Genesis for Lunch today – recorded at Wembley Stadium on July 3, 1987, at the end of what became known as The Invisible Touch Tour.
I admit to not having run any post-Peter Gabriel Genesis concerts or sessions on Past Daily at all. The reason was simple: I felt that Genesis without Peter Gabriel was missing an integral element that had established them as one of the premier figures in Progressive Rock since the late 1960s and that the band, having abruptly changed direction to a more accessible, albeit more mainstream genre, was a disastrous choice.
Okay – so I was wrong. So this change from being quirky and cerebral to being hip and slick gave Genesis their greatest run of success of almost any band in the UK. Genesis, with vocals by former Drummer Phil Collins, managed to achieve a level of popularity the other incarnation could not.
So clearly the diehards from the Selling England By The Pound period were in the minority and this new audience would discover them and turn them into household names.
By the time of this concert, one of two nights at Wembley Stadium, they were selling out major venues. With between 100 million and 150 million albums sold worldwide, Genesis became one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Their discography includes fifteen studio and six live albums. They have won numerous awards, including a Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video for “Land of Confusion“, and have inspired a number of tribute bands recreating Genesis shows from various stages of the band’s career. In 2010, Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Since the band broke up (for the first time) in 2000, reunited and broke up again in 2007 and broke up and reunited for the last time between 2020 and 2022, listening to this 1987 gig explains why they had achieved universal popularity, once they shed the Progrock image.
Grab lunch, sit back, relax and press Play.
