Genesis reunion tour - will it happen?

From the documentary it seems like the trio + TSS were the ones fronting the $

 

In the doc they indicated the band were all kicking in to fund the start up costs, and I believe Tony Smith too.

In older times when records tended to make lots of money, record companies would pay these costs as a recooupable advance to a band. And often even provide them a touring stipend as tours were often unprofitable but sold records back when tickets were real cheap.

 

In the US, at least, it USED to be regional promoters (eg. Bill Graham) across the country that bands dealt with. Here in the DC Metro area, it used to be Cellar Door, who I think still exist in some form or another. In the early 80's that gave way to big corporate sponsors. The Who 1982 tour was one of ther first, sponsored by Budwiser. Michelob was the big sponsor for the Invisible Touch tour. Anyone remember "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" in a Michelob commercial....?

That has since given way to companies such as Live Nation doing most of the promotion and sponsorship for these tours. Which is one of the reasons ticket sales have risen so dramatically over the last 25 years or so. To answer your question, Live Nation (and others) generally underwrite tour production and promotions costs for major acts, with a budget generally worked out beforehand. To this end, once the deal is inked, the band doesn't much have a lot to do with costs, including ticket prices. They get paid per show up front, with profit being split with the promoter, once expenses are recouped. For this tour, it appears that EMC are partnered with Tony Smith to promote and manage the tour. So by extension, the band is at least footing part of the bill themselves. I'd guess it's a relatively small portion.

 

Ubiquitous yes, especially for the years you cited. But so were loads of other artists. I didn't mean to imply Genesis weren't popular or well liked. I just meant that Genesis didn't have that one album that defines them the way that many other artists did. There is no way that that Mama album has the same kind of universal acclaim or the sales figures that TDSOTM did or that Rumours did and I think that was Rutherford's point. I don't think it was a comment on the popularity of the band or the quality of the music. But to be fair to Genesis, very few albums have that kind of acclaim.

 

I understand what you (and Mike) are getting at, but again, I'm going to disagree. Invisible Touch had FIVE singles top the US charts during 1986-87. At the time, only Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Madonna did the same, making Genesis the first BAND to do this. There was a point, where the "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" Michelob commercial was on TV ad nauseum.

No, IT didn't match DSOTM, but 6 million copies sold is still pretty incredible.

 

The Who’s 1982 tour was sponsored by Schmitz, actually. I do remember a Genesis commercial for Michelob

 

Yep, you are correct. Schlitz Light, in fact.

 

It didn't match DSOTM over the decades. But I bet it sold more in its first year.

 

I love Genesis and clearly remember how massive "Invisible touch" was in summer of 1986, but...Imho, for most of 1987, "that band" that one could barely avoid was U2.

That's not to underestimate the power of Genesis, but I think about 1987 and it's mainly The Joshua Tree... but that was a weird year; I believe three or four of the best selling albums ever, were released that year.

 

That was kind of the twilight era of sales of actual singles...and those singles probably reached far outside the prior Genesis fanbase, so I bet it had the side effect of cannibalizing, not millions, but at least a fair number of potential album sales. In retrospect, feels like a very rare instance of a quintessential 'album band' suddenly tearing up the singles charts on the level normally reserved for pure pop stars.

IT had already peaked by the time The Joshua Tree came out, even though it spun off a couple more risidual singles and a beer commercial, so yeah, 1987 definitely was U2's year. And deservedly so. Certainly their album had a much longer shelf life in the public consciousness than Genesis', so that alters perception over time as well.

Also, Genesis were probably never 'cool.' U2, for at least their first decade and a half, were the perfect balance of commercial friendly music but still inherent 'coolness' that seemed perfectly in-step with the zeitgeist (despite wonderfully avoiding most of the production trappings of said zeitgeist, which I suppose is why they remained relevant for a good 20 years).

 

For everyone pointing out how big 'Invisible Touch' was, how much of that came off the success of 'No Jacket Required' the year prior (which apparently sold over 12 Million copies). Genesis was probably at the height of their popularity in 1986-87 but mainly because Phil was so ubiquitous in 1985-86. Not that there's anything wrong with that / I doubt they'd still be touring today without the success of 'Invisible Touch'...

 

No question Phil's solo success contributed hugely to the success of every album from Abacab through WCD.

Doesn't change that it was a huge album.

 

One of David Letterman's running jokes in the summer of 1986 was that he would occasionally say, out of nowhere, "You know, I'm just not hearing enough Phil Collins on the radio."

 

Genesis never had a record that became part of the cultural landscape in the way that DSOTM and Rumours did…that’s what Rutherford meant….

 

Look at the question from the angle of "is there a Genesis album done cover to cover that would add to ticket sales of the current tour?"

Clearly true for Roger Waters and U2 Joshua Tree. Not true for Genesis and 5 man Lamb may even reduce sales compared to trio Genesis doing hits.

 

Well, what Mike said was that some bands have "huge" albums (exemplified by DSOTM, The Wall, and Rumors), while some bands have "classic" albums (not exemplified). Genesis, according to him, does not have an album in either category: neither a huge nor a classic one. That doesn't make sense to me.

But then again, we probably shouldn't read too much into Mike Rutherford the rock critic.

 

I think he means one album that obviously dwarfs the rest in terms of lasting acclaim and sales. I would agree that Genesis didn't have that.

 

Spot on mate

 

Unfortunately that's probably true!

 

Yes I knew that, I was providing an example of phil harmonizing with younger self or younger peter or current peter...all would be nice concepts on a farewell tour ...prerecorded or live

 

Yeah when I say satellite it really was more a nod to song title and zootv reference... I know it wasn't "live" and it did not matter

 

SEBTP and TLLOB are classic albums.
You'll see them in many lists and polls.

 

OK, but why is this necessary? Peter left the band 46 YEARS ago. And they enjoyed the bulk of their success without him.

 

Until two days ago, I've never seen IT in a store at all. I built my Genesis collection through CDs I came across, and the first one was Selling England By the Pound.

 

Of course Phil, Tony and Mike DO KNOW about the Genesis hit singles vs beloved album tracks

It's one of the most extreme cases with this duality between commercial success and artistic love between the fanbase

Currently at progarchives, there are 5 Genesis album in the top 100 prog albums of all times

1- Selling England (#2). Material from it will be played on this tour
2- Foxtrot (#7). Probably no material from it will be played on this tour
3- Nursery Cryme (#12). Probably no material from it will be played on this tour
4- The Lamb (#35). Material from it will be played on this tour
5- A Trick of the Tail (#51). Probably material from it will be played on this tour

I expect a VERY SIMILAR set from the previous 2007 tour (lower key ranges aside). in bold and Italic, the songs that are most likely to be changed in favour of new ones to be performed on this tour

1. Behind the Lines / Duke's End
2. Turn It On Again
3. No Son of Mine
4. Land of Confusion
5. In the Cage / The Cinema Show / Duke's Travels / Afterglow
6. Hold on My Heart
7. Home by the Sea
8. Second Home by the Sea
9. Follow You Follow Me
10. Firth of Fifth
11. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
12. Mama
13. Ripples...
14. Throwing It All Away
15. Domino
16. Drum Duet
17. Los Endos
18. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
19. Invisible Touch
20. I Can't Dance
21. The Carpet Crawlers