Uploaded September 2009 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
Okay, well here at last is my INTERPRETATION of this wonderful live track by Genesis - taken from their Wembley Concert in 1987. As an aside, I might add that I was in the audience that night!! Never managed to spot myself on the dvd that you can buy though :-(
I don't know about you lot, but this is one of the few 'modern' Genesis numbers that I like (for me, 'modern is defined as anything after 'Abacab', but a lot of you will say modern is anything after Wind & Wuthering, or Lamb Lies Down!!!!!). Anyway, I happen to love this track. Not just because it is very 'drummy', but the whole epic deep bass note thing that Rutherford likes doing with those pedals of his, and the tune and stuff - I think it's great!
Phil and Chester play a lot of electronic stuff in this, making it very hard to copy and 'sound right'. Anyway I had a go.
I have to say that recording this has been very frustrating for me. Little mistakes in every take I did. I rehearsed it 'perfectly' last week (what I mean is, I played exactly what I intended to play), but this weekend, with the big red recording light on, I just kept messing up. So this final take is the best I could manage. Mistakes creep in in the last 45 seconds or so. Oh well!
Sound levels have been very difficult to get right. I have had to play the background music very loudly so that you have any chance of hearing it during the verses and the drum solo/duet. As a result some of the subtle cymbal stuff I try to play between big tom fills, just can't be heard. Also my poor camcorder can't quite cope with all the noise so you cannot quite hear the three 32nd notes on the toms in the verses (it sounds like a straight 16th note roll) - I promise I do play them :-)
I try to play some of the key cymbal accents in the verses, even though many of these are, I think, a background drum machine (like the opening thing). I LOVE the ride accents at 1'13, by the way - have a listen again.
Whilst I mention the cymbal intro thing - that is REALLY awkward. Yes, really. Go on, have a go! If you want to know, there are 7 of those little splash cymbal things, but they occur after every THIRD set of 16th note accents on the hi hat. Exactly. It is really odd, and very hard to count up to 7 whilst thinking about the threes............
Note the bass drum pattern in the chorus'. There are TWO eigth notes! I always used to play just the one.! This is a bitch given the two different tom fills to be played on top.
The tom fills in the chorus' are of two types - the long roll, and the short pair of 4s. Phil keeps swopping which one he plays after every bar. Semi randomly, of course! Now play the bass drum notes at the same time, and things get a bit ify! And it is VERY easy to play the big snare backbeat too early - as I do!
At 2'20 note the sneaky tom accent thing! Very easy to miss.
In the drum solo/duet, it's hard to decide how to cover it. Remember this is both Phil and Chester playing together. I start off mostly playing Phil's part (I think) and gradually progress to Chester's part. Note the use of the djembe for that extra accent. Things are not helped by my use of an acoustic kit to try and recreate the amazing electronic soundscape of Phil and Chester. The double bass drum finish that I do is not what they do as far as I know, but it seems to help it sound closer to the original. I found it very hard to make myself finish that double bass roll on an 'and'!
On the outro/chorus it is incredibly difficult to play the correct progression / combination of tom fills - I suspect Phil changed it every night. Chester plays the snare and bass drum, and notice how the bass drum pattern keeps changing. Two's, threes, accents AFTER the snare drum, even a four. Take it from me, if you want to play Chester's part AND Phil's part all at once, this bit is mind-boggling! It's that bass drum pattern changing beneath those fills that does your head in. I got it right all the way up until about 4'45 when I finally relax and make the mistake of grinning. Doh! I start to get the progressions wrong. Pants!
Its been great fun learning this one, but I suspect my neighbours are now sick of it! This was WAY loud and rocked the whole village. Ho! Ho!
Hope you enjoy.
Okay, well here at last is my INTERPRETATION of this wonderful live track by Genesis - taken from their Wembley Concert in 1987. As an aside, I might add that I was in the audience that night!! Never managed to spot myself on the dvd that you can buy though :-(
I don't know about you lot, but this is one of the few 'modern' Genesis numbers that I like (for me, 'modern is defined as anything after 'Abacab', but a lot of you will say modern is anything after Wind & Wuthering, or Lamb Lies Down!!!!!). Anyway, I happen to love this track. Not just because it is very 'drummy', but the whole epic deep bass note thing that Rutherford likes doing with those pedals of his, and the tune and stuff - I think it's great!
Phil and Chester play a lot of electronic stuff in this, making it very hard to copy and 'sound right'. Anyway I had a go.
I have to say that recording this has been very frustrating for me. Little mistakes in every take I did. I rehearsed it 'perfectly' last week (what I mean is, I played exactly what I intended to play), but this weekend, with the big red recording light on, I just kept messing up. So this final take is the best I could manage. Mistakes creep in in the last 45 seconds or so. Oh well!
Sound levels have been very difficult to get right. I have had to play the background music very loudly so that you have any chance of hearing it during the verses and the drum solo/duet. As a result some of the subtle cymbal stuff I try to play between big tom fills, just can't be heard. Also my poor camcorder can't quite cope with all the noise so you cannot quite hear the three 32nd notes on the toms in the verses (it sounds like a straight 16th note roll) - I promise I do play them :-)
I try to play some of the key cymbal accents in the verses, even though many of these are, I think, a background drum machine (like the opening thing). I LOVE the ride accents at 1'13, by the way - have a listen again.
Whilst I mention the cymbal intro thing - that is REALLY awkward. Yes, really. Go on, have a go! If you want to know, there are 7 of those little splash cymbal things, but they occur after every THIRD set of 16th note accents on the hi hat. Exactly. It is really odd, and very hard to count up to 7 whilst thinking about the threes............
Note the bass drum pattern in the chorus'. There are TWO eigth notes! I always used to play just the one.! This is a bitch given the two different tom fills to be played on top.
The tom fills in the chorus' are of two types - the long roll, and the short pair of 4s. Phil keeps swopping which one he plays after every bar. Semi randomly, of course! Now play the bass drum notes at the same time, and things get a bit ify! And it is VERY easy to play the big snare backbeat too early - as I do!
At 2'20 note the sneaky tom accent thing! Very easy to miss.
In the drum solo/duet, it's hard to decide how to cover it. Remember this is both Phil and Chester playing together. I start off mostly playing Phil's part (I think) and gradually progress to Chester's part. Note the use of the djembe for that extra accent. Things are not helped by my use of an acoustic kit to try and recreate the amazing electronic soundscape of Phil and Chester. The double bass drum finish that I do is not what they do as far as I know, but it seems to help it sound closer to the original. I found it very hard to make myself finish that double bass roll on an 'and'!
On the outro/chorus it is incredibly difficult to play the correct progression / combination of tom fills - I suspect Phil changed it every night. Chester plays the snare and bass drum, and notice how the bass drum pattern keeps changing. Two's, threes, accents AFTER the snare drum, even a four. Take it from me, if you want to play Chester's part AND Phil's part all at once, this bit is mind-boggling! It's that bass drum pattern changing beneath those fills that does your head in. I got it right all the way up until about 4'45 when I finally relax and make the mistake of grinning. Doh! I start to get the progressions wrong. Pants!
Its been great fun learning this one, but I suspect my neighbours are now sick of it! This was WAY loud and rocked the whole village. Ho! Ho!
Hope you enjoy.
