Regenesis - Lamb For Supper - Live 2001

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Mystic Records
Catalog Number: MYS CD 149
Format: CD
Total Time: 64:51:00

Whereas bands have always played their versions of other people's songs, whether it be securing the rights to a songwriter's words and music and making the song your own or taking an already recorded piece and putting your spin on it. And at present, there are a rash of tribute albums to not only classic bands that deserve the accolade but bands who have maybe only one album under their belt. But here we have a twist on the cover band and it is a mini-trend centered on one band in particular - Genesis. There are at least 25 different Genesis tribute bands, ReGenesis being but one. The other two widely known are The Musical Box and Invisible Touch. But, there's a twist with all this that takes the cover band idea one step further. Each of these three bands - two in the UK, one in Canada - seeks to recreate the live Genesis experience. ReGenesis cover the period from Trespass through The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway -- in short, the Gabriel years. The Musical Box covers roughly the same period, doing their thing in Canada. Invisible Touch, who has broken up but plan to reform with a new name, covers both the Gabriel and Collins period. (To see who the other 22 groups are, there is a resource that links to them all at genesisresource.8m.com/bands.htm).

In 2001, ReGenesis played at the G2 fan convention in March of that year, the highlights from which form the content of this CD, Lamb For Supper - Live 2001. One has to look at this CD from two perspectives: how faithful is it to Genesis and how does it hold up as a live recording itself. Well, having never seen Genesis live at all, I can't tell you how faithfully they captured the Genesis experience, but I can say that if I were given this to listen to without being told who it was, I probably wouldn't question whether it was Genesis or not. Vocalist Tony Patterson does Gabriel very well... As a live recording, there are places where volume is too quiet, notably right with the first track "Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging," but the levels go up with "Chamber Of 32 Doors." I swear that Patterson/Gabriel nearly starts laughing at a couple of points during "The Colony Of Slippermen," which, if not part of the recreation, suggests that they were having fun up there. One never knows, though there is a video available that would answer that question, of course. Actually, if they weren't having fun, they wouldn't be doing it, I'm sure.

The rest of the cast are: playing Steve Hackett is Steve March, Phil Collins is played by Jamie Fisher and for two tracks by Nigel Appleton (also this album's recording engineer and co-masterer), Mike Rutherford is played by Andy Hyam, and Tony Banks by Doug Melbourne (producer, engineer, masterer, and mixer).

One of my personal favourite Genesis tracks, I suspect a favourite of a great many Genesis fans, is "Supper's Ready." March does a great job playing the delicate guitar phrases of 'Lover's Leap." The mix does suffer a bit during "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" as drums and percussion are very up in the mix, though Marsh's guitar comes through well. Basically, it's the keys and bass that get buried, until it's time for their spotlight. They certainly were having fun during "Willow Farm," which here sounds even more like a Monty Python skit.

The CD ends with "Dance On A Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos," which gives us some idea of what Genesis would have sounded like had Gabriel stayed and recorded A Trick Of The Tail with the rest of the band. In other words, Patterson doesn't slip into a Collins mode for this track. The drum duet is between the current drummer Fisher and the band's former drummer Appleton. Many times a drum solo becomes boring if too long... when it becomes about the drummer rather than the drums. But with this duet, which may or may not have been part of a Genesis show -- I do have a memory of seeing Collins duet with Chester Thompson on some live video, though I can't recall now what it was, and this sounds an awful lot like what I heard. Terrific drumming nonetheless. I'm always impressed by anyone who makes intelligent use of the entire kit and Collins (and here Fisher and Appleton) is one of them (Carl Palmer, Neil Peart, and Ian Mosley are three others that come to mind immediately).

One might well wonder, what's the point? If the musicians of ReGenesis weren't good, they wouldn't be able to pull this off. I mean, if you are going to recreate the sound of a band like Genesis, you've got to have the same chops. And pull it off ReGenesis do. The live sound is only half of the story, as they recreate the experience down to the costumes and stage setting. But, if you look at the official Genesis canon, you realize that there isn't a live album that covers the Lamb period, as Gabriel had left by the time Seconds Out was recorded, and even then only two pieces were played. So, ReGenesis (and The Musical Box) fill a void, making it possible to at least imagine what it would have been like for those who couldn't then, and certainly those who can't now, know what it was like. And to answer another part of that question - it's fun. The band answers this question thusly:

• Because we like Genesis
• Because we're mad
• Because the music is a challenge to any musician, both technically and in terms of getting all the right sounds
• Because Genesis don't play it anymore [...]
• Because a lot of people keep turning up to our gigs!

So there!

On its own, it is an enjoyable live release. You can hear an enthusiastic crowd, but they aren't distracting and don't get in the way of hearing the performance. It is a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and comes recommended, not just to classic Genesis fans.

ReGenesis will be playing in the UK in October 2002

Tracklisting:
Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging / Chamber Of 32 Doors / The Lamia / Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats / The Colony Of Slippermen / Supper's Ready / Dance On A Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos

Musicians:
Tony Patterson - vocals, flute, tambourine
Steve Marsh - lead guitar, 12-string, backing vocals
Andy Hyam - bass, bass pedals, 12-string guitars
Doug Melbourne - keyboards, backing vocals
Jamie Fisher - drums, electronic percussion
Nigel Appleton - drums (6, 7)

Discography:
ReGenesis Live (1996)
Here It Comes Again (1998)
Lamb For Supper - Live 2001 (2001)
ReGenesis Official Bootleg (2003)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin UK

Added: August 11th 2002
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: www.regenesis-music.com
Hits: 2720
Language: english