As part of Uber's 27th annual birthday bash, Sunday the 5th played host to a fantastic concert presented by Mr. Phil Collins. The former Genesis drummer and frontman was swinging through Texas on his "First Final Farewell Tour", a cheeky name obviously poking fun at performers such as Cher, who came through Houston three times on her farewell tour. This jab was even denoted by the tickets proclaiming a "Final? Night with Phil Collins". Well, yours truly had a prime seat approximately 5 rows up on stage left with a great view of all the action, and was psyched and jazzed for this night since buying the ticket back around April.
The first thing to note about this concert was the abundant, very able band which accompanied Collins. Along with Phil, there were 2 other percussionists, a keyboardist, lead & rhythm guitar, bass, 2 trumpets, a sax, a trombone and 6 (yes SIX) background singers. I was wondering if Phil's voice would be what it was back in the 80s, and it turns out that old age really hasn't dulled his piercing vocals much. Sure, he doesn't hit the high notes quite like he used to, but he worked around this with some slightly different arrangements. Not nearly as rusty were Collins's drum skills, as right off the bat he showed why he was the drummer for Genesis first. A 5-minute drum piece with the other percussionists opened the concert, really energizing the crowd before leading into one of his jazzier numbers, "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven". From there, we were off and running.
The concert, which eventually ran 2 hours 20 minutes, showcased most of Phil's solo works. There were a couple of his solo numbers he didn't perform which I had hoped for, including the brilliant "I Wish It Would Rain Down". But perhaps most surprising is the fact that he performed only one Genesis tune. You'd think he would want to showcase more of the Collins-fronted era Genesis tunes, including tunes such as "Land of Confusion", "Tonight Tonight Tonight' or "Invisible Touch". However, the only morsel the capacity audience got was the fantastic "Misunderstanding", complete with the original video playing overhead. The pyrotechnics were kept at a minimum at this show, with the main feature being a giant light wall behind the band's two-level riser.
If you enjoyed Phil Collins's solo work, then this was definately the concert to be at. From his ballads to the jazzier tunes, from Sussudio to Tarzan, there was a little something for everyone. Sure, Collins said in concert that this would be his last tour, but I'll believe that when I see it. So long as he's able to pack a venue like the Toyota Center, I don't see him going away just yet. Top that off with the fact that he'll probably still be churning out studio albums and doing work for Disney, and I don't think we've heard the last of Phil Collins. Now if only Genesis would get together for a reunion tour...
