Review by: Kevin Barrie
The Musical Box returned to Kitchener’s Centre in the Square on Tuesday, September 13th, performing the ‘white’ rendition of Genesis’ Selling England by the Pound tour concert. They promote themselves as more than just a tribute band – their goal is to recreate the visual nature of the shows as performed by Genesis themselves, with the original setlist. The songs are performed in much the same way as Genesis performed them, but often substituting the original studio sounds (i.e. using a grand piano sound, rather than an electronic piano). This concert at Centre in the Square included most of the Selling England by the Pound album as well as some fan favourites such as Watcher of the Skies and the epic 24-minute-long Supper’s Ready.
Genesis’ original tour for Selling England by the Pound took place from September 1973 to May 1974, and included two separate stops at Toronto’s Massey Hall as well as one in Kingston and Ottawa. The visuals of the show as performed in Europe and the first North American run included a white/semi-transparent backdrop consisting of multiple white hourglass-like shapes (see photos), onto which slides were projected, with heavy use of black lights. This show featured the greatest variety of costumes worn by Peter Gabriel, involving outfit changes for nearly every song, and sometimes within a song multiple times. While it is not as complex as the band’s Lamb Lies Down on Broadway show (also performed by The Musical Box), it is far more colourful. At this time, Phil Collins was not lead singer, but provided extensive backup vocals from behind the drum kit.
When Genesis returned to North America for a second time, in 1974, their show featured the same setlist and much of the same or similar costumes, but the white backdrop and shapes were replaced with a plain black backdrop and two circular projection screens. The Musical Box have also performed this ‘black’ rendition of the show.
The Musical Box are the only tribute band to have been officially endorsed by Genesis, and Phil Collins and Steve Hackett have both performed with them. Genesis has also given them access to the original slides and other items, such as musical instruments, used on their tours. The Musical Box were formed in the early 1990s in Montreal, and have performed across North America and Europe, often at the same venues that Genesis themselves originally performed (i.e. Massey Hall).
All photos by Paul Barrie
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