November 2016: Project Silver Jubilee?

May contain traces of irony and satire

A look back

Five years ago we celebrated our 20th anniversary with lots of gimmicks, greetings, our own presentations, your thoughts. We showed the greatest and the most embarrassing moments from two decades of club work in a photo gallery, brought out a jubilee book and our second fanclub CD. The website special is still online, of course (here!). In our 2011 editorial we also did something we probably should not have done: We gave an outline of the projects we wanted to do. We know now that you would keep asking about those projects – relentlessly … that you would rip off our heads (and Peter’s nose) unless we realize at least half the list. And so we were really dead scared for weeks until we found the courage to check our announcements of 2011 (what we announced in 2011 has been marked out in orange)..

»1) The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Event 2012

You all know we are going to have our 20th club event in Welkers (near Fulda, Germany) in March 2012. Two full days are dedicated solely to The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Details about it can be found on the event site. The event itself is completely sold out.«

The event went well. We realize, of course, that only a fraction of the 100,000 people who wanted to buy a ticket could attend the event. A second event day was added so that we could at least try to live up to the demand. We know that we ought to have extended the event to at least 30 days, but Serge Morissette’s flight was booked. Besides, Christian is not used to spend such a long interval in Western Germany anymore, so we beg your pardon for that.

We have had so much compassion with your plight that we also invited for an Anthony Phillips Event in 2014. Again, one day was not enough, and Anthony Phillips kindly agreed to be our guest of honour also for a second day. In 2015 we surprised you with two special formats: At the request of his record company we hosted two Album Launch Events for Steve Hackett’s album Wolflight in Dortmund and Berlin.

All in all, we have come away with a black eye. Whoever gave it to Christian (compare the photo) remains his secret...

»2) The tour dates databank

This is a project that has been in the making for quite a long time. We are still working on it because we wand to be able to present to you a well thought-out system that is also up to the highest visual standards. Next to come – the song data bank.«

"It does not seem probable to me that Peter will complete this project in his lifetime." Helmut has always been the one for black humour, but he has hit the nail on the head. It is Peter’s fault, of course. He has the cheek of having a private life. How dare he!

»3) Special about Non-Album-Tracks

Have you ever wondered which songs have been recorded during the sessions for which album or which songs have surfaced somewhere else? We will shed light on these issues. Our multi-part special is going to start in 2012.«

No kidding: Ain’t it great? This is where we can really give big praise, for we have not had any hand in it. This one announced the Peter Gabriel Recording Compendium, which has extended to the present by now. Big thanks to Steffen Gerlach and Thomas Schrage. It was wonderful to lean back and let others do the work. Admittedly, we did not really start in 2012 but in 2015. But then, what are three years...

25 Jahre - really?

Let us get back to where we started off. The fanclub is 25 years old now, and we are amazed at how long this is. There is no definite “birthday”, but Helmut and Peter agree that “early November” fits the bill. So we declare November the jubilee period. All the rest is well-documented. The first it magazine in December 1991 and all in all around 30 editions of the it magazine, the first club meeting in 1993, countless interviews, specials about many people who have played and still play an important role in the world of Genesis but would probably have gone unnoticed, album reviews, concert reports and so on. We went online 16 years ago, made a fanclub CD, started an online forum, launched an international website, joined the social media, made another fanclub CD and had wonderful conventions with exclusive guests – there are so many important moments. One thing is absolutely certain, and we say this in all humility: All this would not and could not have happened without the band we love and hate. It could not have happened without you. Throughout the years and through all changes you have kept the faith, and there is nothing comparable going in Germany. Each one of us has experienced the moment where we wanted to chuck the job. You are the most important reason that we have never really done it.

We do not know what the future holds in store. In 2000 we thought that there was not much to come. Today we realize that there are limits to what we can do and we know that one day our battery may not reload anymore. We do not know when that moment comes. People ask us frequently about new it events or what has become of the “album of the month” idea and many other things. Much of this depends on how much time and motivation we can free up. Both, in turn, depend on our families and our jobs. We welcome everyone who would like to play a more active role and support us.

Since the last jubilee in 2011 a number of users have supported us by writing reports and other tasks. We would like to name some names here and kindly beg your pardon if we have overlooked someone who belongs in this list: Thomas Schrage, whom we sort of inherited from the defunct German Peter Gabriel website, keeps up his good work in this department and with the news items. Steffen Gerlach is the driving force behind the Peter Gabriel Compendium and actually has been a source of inspiration for our work since the founding days of the fanclub. Ulrich Klemt is known as one of the crazy people who have followed Genesis and Phil Collins around the world. He is also one of the forum mods and writes the odd article and news item. Martin Klinkhardt has translated the whole site from German to English (and vice versa, where needed); his efforts outside the it forum and the website are as important. Tom Morgenstern’s technical know-how has saved the day for many fanclub projects. Jan Kruse is an indispensable part of our event crew. Winfried Völklein has not only brought The Musical Box to Germany and Europe but helped us with the logistical nightmare that constitutes a major fanclub event. Uwe Brehmer is the lost son of the it event crew; he is not online, but worth his weight in gold when it comes to conventions. Robert Wershofen works himself into the ground as a forum moderator; he does not shy away from clear statements. Mario Giammetti is our counterpart in Italy. We appreciate his friendship and admire his journalistic work and the continuing existence of the DUSK magazine. Volker Warncke has supported us with reports, is always there when we have a technical problem. His input really has a special value for the fanclub. Many friends and supporters in Germany and abroad have also lent a helping hand.

The many forum users who give fantastic input, offered great suggestions and created statistics. Serge Morissette’s efforts, not only for the 2012 Lamb event, are invaluable for the fans. Peter Rieger Konzertagentur, Karsten Jahnke Konzertagentur and Lars Berndt Events kindly agreed to organize special fanclub ticket offers despite the fact that it means and meant a lot of extra work for them. Our wonderful (but dwindling) good contacts in record companies (back then especially Virgin/EMI, today in Eagle Vision and InsideOut and some others) have given us something back for our work and, which means even more to us, they appreciate our work. Our contacts with the several managements were sometimes better, sometimes worse, but our links to Anthony Phillips, Steve Hackett and Ray Wilson have been good throughout – our heartfelt thanks for that!

A look ahead

Let us endeavour to give you a glimpse of our plans, despite what we said earlier. The biggest project in the next few months will be the relaunch of our website. The forum will be included in the relaunch, but it should be the part of our website that will be the least affected. We are still looking for WordPress experts who would like to help us with the project. Please contact Christian.

We also plan another it convention - it will be our 23rd! We have not settled on what, how big, where and when it may take place. We are working on it. We cannot say whether this may be the last convention we do, although it may well be the case – after all, time moves on. But, first of all, the relaunch … maybe in September?

Until then, see you around!

Christian, Helmut, Peter und Bernd