Genesis reunion tour - will it happen?

I really hope it does; but also with every month that goes by I feel like we’re going to get a band who are more and more out of practice.

And especially Phil’s health issues make me wonder whether another year stuck at home might tip him over the edge.

 

If it doesn't happen, it would be great to see Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford work together again. Those two worked so well together for over thirty years and it would be great if they could rekindle that musical connection again.

 

I guess we will hear something soon. It will be sad if they announce the live reunion has become impossible due to Covid-19 but I would like to think they will do some kind of final activity (recorded show or some new or re-recorded material) otherwise it will end up being a very strange and disappointing final chapter in the band's history. Although of course many people would say the should have wound everything up a long time ago anyway.

 

I'm not worried about the other members' instrumental skills. I doubt they're going to be doing anything super complicated from the Gabriel era (even in the 70's Tony abandoned the "firth"intro which is probably the most complex thing in their catalog)...unlike some Yes or ELP the complexity was in the composition and arranging and (relatively) less the playing.

But yes, Phil's health and particularly his vocal ability are the only thing that worry me. Obviously they thought he was good enough to go ahead and book this thing, but from watching some videos of his recent solo gigs I didn't see much to convince me he was up to singing many more Genesis songs than he was already doing, and certainly not without some help from his army of backup singers.

 

It is odd that no announcement has been made yet. Logically, I think it's clear that it will be postponed a year, but there's a lot of money involved.

 

I would have thought some kind of neutral statement saying they are monitoring the situation would have been released (maybe it has) but I guess they prevent anything being too open to interpretation.

Any idea how much money is at stake here?

 

Not a Genesis fan but I think the situation of their tour applies to all legacy acts with aging band members. Without a vaccine or the miraculous development of some natural immunity, I don't think it's worth wasting your time and energy on if and when bands will tour. Social distancing would not make it profitable for any promoter to send Genesis, the Stones, the Who, Springsteen or any other aging act on the road. Even if a band requires fans to sign a waiver before entry, social distancing would limit crowd size. In order to make what they would have made pre-pandemic you'd then have to up already expensive ticket prices. I don't know how well off financially Genesis is but I'd imagine they have enough in the bank to last at least the rest of this lifetime without putting their lives and their fans at risk

Not trying to be a downer. For those of you anxious to see them tour I hope you get it but it's just hard to realistically imagine any act of this stature returning to the stage anywhere in the world right now.

 

I honestly can't believe it's even a question, there's no way this will be taking place. I'm certain Tony Smith is back to accepting that 2007 was the last time

 

I assume the question had no time frame. The reunion tour most assuredly will not be in 2020, but if a vaccine pans out this winter , fall 2021 is quite probable.

 

So glad I didn’t drop £300+ for a ticket.

 

I guess the band don't really need the money so if there is any risk they won't take it.

 

You've promoted a few shows in your time, I take it?

 

Live Nation is now rescheduling most of its major-artist tours beginning in mid-2021. I would assume LN has some reason to suspect that whatever research is being done will bear some fruit by then (keep in mind that this is a global mega-company with a lot of inside info). Normally Genesis would probably still be on the road at that point anyway, if the plan was to do the UK in the winter and the US the following summer.

All of which means it's not completely hopeless yet.

 

Unless there is a vaccine, they may as well postpone indefinitely.

 

I don’t believe that anyone (including Live Nation) has ‘inside information’ in relation to a cure.

 

There's a lot of info out there about the progress of vaccine trials, not all of which is public yet. I feel pretty certain that a company like LN would be keeping track of this kind of thing to come up with a relatively informed decision about when to restart business.

 

It will. Phil's finances were crushed some years back. Health is another reason: now. He can still sing....Steve Perry can't so Live Nation can't ramp up that offer. Dennis DeYoung can still sing but the masses eat up the Styx JY-TS stuff so they turn him down.

 

I appreciate what you are saying, but I still don’t think that anyone can realistically make an informed decision at this stage about restarting the music business as we knew it. Let’s agree to disagree.

 

I thought Phil would have been completely set up for life due to his huge 80s and 90s success but I guess his divorces have cost a lot.

 

Phil lives in Florida these days unless he recently moved.

 

This. They have the year set aside for rehearsals. None of them seem like the types to sit around twiddling their fingers. At very least I'd guess there will be be a one-off special of some sort, at best a new album. Whatever it is I don't think we'll get an announcement until they're sure it will work. The tour wasn't announced until they'd rehearsed enough to figure they could pull it off, new music wouldn't be announced until it's recorded. I doubt we'll hear anything before September.

 

Genesis - On Our Rockers Tour

which will be followed by the

Genesis - The Way We Use Our Walkers Tour

 

I'd be disappointed if a concert promoter had better access to data than the health care community. I don't think there is any certainty regarding it being safe to tour again in 2021 and promoters are making a best guess by postponing a whole load of shows a year. Of the three gigs I currently have tickets for, Steve Hackett has been postponed a year, Nick Mason has postponed twice and is now next year, and I fully expect the Genesis tour to follow the same path. I cannot see a safe way of holding any concert unless the virus reaches minimal, non pandemic levels, and nobody knows whether that will happen.

Phil is 69 and in poor health. Steve H is 70. Nick Mason is 76. None of them would have an easy time if they caught COVID, and being in a concert venue with thousands of other people is a pretty good way of catching it. Everyone has a best guess as to what will happen, but mine is that the tour will never happen.

 

I hope you're right, but I wouldn't be surprised if the band members were happy to consider that the ultimate final Genesis chapter with everyone involved is the R-kive documentary from a few years back.

 

Mike Rutherford must be pretty set up for life due to the big Mechanics hits but I imagine that this tour would have made a big impact for Tony Banks, who has never had any big solo success. He always seems like the driving force behind band decisions as well.