The Musical Box at the RAH.

Incredible gig!

TMB performed Genesis' 1973 "White" Selling England By The Pound set.

This was good for me because at the Rainbow in 1973 Genesis did their "Black" set.

Pam and I took our seats, which were pretty close to the stage, and when the lights went down I whispered to her "Prepare to be amazed".

The band came on and those heavy mellotron chords started and there,lit up by the UV strips at the front of the stage, was Denis Gagné with the Bat wings surrounding his head. "Watcher of the skies, watcher of all........" my spine tingled and I was transported back in time 33 years.......was it REALLY 33 years ago? No matter! I still had the same feeling I had then. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, my feet tapped out the beat and, until I got a dig in the ribs from Pam, I sang. What an opener!

Denis Gagné is unbelievable. Not only does he sound like the 1973 Peter Gabriel. Not only does he look like the 1973 Peter Gabriel. He even MOVES like the 1973 Peter Gabriel. The rest of the band are also very true to the original and if it wasn't for the fact that Bass player Sébastien Lamothe is left handed you might easily be forgiven for thinking it was Genesis circa 1973 but you never really lose sight of the fact that it isn't.

They continued with playing SEbtP note perfect. The instrumental section at the end of "Cinema Show" was breathtaking.....pure progressive rock at it's most beautiful and awe inspiring best.

François Gagnon hit the Firth of Fifth guitar solo superbly and the Albert Hall was filled with those soaring notes.

Seeing "The Battle of Epping Forest" played live for the first time in all those years made me realise how tricky that is to sing. I loved it. Even "Phil" and "Mike" doing "More fool me" sounded good.....

Britannia danced with her Moonlit Knight, the Cosmic Lawnmower knocked off for lunch and in the middle of all this there was a croquet match and an old man boogied away but ultimately died.

Could this get any better?.........well of course it could!! Pam looked at me and I just smiled. I knew what was going to happen next but as she hadn't been at the 1973 gigs this was a new experience for her.

"Peter" stood behind his Bass drum and started to tell the story of Old Michael, worms and birds. The Jerusalem Boogie was performed and then we heard ".....but to the birds this meant that Supper is ready".

"Walking across the sitting room. I turn the television off......" pandemonium in the Albert Hall. What is it about Supper's Ready that makes grown up people go peculiar?

20 odd minutes later and it's nearly over "...and it's, hey babe. With your guardian eyes so blue". A blinding flash (which actually sets fire to the stage and needs to be put out in a hurry by one of the road crew) "Peter" has suddenly changed into a white suit and we're done.

In the 1973 set Genesis finished at this point with no encore. How could you top what had gone before? Some people at the time were a bit miffed and so at just a handful of gigs the encored with "The Knife" and that is what we got here.

As we were driving home, I asked Pam what she thought of it and she said it was astonishing. She was, however, a little disturbed at just HOW like Peter Gabriel Denis Gagné is. It's incredible how he has every move, wiggle, hand shape, stare at the audience and story delivery down to a tee. Most tribute bands perform good, faithful, covers of songs and performances but always leave a little of themselves in there. The rest of the band do this but Denis Gagné is in a different world. If I was Peter Gabriel I think I might be a little bit worried that someone could become me so convincingly.

A huge thank you to The Musical Box. Your performance was outstanding and I hope that this isn't the last time you will perform this extraordinary music.