They lined up outside the gates of PPG Paints Arena Monday night, some of them looking as though they were heading to a wake. The pre-concert partying normally associated with a performance by an A-list rock group was fairly tame.
These loyal Genesis fans had seen the images from earlier tour stops. They steeled themselves for the appearance of gaunt lead singer Phil Collins, unable to walk without a cane, performing from an armchair, no longer capable of doing the fabulous drumming that had earned him a spot with the soon-to-be hit-making group in 1970.
But if they were there to pity him as Genesis made a Pittsburgh stop on their “Last Domino? Tour,” Collins was having none of it. After all, “He’s Not Dead Yet,” as the title of the solo tour that last brought him to the Steel City in 2019 suggests.
With his self-deprecating wit as sharp as ever and enough strength to sing 23 songs, including favorites like “Follow You Follow Me,” “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight,” and “Invisible Touch,” Collins gave the near-capacity crowd what they came to hear.
And they loved him for it.
To be sure, Collins’ voice no longer has the same strength and smoothness that enabled such a seamless transition when Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975, and he took over as the lead singer. Yet surrounded by a strong supporting cast, including Genesis co-founder/guitarist-songwriter Mike Rutherford and co-founder/keyboardist-songwriter Tony Banks, along with American Daryl Stuermer on guitar and Collins’ son Nic on drums, he was able to make it work.
Genesis performs "Land of Confusion" at PPG Paints Arena. pic.twitter.com/BeJlzdLc7O
— Paul Guggenheimer (@PGuggenheimer) December 14, 2021
Though Collins appeared comfortable, working in a little tambourine playing and even some air drumming, it certainly didn’t look, or sound, easy.
His health issues have taken a considerable toll. They began when he dislocated a vertebra in his upper back during a performance in 2009. The surgery that followed only made things worse and caused crippling nerve damage in his hands that left him unable to hold a drumstick.
For the first few songs, “Behind The Lines/Dukes End,” “Turn It On Again” and “Mama,” it was obvious that Collins sounded different. The voice — lacking the power and pitch it once had — sounded tinny and a bit off.
It improved as Collins warmed up and by the fourth song, “Land of Confusion,” he was making the most of what he had in the tank with a stirring rendition of the song that reached No. 4 in the U.S. in 1986.
Collins introduced “Land of Confusion” by appropriately pointing out that “It’s been a s——- couple of years, hasn’t it?”
As the evening progressed, Collins was getting a big boost from backup vocalists Patrick Smyth and Daniel Pearce, who helped fill out the sound of the lyrics.
As he brought the core band members in close for an acoustic version of “That’s All,” Collins told the crowd to “please join in, it can only make me sound better.”
He followed that up with a version of “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” that probably would have made Peter Gabriel stand and applaud.
A couple of songs later came a powerful version of “No Son of Mine,” in which Collins made up with emotion and attitude what he lacked in being on key.
During “Throwing It All Away,” there were touching video screen images of Genesis members from their prog rock heyday that produced songs like “Ripples” “Squonk,” “Eleventh Earl of Mar” and “Your Own Special Way,” the band’s first charting single in the U.S. Sadly, these songs and others from classic albums “A Trick of the Tail” and “Wind and Wuthering” were omitted from the playlist, though they were responsible for turning more than a few late baby boomers on to their sound.
“Pittsburgh, it’s your show,” said Collins. And he rewarded his audience at the end of the two-hour and 10-minute concert with an inspired grand finale of “The Carpet Crawlers” to end the encore, encouraging the audience to sing a full-throated refrain. It was a soaring, perfect moment to end on as the audience poured out its emotions.
An ailing man, forced to perform from a chair, had given his fans everything he could offer, and they went home happy. Only time will tell if this truly is “The Last Domino.”
