Wednesday, February 5, 2014

40 Year Itch : Genesis a Roma



 In February of 1974 Genesis returned to the country that first embraced the band ...as part of their seven month Selling England By the Pound tour. It was the Italians who truly championed Genesis as early as 1972. As Tony Banks said of the '74 tour:

It was kind of strange for us, as over here ( in England) we had receptive audiences but normally quite small. Then we went out to Italy and we were playing the Palasport in Rome to 20,000 people. 

That show, on February 5, 1974,  is considered by fans to be one of the ten best in the history of Genesis




   If you listen to the best of the Italian progressive rock bands from the early 70's (Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme)  you can hear the arty, melloton heavy influence of the 1972 Nursery Crime tour.



In the years that followed, Genesis had developed into the band that would win Melody Maker's pop poll for Best Live Act of 1974. As Tony Banks told their ace reporter Chris Welch, he wasn't sure Genesis was making loads of money on these tours.

It costs us such a lot to put on our big stage show, considerably more than we get for it. It would be nice to do a show without theatre, but people expect it and would be disappointed if we didn't.


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