Concert Review: Collins Can’t Dance, But Genesis Walks Through the Bell Center

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On Monday at the Bell Center, UK progressive rock giants Genesis did not deliver a performance in line with cherished memories of their heyday, but given recalibrated expectations, it was a heartfelt and occasionally heartbreaking comeback 14 years after the last appearance of the trio in town. Genesis is back at the Bell Center on Tuesday.

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Much had been done before the shy Last Domino? touring the diminished physical and vocal range of former drummer and frontman Phil Collins, and sure enough, seeing the eternally young star walk on stage with a baton and spend the night sitting in a swivel chair is a reminder that even the stars of the rock grow old.

Collins, 70, has been on the farewell tour circuit for nearly two decades and has teased his retirement in the past, but this time, it felt different. He is no longer able to play drums and he needed two backup singers to play the highest and longest notes, which certainly surprised some in the audience, but over the course of the night, his vocal range grew a bit louder. He also knew when to direct his microphone towards the audience.

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After a slight delay to make sure everyone got to their seats, the trio – Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks – took up their positions with touring guitarist Daryl Stuermer. New to the fold was drummer Nicholas Collins, Phil’s son, replacing Chester Thompson. The rookie drummer got a booming sound treatment worthy of a Collins. Despite the 14-year gap, the current tracklist isn’t that different from 2007’s Turn It On Again: The Tour – the indelible hits of We Can’t Dance, Invisible Touch, and Genesis, nods to the Peter era. Gabriel, medley to cram in your crowd of crowd pleasers and some sinuous numbers, dubbed “The Longs.”

The band opened with the instrumentals of Duke Behind the Lines and Duke’s End. Then it was another from Duke, Turn it On Again, that drew the lead singer. Mom’s demonic laughs were perfect for an old hobbyist like Collins.

“Bon soir tout le monde,” Collins said afterward, before switching: “I’ll speak in English tonight, I think.”

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Land of Confusion felt timely despite its ’80s origins, though the bouncing toilet paper rolls and beach balls around Collins’ head on the big screen (the camera focused on the singer never stopped moving to make up for his immobile subject) brought an unnecessary lightness. Collins performed one of two “Genesis party tricks,” encouraging the crowd to awaken the ghosts of Home By the Sea. Collins left the stage for the instrumental second half as stage lights rained down on the remaining bandmates. .

He returned for an unexpected emotional high point of the night, Fading Lights giving way to an instrumental from Cinema Show and Afterglow, the 1976 closer to Wind and Wuthering. Collins touched the air wistfully just once on Monday, as his son banged on. Cinema Show, before pressing down on some of the early shaky voices to deliver Afterglow’s poignant lines with the necessary weight: “In a world I used to know before / I miss you more. “If fans are saddened to never see Collins play drums again, imagine how he feels, especially as his fellow septuagenarians connect with him.

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The band reconfigured their onstage setup for easy performances of That’s All, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and Follow You, Follow Me. On a night when the tracklist was predictable, Genesis threw a slight curveball with the inclusion of Duchess in its entirety, a story about a struggling artist in decline.

No Son of Mine returned the group to familiar confines, followed by a classic Selling England pairing by Pound’s Firth of Fifth (as instrumental) and the singing favorite I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe). Stagnation’s outro de Trespass from 1970, the group’s oldest song, was included for good measure.

Genesis closed the pre-encore with a quartet from Invisible Touch: Domino from 1987; Getting rid of everything; Tonight, tonight, tonight; Touch Invisible. The rhythmically charged domino remains an impressive technical display for Rutherford and Banks, who seemed unchanged for more than a decade, and Collins even sang it single-handedly as his confidence steadily grew over the previous two hours.

The night ended with the band returning for I Can’t Dance and a full version of Carpet Crawlers (with an intro by Dancing With the Moonlit Knight) before a final curtain call.

Was it difficult to get out of The Last Domino? to think that the question mark is anything but hedging your bets. Barring Collins’ better health, or just an insatiable desire to continue touring, there was a degree of finality to the night. And if that’s the case, it was better to have seen Genesis in its current imperfect state, including wrinkles, than without any swan songs.