Tag: Phil Collins

  • A Farewell to Genesis

    A Farewell to Genesis

    Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks – Genesis to you and me – played their last ever concerts at The O2 Arena this weekend. I last saw Genesis play live in 1987, at Wembley Stadium on the Invisible Touch tour. Collins was a dynamo, walking up to the stage like a boxer, every bit…

  • Steve Hackett Speaks Out About Refugee Crisis

    Steve Hackett Speaks Out About Refugee Crisis

    We don’t always turn to the leading lights of progressive music for our daily dose of politics (see: Phil Collins 1997), so it was interesting to hear Steve Hackett’s thoughts on world events last night.  This happened mid-way through his set at Southend’s Cliff’s Pavillion, introducing “Behind The Smoke”, the middle-eastern (think Led Zep’s “Kashmir”)…

  • Aimee Mann – Live at The Union Chapel

    Aimee Mann – Live at The Union Chapel

    For troubled souls, into which category I occasionally find myself, where better than the sanctuary of a church? In this case, the hallowed ground of brilliant London venue The Union Chapel (they have an ice cream lady in the interval – what’s not to like?) where Aimee Mann performed her “doom folk and recession rock”…

  • Why Do Most People Dislike Heavy Rock But Think One Direction Are Good?

    Why Do Most People Dislike Heavy Rock But Think One Direction Are Good?

    Read on for my ten point action plan to make rock music more popular… Last week, I held a Focus Group on why Heavy Metal music isn’t popular amongst certain demographics. As part of this scientific approach, I surveyed a number of listeners of Radio 2, Heart FM and Magic FM to seek their views…

  • Genesis – Duke – Is it time to Turn it on Again?

    Genesis – Duke – Is it time to Turn it on Again?

    Duke by Genesis is perhaps the band’s best album as a three piece. Duke was the third concept album I heard (after 2112 and Nursery Cryme) and the first one I managed to listen to all the way through. I know it was a concept album because lyrics and parts of tunes reappeared later in…

  • My Big Sister’s record collection: less cool than Cameron Crowe’s big sister’s record collection

    My Big Sister’s record collection: less cool than Cameron Crowe’s big sister’s record collection

    Genesis were huge in the eighties (and indeed seventies). But with Nursery Cryme I got off to a bad start… In the film “Almost Famous” by Cameron Crowe, a love of rock music is instilled in him when he is bequeathed a number of albums by his older sister, Anita when she leaves home after…