Genesis Turns It On Again
7th November, 2006
Finally, some solid confirmation of a decade's worth of rumours! Rock group Genesis have announced a "series of shows" in Europe fifteen years after Phil Collins left the band. They will be touring as the threesome of Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks.
"Now was the right time," says Collins, who was asked why they decided to reform after being apart for so long. It's not about the money, "we're all loaded enough without worrying where the next million or two will come from," he added jokingly.
Tony Banks was also clear that it's purely for fun that they are doing the tour, and stressed that Genesis are more than the radio-friendly band that people think they are. He explained how the band has a more complex side that people have forgotten about, and that they are eager to remind people of this.
So what happened with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett? Well the band members were a little sketchy on what exactly had happened, but needless to say they aren't involved in anything this round. Rutherford explained that it was a choice of either all five members reuniting, or just the three, and since Gabriel wasn't coming neither was Hackett.
Banks elaborated on this somewhat in saying that they didn't feel comfortable going back to the hybrid band that evolved after Gabriel's initial departure and that Steve Hackett would have represented a middle-era in the band's evolution - although he did add that Hackett was keen to have been involved.
On the matter of what they will be playing, Bank was forthcoming in saying they will play material from every era, from 1973 onwards. They won't be playing Supper's Ready, but they will probably be doing Los Endos! As far as the band is concerned, they will try to avoid doing medleys, but "you can't please everyone all of the time," as Collins added.
With regard to their future plans, the band has discussed releasing the shows on DVD/CD, but no firm decisions have been made. Collins stated that the shows will likely be filmed, so they might be released in some form at some point, nothing in stone so far.
The biggest question on every fan's lips is "will they be recording new material?" To which Banks exclaimed that they haven't written anything new for this tour, but as Rutherford says "we're not good on long-term plans. Nothing else is planned, but who knows?" As of yet, no one does!
The "Turn It On Again Tour" plans to kick off in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2007, with the finale in Rome, Italy, in July. A total of 20 concerts are planned for this tour, with a possible North American leg occurring later in the year.
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