Phil Collins – Both Sides Tour: Wembley Arena 1994 – Gig report

The third and last Phil Collins concert I would see on this tour led me into the depths of Wembley Arena. After two very good shows in Manchester and Birmingham I was looking forward to it and thought I knew all the surprises of the show – I was wrong.

Phil took the stage dressed as Joe the tramp (as he did many years ago with another band) at a quarter past eight and swapped some drum attacks with new boy Ricky Lawson. These developed into the well-known rhythm of I Don’t Care Anymore as the terrific opening song. The momentum of the start was continued with Don’t Lose My Number. Both songs were excellently performed by Phil’s new band “The Indescribable Noise” – which was an apt description, for the sound that came from the stage was indescribably loud. The first of the new songs followed and I was delighted to hear how well Can’t Turn Back The Years worked in such a large arena. It is a very personal song, and I thought it might not be a good choice for a large arena like this. But it worked well, and Phil and the band got much applause for it. Survivors followed, kept up the momentum and became a good transition for Phil’s song for the homeless, Another Day In Paradise. Phil urged the audience to rather put some money in the collecting boxes than buy a t-shirt. He impressed on everyone that he really did not need more money. I Wish It Would Rain Down was another fast song and a surprise for me, for it had not been played at the two previous shows I had attended. The show then slowed down a bit for the mandatory songs One More Night and A Groovy Kind Of Love before the acoustic fire of We Wait And We Wonder sped up the show again. A wonderful display of musical and visual fireworks introduced Both Sides Of The Story, after which the first part of the show ended in thundering applause.

The fifteen minute break gave me time to ponder what I had just seen and heard. I concluded that Phil used the show intentionally or subconsciously to convey a message to his wife, his new girlfriend and the media. I wondered whether this element would be there in the second part of the show, too, and whether I was the only one who thought that. After the break Phil and the band returned to kick of the second half with In The Air Tonight. The older this songs gets the better it becomes. Daryl’s guitar sounded even more dramatic, and the overall presentation of the song has improved tremendously. From this point on Phil and the band played us a selection of his greatest hits. Amongst them was a reggae version of Behind The Lines, an unexpected allusion to Genesis that reminded me of Phil’s first solo tour in 1982. This latter half of the show also had some cover songs, the first of which was a brilliant version of Knocking On Heaven’s Door. The audience danced in the aisles. The show ended in appropriate form with Two Hearts, You Can’t Hurry Love and Sussudio and gave the exhausted audience a little rest before the band returned to the stage for the encores. The biggest surprise of the evening was when Phil appeared with bagpipes and the audience booed him. For a moment I thought he was joking, but then Phil began to play the old hymn Amazing Grace on the instrument which brought him even more negative feedback from the audience. I was very surprised that people reacted to negative to it, for when he did the same thing in Birmingham he had received standing ovations. The audience calmed down for two more cover versions of Get Ready and My Girl before the show eventually ended with Take Me Home. What is my take about Phil Collins 1994 after three hours of sweat and excellent entertainment? The presentation was as flawless as ever. The band did very well and offered best entertainment value. The only point of criticism is that the show was based on hits only. Next time please give the less commercial songs a chance, Phil, but apart from that do continue to make your “indescribable noise”!

by Alan Hewitt
English re-translation by Martin Klinkhardt
Poster image: George German

Setlist:

Drum Intro
I Don’t Care Anymore
Don’t Lose My Number
Can’t Turn Back The Years
Survivors
Another Day In Paradise
I Wish It Would Rain Down
One More Night
A Groovy Kind Of Love
We Wait And We Wonder
Separate Lives
Both Sides Of The Story

In The Air Tonight
Hang In Long Enough
Find A Way To My Heart
It Don’t Matter To Me
Easy Lover
I Missed Again
Something Happened On The Way To Heaven
Knocking On Heaven’s Door
You Can’t Hurry Love
Two Hearts
Sussudio

Amazing Graze
Get Ready
My Girl
Take Me Home