pre-made transitions in between clips) and had taped a few videos off of MTV. The videos are all of the studio versions of the songs, and are all available officially in much better quality. "Turn It on" gets right to the part at the end where Phil is about to start repeating the chorus, and is abruptly cut off.

It's nice to have Lyceum in digital video format like this. The sound for that portion is strong and very, very good, with some hiss underneath. The video throughout is a little grainy and has some lines at the bottom, but all in all is quite good. As mentioned at the beginning of this entry, I have a better-looking and lower generation version of the Whistle Test footage on DVD, in addition to having the officially-released DVD version. I also have a full professionally shot 2-DVD set of the Lyceum 7/5 show, seemingly taken from a handheld camera held by a guy behind Tony.

CAS Album Launch

Telecom (or BT) Tower, Fernsehturm Am Alexanderplatz, Berlin, 26/8/97: Not About Us/No Son of Mine/Lover's Leap/Turn It on Again/Various interviews with band, including making-of clips for videos/Congo (promo video)/Additional interviews

Comments: It took me quite a while to track this VCD down; it documents Ray Wilson's first live performance as a member of Genesis, a strange promotional acoustic set which was played to a bunch of journalists. The venue seems to be assigned various names, depending on who you ask, but one thing is sure: it's a terrible place to hold a concert/press conference.

But let's examine the video in the order it occurs. We begin with what looks like the very tail end of the video for "Congo" (the whole video is present later in the VCD), but almost immediately the television station (VH1 as it turns out, in a very international broadcast) switches to the Berlin gig. The host is one Alan Bangs, who introduces the show and the band in a mixture of German and English to the gang of journalists. It's a very strange space, because none of the audience gets to be on the same level with the band--the great majority of the audience are left standing on a ringed balcony one level above the tiny stage, while others are crammed onto staircases leading up to the stage. There are projections of abstract patterns onto the wall behind the band, and between their acoustic numbers (the set is listed above) Alan Bangs asks various band members questions about the new lineup and the new tour. Since the interview is conducted between songs in the set, and several of the band members have nowhere to sit, Alan has to weave between equipment and people to ask his questions, and the people not being interviewed are stuck hanging around awkwardly nearby. At one point Alan has to ask Ray to step farther away from the lead microphone. It's a ridiculous way to have an interview, and the journalists standing around in the gallery or (even worse) trying to find a good position on the staircases must have been very uncomfortable.

Still, the songs are well played. Nir Zidkyahu is there, playing a very scaled-down drum kit, and Tony has the opportunity to play guitar and keyboard. There is a hitch in the video before and after each song in the set--I suppose this is the result of some kind of tracks being delineated on the video file. The sound is very crisp and clear and Ray is perfectly calm (it occurs to me that, unlike previous singers of Genesis songs, Ray almost never forgot any words). Among the several inane questions the band has to answer, the most poignant for me was Mike's description of their upcoming tour, which they still thought would include the United States and which they planned would include a gargantuan set of movable video screens (plans which never materialized, even though Mike tells Alan Bangs that shooting had already begun on footage to be played on the video screens).

After the launch gig, the footage continues. What is mainly on the rest of the disc is interviews, most of which are totally useless to me as all of the band's English answers have been dubbed over in German (if anyone has managed to get a copy of this footage before the German audio track was layered over it, I'd love to trade with you!). There were the odd words from one band member or another that I was able to make out, but not enough to understand fully any of their comments. Directly after the launch gig, we see a clip from the video for "Shipwrecked" and, interestingly, a clip from the video for Stiltskin's hit "Inside," along with the jeans commercial it was originally used in (I'd never seen this footage, so that was a nice surprise). Then there are some interviews with the band. Then we see some making-of footage for the "Shipwrecked" and "Congo" videos, as well as some shots of what appears to be Ray in the studio, and some of the CG footage created to show the video screens Genesis planned to use in concert (this CG footage is also available on the special version of the "Congo" single--detailed on my CAS page).

Following this stuff, we move to a nice book-lined study where Alan Bangs is once again interviewing the band; except this time, the band are lined up on a nice comfy couch, and Alan has a nice comfy chair. Still, every question and every response are dubbed over in German, so there was little for me here, and the interview continues for some time. There is even a seemingly in-depth look at the making of the "Congo" video (which, I was able to gather, was filmed on location in Malta), with an interview with the director which may actually explain why there is so much water in the video. Then the whole video itself is played, and then we return to the book-lined study, and Alan Bangs asks a few more questions.

So I got exactly what I wanted with this VCD--the Berlin album launch gig--plus the extra stuff afterwards. Since it was bonus material, I really have no right to complain about the fact that I can't understand any of the interviews. So, a nice VCD.

Calling Chiddingfold Station VCD

Servicemen's Club, Chiddingfold, Surrey, 23/9/97: Domino (partial)/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/No Son of Mine/Firth of Fifth (instrumental)/Tour of The Farm

Comments: A neat chance to see some behind the scenes stuff with the band, this is a clip of some rehearsals for the CAS tour. The live band are filmed with a handheld camera playing some numbers in a large, open room. Many people are present: for some reason a group of what I can only describe as tourists (well, they're probably members of the press) seem to have been allowed to look on while the band messed around. It's fairly clear that the band were already quite familiar with their material when this footage was shot; the songs seem to go off with little to no hitches, and are played from beginning to end without stopping. The only thing I noticed was that Ray was a little rusty on the lyrics, particularly those of "The Lamb"--but I notice vocals more than anything else, so it's quite possible that some of the other players had some off bits as well. Ray sings the songs a bit more traditionally than he would on tour, since he hadn't yet settled on the little personal touches yet.

Let's walk through the footage. The very beginning of the VCD starts with some nice informational titles, telling you the name of the VCD, the venue and the date, and then actually listing all of the songs that will be played. Then it cuts to the actual footage, which starts out very stuttery and almost unintelligible. However, some tracking adjustment occurs and then it straightens out. The quality after that is generally somewhat pixellated, but the sound is quite good for having been picked up off of an amateur video camera. The color is a tad washed out, especially during the ending section. The first number is "Domino," but the whole song is not present. In fact, what we get is simply a bunch of portions of the song fading into one another. Mostly the video stays with the band, but there are also some random shots of a bunch of the visitors in a sound room with a mixing board and Tony Smith standing by. Amongst the crowd of people watching Genesis are also Dale Newman, their long time roadie, and several other technicians. After "Domino" Ray hangs out by the visitors and some chatting goes on, particularly some listing of where the various people have come from (they seem to be mostly Americans). Then the band play "The Lamb" all the way through, with the camera pointed at them the whole time; Nir's drums seem rather heavy in certain parts, as though he's not playing them quite correctly.

In between several songs you can watch the band fiddle around and tune and practice; it's interesting. The next two numbers are "No Son of Mine" and "Firth of Fifth." FoF has a nice guitar solo: Anthony had clearly already been practicing...After FoF Mike Rutherford comes over and starts talking to Nir, presumably about his performance, though I couldn't make out any of it. Then we cut to the "tourists" wandering about the grounds of The Farm. Eventually they enter the house and we are treated to some shots of the wall decorations (mostly posters and ads for Genesis). Tony Smith himself is showing the group around the rooms. There's at least one other guy with a video camera and lots of photos are being shot. Tony even shows them a chart made by the band with all the working titles of the album songs (including the songs that didn't make it on the album!)--unfortunately it is impossible to read. We see the mixing table and actual recording rooms, as seen on the WCD documentary video. Then there's a small shot of the storage room with equipment for the tour.

The shooting is very home video in quality, but who cares? It's very interesting and cool to have this behind the scenes type of stuff. I'm curious as to why these people were allowed in (are there regular tours of The Farm? I doubt it! As I mentioned earlier, possibly they are members of the media), and why they were allowed not only to sit in on a rehearsal session, but also to film it! But I'm certainly glad they were allowed.

Katowice '98 VCD

Spodek, Katowice Poland, 31/1/98: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Calling All Stations/Alien Afternoon/The Carpet Crawlers/There Must Be Some Other Way/Shipwrecked/Firth of Fifth (instrumental section)/Congo/Acoustic Set: Dancing With the Moonlit Knight (intro) - Follow You Follow Me - Lover's Leap/The Dividing Line - I Can't Dance (partial, from rehearsal?)

Comments: This is a particularly long one-disc VCD of various cuts from the Katowice TV broadcast. Actually it seems that two different broadcasts from two different networks have been edited together to make this disc, as the astute observer will notice the logo in the upper right corner of the screen change. "Lamb," CAS, CC, TMBSOW, "Congo," the acoustic set, and "Dividing Line" are all from the same channel, since they all have the word "Jimmy" in the corner (this is probably a French station, as for these songs any intros done by Ray are subtitled in French at the bottom of the screen--also the astute reader/viewer will know that RVCD's version of the famous Bataclan Club performance of 1973 also has "Jimmy" up in its corner, and is definitely from a French network since all of the interviews in that footage are dubbed into French). "Alien Afternoon," "Shipwrecked" and FOF have "TVP1 na zywo" up in the corner--this is probably a Polish TV network. The Polish songs are probably not as good quality and the volume of the sound is slightly lower for them. A clever person might get suspicious about the source of all of these songs, since there is no real indication that they are actually from the Katowice gig; but I've compared the song intros on my Katowice audio bootleg with these and they are identical. Anyway there weren't too many other TV broadcasts from this tour that these songs could be from. The overall quality of this footage is really quite excellent; it has very little of the typical pixellation of most VCDs, and the source VHS that I presume was used to transfer onto the original disc was clearly in very good shape. I only noticed one picture disruption, towards the end of "Dividing Line." This is definitely among my better VCDs.

The disc begins on a gray screen, but then we get a nice opening title: "Genesis Live Calling All Stations." The footage of the concert begins with a close-up on Tony as he begins the piano intro to "Lamb." The camera seems intent on asserting the fact that it's Tony who is the band's leader, not Ray. In fact even when Ray starts singing the camera doesn't switch to him right away. However in general you do get a lot of shots of all of the band members throughout this footage. It's directed quite well. You get lots of different views of the stage: there are distant shots taken from far back in the audience, close-ups of everybody, and even shots from under the floor of the stage, which for this tour seems to have been a raised platform made of some sort of plexiglass, allowing lights to be shone up at the band (one of the few clever things about the stage set-up for this tour). Unfortunately there are pauses between the songs. I have recently realized that pauses are probably the result of a VCD haven been broken up into "scenes" or "tracks." Because I have the ability to skip to each song, there are pauses between them. This may be an inevitable quality of "tracked" VCDs. I believe the RVCD discs are usually of one scene only, making for a smooth, pauseless play--but making it much more difficult to advance to particular songs. Fortunately since the CAS tour had no medleys and since the acoustic set is all on one track or scene, and since the footage is edited together in the first place and is also changing between different TV networks between songs half the time, the pauses don't really disrupt the flow much more than it has already been disrupted.

The stage set-up and the performance are very similar to the Vienna '98 show (my next entry). After the giant video screens of the WCD tour, the simple and admittedly elegant light show here is hard to get used to. The band purposefully did NOT try to replicate their previous tour show and went for something so toned back that it's almost the opposite of the WCD stage. About the only thing interesting on the stage is its floor, which for many people in the audience would probably be difficult to make out. There are also four columns behind the band that add the slightest decoration to what would otherwise be a barren wasteland. The lighting is interesting, when the lights actually change and move, but this doesn't happen as much as it could--probably due to the expense. The band members themselves are really not that interesting to look at. Mike and Anthony basically stand around, and Tony is....Tony. Nir is probably the most exciting person to look at on stage. Ray doesn't really do much physically, though some of the close-ups show that he has a very expressive face when he sings. For "Dividing Line" he actually goes to the trouble of running to either extreme of the stage onto little set-off platforms to sing some of the lyrics. The intros provided are typical for this tour; Ray's tale of his audition before TMBSOW, the scanning through radio stations before "Shipwrecked," and the introduction of the acoustic set which includes a mention of the launch gigs in Berlin and Cape Canaveral and an introduction of "the Genesis Brothers."

After "Dividing Line" the footage cuts to the end of the show with the band bowing to the audience, then it fades off and we are treated to an interesting bit of amateur footage. It may be the same venue, because the stage looks similar, but the audience area is empty except for a small number of guys who I would guess are roadies. The video is being shot from down in that area. The band seems to be rehearsing and we get to hear a couple of minutes of "I Can't Dance." Meanwhile, the roadies in the pit up front are all lined up and they do "the walk." It's very funny. The footage fades out and we are informed that "That's All." A very enjoyable VCD.

I should add as a final note that my DVD player froze up during the drum solo of "Dividing Line" the first time I played this disc. I think this was just an error on the part of my player and not a flaw on the disc, since when I ejected the disc and put it back in and advanced back to "Dividing Line," the song played all the way through with no problems. I think because this is such a long VCD (nearly 80 minutes!), my DVD player had trouble playing it all the way through in one shot. I reiterate though that I don't think there's anything wrong with the disc.

Vienna '98 VCD

Stadthalle, Vienna Austria, 15/2/98: VCD 1: No Son of Mine/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Calling All Stations/There Must be Some Other Way/Shipwrecked/Firth of Fifth (instrumental section)/Congo

VCD2: Follow You Follow Me (acoustic)/Mama/The Dividing Line/Invisible Touch/Turn It on Again/I Can't Dance

Comments: This was interesting for me, as it was my first real glimpse into what the CAS tour show looked like. This is actually a 2-disc video, even though it is still not a complete performance, and gives one hopefully a good idea of what a typical show looked like. Unfortunately it has some problems, which I will now enumerate. The quality is not as good as some other VCDs I've seen; it's particularly pixellated, though the problem may be more noticeable on some songs than others. Inexplicably during the first number a large white rectangle appears, blotting out about 3/4 of the screen for several seconds on two or three occasions. Between every song the video pauses and the sound is cut off for about a second. At times, the picture gets a little shaky--there is a particularly major break-up during the end of "Mama," which fortunately only lasts a short time (a second or so). The sound can get a bit crackly at times. The audio is a bit off synch with the video, I think. Also, all of Ray's song intros and all the inbetween stuff have been removed, so that all you get is the music.

Nevertheless, this is a fairly stable and well-shot video--you get some nice close-ups of the various band members, especially Tony's hands! Also some nice titles have been provided, which not only provide the viewer with the venue and date at the beginning of the broadcast, but also provide the names for all of the songs as they begin (these titles actually may have been added by whoever did the digital transfer, but I imagine it was the TV station's idea). The video gets an interesting type of inverse effect in some parts. I enjoyed the performance of "Firth of Fifth," because Anthony Drennan's solo was a refreshing take on the song. I was very impressed by his guitar playing (though I'm no guitarist). Also of course "Dividing Line," as usual, blew me away. The songs were all pretty good; however, I was left with an overall feeling of disappointment, because the live show seemed pretty boring! For the first three or four songs, I was convinced that they only had one color of light, since the whole stage seemed bathed in blue for all that time. Eventually the lights got much more interesting, flashing and changing color. But that's about all that the stage had going for it. There were four tall tubes/columns behind the band, and the lights had the ability to project textures and shapes on the back of the stage, but that seemed to be about it. Also Ray, though at least a satisfactory singer, had little to no swagger on stage--the full range of his presentation seemed to be walking back and forth and bending over every once in a while. It probably would have helped if his intros were also present on the broadcast. His air drumming along with the songs at certain points did not help.

It's certainly nice to be able to have some footage from this concert--this venue seemed a rather nice one, with a surprisingly high ceiling and a pretty big audience. This may have been worth it just to see Ray dance with the girl he plucked out of the audience for "I Can't Dance." I've always been surprised by how much I liked the Ray Wilson band on audio recordings, but their video presentation just seemed rather unimaginative--part of this might be the feeling I had through the whole footage that it was very wrong for Phil not to be behind that microphone. I think I would have even accepted the replacement of Chester and Daryl--I love those guys, but Drennan and Nir also seemed quite competent with their instruments. The loss of their front man of 20 years is very hard to adjust to, though. Say what you want about Phil's music career, he had a better rapport with the audience, and was (surprisingly enough) a more physical entertainer. And possibly a better dresser...

A few interesting last notes. Simon has this show in audio CD form as well as VCD, but his audio version has a slightly different track listing, and he claims that it's a radio show. David Dunnington does not mention this show as a radio show. My theory is that this show was only broadcast on TV, and that Simon's supposed radio show is actually just a transfer from a VHS recording of the TV broadcast. And also it's remotely possible that Simon's track list is inaccurate. He has LOC instead of "The Lamb," and "Alien Afternoon" instead of TMBSOW (everything else matches my list). It's very probable that these songs were also played at this gig--you'll see that the normal acoustic set has also been reduced down to only one number--so it's possible that other broadcasts featured different songs.