Genesis – Three Sides Live Tour 1982 – tour report

Genesis On Tour (10) – Three Sides Live 1982

Dance On A Volcano, Behind The Lines, Follow You Follow Me, Dodo/Lurker, Abacab, Supper’s Ready, Misunderstanding, Man On The Corner, Who Dunnit?, Medley: In The Cage/Cinema Show/Raven/Afterglow, Turn It On Again, Los Endos, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Watcher OfThe Skies (instr.), I Know What I Like

…when you look at this set, you can’t help but be amazed. The selection of songs is very reminiscent of the Abacab tour, but on closer inspection you realise that these songs were framed by absolute classics, so to speak, and reached a fantastic climax in Supper’s Ready. Never before have Genesis presented ‘old’ and ‘new’ songs live in such close succession as at these concerts. But there are other extraordinary things to report about the 1982 tour.

But first to the reasons for the Three Sides Live Tour (the unofficial title of this tour), which had its roots in the release of the double LP of the same name in June 1982. Except in England, the fourth side featured tracks taken from the recording sessions for Abacab and Duke respectively. The British fans were offered something special by pressing live material from older tours onto the B-side of the second disc. Unusual and unique in the band’s history is the fact that they decided to follow up the release of this live album with a (promotional) tour. However, it is hard to overlook the fact that the English version of Three Sides Live has obviously provided the incentive to dig up old classics and play them live again. It was also officially announced that Genesis wanted to pay tribute to the 10th anniversary of Supper’s Ready and had therefore included this song in the set. At this point, it can be surmised that Genesis wanted to compensate the fans (who were very disappointed after the Abacab tour) with the selected songs from the seventies.

Shortly after the concert dates were announced, there was an immense rush for tickets. In England, for example, over 500,000 advance bookings were received within two weeks for the shows the group was planning on British soil. Genesis had become an absolute top act, with the organisers not having to worry about a lack of demand and empty concert halls. As far as the stage show was concerned, this time, for once, there were no technical innovations to see the light of day at the concerts. The Varilites, already tried and tested on the Abacab tour, were of course used again, and in combination with the dry ice used, unforgettable moments were created. Very attractive effects were also created through the use of black light. What the concert-goers were offered was more than just a few coloured spotlights suspended from the stage ceiling. The scenario affecting the audience was a perfectly staged visual spectacle that not only emphasised the music, but also enhanced its effect.

As was to be expected, Phil, Mike and Tony were joined on stage by Daryl Stuermer (guitar and bass) and Chester Thompson (drums). In the USA, Bill Bruford was also invited as a guest musician. He had previously accompanied Genesis on the A Trick Of The Tail tour. A similarly unusual event took place in New York on 22 August 1982. The brass section of Earth, Wind &: Fire made a one-off guest appearance there and accompanied Genesis on the pieces Paperlate and No Reply At All, which were included in the programme especially for this show. At the other concerts, the set was practically unchanged in both America and Europe.

As far as the musical performance of the songs is concerned, it can be said that the versions played were based on previous tours and therefore hardly contained any unusual surprises. Worth mentioning, however, is The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Watcher Of The Skies, the first encore at each of the gigs. The medley It/Watcher, which was played on the Trick Tour and released on Three Sides Live, provided the template for this new production. In Watcher, only the instrumental intro and end of this song were presented.

One of the band’s main aims on this tour was to play in countries where they had not performed live for years. For example, they also made guest appearances in Denmark and Italy, where Genesis had last played in 1975 on The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway tour. In Italy, the band celebrated their greatest successes outside England in the early seventies, and the frenetic fans thanked them with incredible enthusiasm and three completely sold-out concerts. Incidentally, Phil also took the opportunity this time to recite the little stories he had made up for some of the songs in the respective national language.

This is what happened on 10 September 1982 at the Wilhelm Koch Stadium in Hamburg. This concert, which was the only one in Germany during this tour, is still considered a fantastic experience in fan circles today. Genesis fans from all over Germany made the pilgrimage to the Hanseatic city and turned this show into a cult event in a class of its own, which was still talked about enthusiastically years later. But another unique musical treat also made this evening something very special.

King Crimson, who were also on tour at the time, were hired as the support act for this show (at Genesis’ own request). The fascination that Robert Fripp &: Co. still exerted on Banks, Rutherford and Collins in the eighties even prompted them to interrupt an interview that was taking place to listen to the sounds of King Crimson.

But that was by no means the end of the special features during that year. On 10/11/72, Genesis played at the legendary Marquee Club in London. On 27.09.82, almost ten years later, these hallowed halls were once again to be the venue for an unusual concert. Unusual because the group performed under the name The Garden Wall (one of the two school bands from which Genesis emerged). When fans got wind of this show, tickets naturally became highly sought after. Many spent the night outside the theatre entrance and by the next morning a long queue had formed. The concert was already sold out by 10.30 am. Only five hundred people then had the chance to enter the club, and of course there were hundreds who were to go away empty-handed that day. But there was no reason for them to be disappointed. Because the absolute highlight of 1982 was on the horizon: Genesis were playing another concert together with Peter Gabriel!

How did this come about? In 1981, Peter Gabriel founded the organisation W.O.M.A.D. (World Of Music, Arts And Dance). Since then, artists from all over the world have been presenting their cultures at so-called W.O.M.A.D. festivals. The first of these festivals took place on 16 and 17 July 1982 in Shepton Mallet. It ended in a huge financial disaster and a mountain of debt of ￡189,000. When Genesis heard about this disaster from their manager Tony Smith, they decided to give a benefit concert in aid of W.O.M.A.D. at the end of their tour. Peter, who felt partly responsible for the debts incurred, wanted to take part in this event.

This led to a venerable reunion concert on 2 October 1982, which went down in Genesis history as ‘Six Of The Best’. The rehearsals for this event took place on 28, 29 and 30 September at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, where the last three concerts of the Three Sides Live Tour were also performed. 50,000 fans from all over the world came to the Concert Bowl in Milton Keynes to witness the ‘reunion’ of Genesis and Peter Gabriel. Prior to this festival, John Martyn, The Blues Band and Talk Talk performed. Tony, Mike, Phil, Chester and Daryl took to the stage at nineteen o’clock sharp. A coffin carried by four undertakers was then seen in the spotlight. The coffin opened and out stepped Peter in his ‘Rael’ outfit to immediately start the concert with Back In N. Y. C..

This was followed by two hours full of enthusiasm, unique emotions, joy and fascination. To round off this incredible journey through time, Steve Hackett appeared to accompany his former band colleagues for the two encores. The following songs were played that evening: Back In N. Y.C., Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (Intro), The Carpet Crawlers, Firth Of Fifth, The Musical Box, Solsbury Hill, Turn It On Again, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Fly On A Windshield, Broadway Melody Of 1974, In The Cage, Supper’s Ready, I Know What I Like, The Knife. The weather was anything but appropriate for this concert, but although it rained practically non-stop, everyone present was happy about what they had witnessed. Incidentally, Supper’s Ready was the only time in those hours when it stopped raining…

Author: Bernd Zindler
Fotos: * Robert Ellis / # Alan Perry
My thanks to George German for his support with concert poster!

Tour dates Three Sides Live Tour (last updated: 17.07.2012)

Tourposter