Musical Box Revive "The Lamb" (December 2004)


Date of Performance: December 9, 2004
Venue: The Palace Theater, Albany, NY, US

The Musical Box came to Albany's Palace Theater Thursday, December 9th, almost 30 years to the day that Genesis graced the same stage for the same show (December 11th 1974), The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. For those who never had the opportunity to see Genesis perform their early works, the Musical Box is the next best thing.

The Musical Box faithfully recreates both musically and visually the various tours that Genesis did during the Gabriel era. This includes all the visual slides the band used, Gabriel's costumes and makeup, and even the same rare musical equipment the band used like the doubleneck bass/12 string of Mike Rutherford, and the beloved Mellotron to name a few.

As for the musicians, obviously Denis Gagné as Peter Gabriel stands out visually. Wearing the leather jacket and jeans as Rael, even sporting Gabriel's shorter hair really made the show. He was compelling visually as he jogged around the stage, and his vocals were terrific if a little hard to hear at times. The costume changes for the Slipperman and Lamia were the shows visual highlights. Drummer Martin Levac just has it all, a great voice (doing the harmony vocals) that is a close to Phil Collins as you can get. Plus, he is a left-handed drummer, and is follically challenged just like Mr. Collins. All kidding aside, he did an amazing job behind the kit, the perfect fit for the band. Sebastian Lamothe (Mike Rutherford) also shared background vocal duties, and lugged that double neck guitar most of the night. Eric Savard (Tony Banks) had all the classic analog keyboards and absolutely nailed the solo during "In The Cage." Finally, Francois Gagnon (Steve Hackett) as the others, performed flawlessly in his role, and I heard a couple people behind me gasp every time a solo came out, he truly had the Hackett sound down.

Say what you will about the worth of tribute bands, but the Musical Box created a magical evening for everyone. According to the local press, the crowd reached about 700, which in my estimation is a great draw, as Albany is not a very good music town. The band was full of energy and the audience was completely in the palms of their hands. If I had the opportunity, I would see this band over and over again. It is a shame that Genesis never filmed a complete show from the Lamb tour, but I feel as if I got the same experience last Thursday.


Added: December 19th 2004
Reviewer: Eric Porter

Artist website: www.themusicalbox.net
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