CULTUURPODIUM BOERDERIJ, Zoetermeer

For those who know: it was simply breathtaking superb. If you have missed this show, you did miss a lot. For those who don’ t know: please read on… The Musical Box is a Canadian tribute band who have taken on the delicate task to perform the most illustrious Genesis shows as original as possible. I have never seen a band that perform all the songs so close to the original songs as The Musical Box. And then the theatrics: the original outfits, masquerades, tools and - in other shows - the images. Everything as close to the original show as possible with maybe one exception: Peter Gabriel surely was an entertaining character, even in his younger days, but his voice failed him every now and then. Denis Gagné hardly misses one single note, so in fact one tends to hear the songs performed even better than the original band did, as confirmed by more members of the great Genesis. As tribute bands tend to get more people to the venue than most neo prog outfits, this was no exception. Although Cultuurpodium Boerderij wasn’t sold out completely, ‘upstairs’ was open and the venue was nicely filled.

The majestic intro of Watcher Of The Skies gave goose bumps to everyone in the hall and although ‘Gabriel’ had one or two falters in his speeches, the overall message was clear: they really ‘were’ Genesis! Stunning renditions of The Musial Box and the superb song Get ‘Em Out By Friday, lyrically a true protest song from the early seventies! After a nice story by ‘Gabriel’ it was time for Supper’s Ready. Admitted, apart from singer ‘Peter Gabriel’ the show was quite static, but … so was the original performance! Tremendous handling of the keyboards on The Return Of The Giant Hogweed and again it sounded the same as on Genesis Live (1973). Seeing these guys play, one can only conclude Genesis in their heydays were a fantastic bunch of musicians with incredibly craftsmanship and a high level of originality. From the first ‘real prog’ album Trespass the band performed The Knife, one of my personal favourites.

As encores songs I never heard live before: Fountain of Salmacis from Nursery Cryme and Can-Utility And The Coastliners from the album Foxtrot. As all the other shows by The Musical Box, the authenticity of both the music as well as the vocals were extraordinary. In all its simplicity, the songs performed are probably close to the very best that Genesis recorded and should there be another opportunity, go catch this band live, you won’t be disappointed.

Setlist: Watcher Of The Skies, The Musical Box, Get 'em Out by Friday, Supper's Ready, The Return Of The Giant Hogweed, The Knife.

Encores: Fountain Of Salmacis, Can-Utility And The Coastliners.