Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 8th 2010.

In the last few years, the music of Genesis and Phil Collins has undergone resurgence in popularity. Thanks in part to the welcome return of the band touring once more in 2007 and the seemingly bizarre sight of a gorilla drumming along to In the Air Tonight whilst advertising a certain popular chocolate bar.

Thanks to this recognition, the groups that have kept the music alive for many years are now reaping the rewards of keeping the faith. Some Genesis cover bands are happy to play the songs that the older fan will love but they don’t do too much from the later years when the band become the behemoth hit machine.

One such band that defies these conventions played at the Netherton Hotel in Litherland this last weekend. Face Value, led by the powerhouse of John Wilkinson (doing the vocal of Phil Collins), proved that for a good night out and a trip down memory lane, you don’t have go back completely to a time that has faded or totally forgotten. The band opened up with the superb Dukes Intro, highlighting the superb drumming of Wrexham Thompson, the exquisite keyboards of Tony Cole and the cracking guitar work of new boy Mark Tria.

The crowd lapped it up from the very first drum beat and the band seemed greatly encouraged by the appreciation from a smaller venue than they were used to, powered through some of Genesis’s finer moments including the thought provoking and addictive Land of Confusion, the creepy Jesus He Knows Me and the first radio friendly song by the band Follow You, Follow Me.

Sometimes, with a small stage to play with, the good bands can appear too dominant and overbearing and it takes real skill on behalf of the performers to cope with the audience being right on top of them. The lads were too professional to let either of these problems faze them and the crowd certainly played their part in this intimate setting by acting if they were at a more conventional music venue.

The band also took on some of Phil Collins solo output and mastered the afore-mentioned In the Air Tonight, the beautiful Another Day in Paradise and the catchy Sussudio.

One of the biggest cheers of the night was reserved for Keyboard player Tony as he magnificently took apart the opening section of the epic “Firth of Fifth” before the rest of the band joined in.

Cover bands may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but those that say that it’s not the same, miss out on the chance to see decent musicians keeping alive the songs that have been loved and treasured.

Ian D. Hall