Genesis Closes 2022 Farewell Tour With Final Concert in London
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Michael Rutherford at the final concert, March 26, 2022 (Photo: Raph PH; used with permission)
Genesis—Phil Collins, Michael Rutherford, and Tony Banks—closed their farewell tour, named “The Last Domino?,” in London on March 26, 2022. The reunion tour, which included concerts in the U.K. in September 2021 and in North America in the fall, concluded with another 14 concerts in Europe and the U.K. Perhaps this was truly it—and this time it appears that it is, due to Phil Collins’ myriad health issues.
Longtime fans had hoped for a reunion tour with Genesis’ original frontman, Peter Gabriel. When that didn’t happen, it was hoped that Gabriel would join his former bandmates onstage for a song. [That, too, didn’t occur, though he did attend the final concert from the audience and Collins gave him a brief shout out from the stage. “I think Peter’s here tonight… Peter! Peter Gabriel, ladies and gentlemen… let’s hear it. I don’t know where he is. Maybe he’s the one shouting for ‘Supper’s Ready,’ I don’t know,” Collins quipped about a request from the audience for the sprawling track from 1972.]
Due to severe issues with his back, Collins, who turned 71 on January 30, is no longer able to drum. (His percussion playing is limited to the tambourine.) He has also dealt with hip issues in recent years and now sits center stage. The trio were joined on the tour by Collins’ son, Nic, who also filled in for his father behind the kit during his recent solo tours. (The younger Collins was born on April 21, 2001.) Longtime Genesis touring band member, Daryl Stuermer, returned on guitar and bass. Also on hand were Daniel Pearce on backing vocals and percussion, and Patrick Smyth on backing vocals and tambourine.
The band didn’t vary the setlist during the tour. The 23 songs on the final night were virtually identical to the band’s recent U.K. and U.S. tours, that took place from September through December 2021, with a mix of hits and album cuts. And, of course, the spectacular light show that has always been one of the band’s live hallmarks.
At the final show—the third in three nights at The O2—they took to the stage with the house lights up as the audience stood and applauded.
Watch them perform “Behind the Lines” / “Duke’s End” and “Turn It On Again” to open the show
Watch the great instrumentation of “The Cinema Show” and “Afterglow” from a closer perspective
Slightly before the concert’s midway mark, came “That’s All.”
There have been two distinct Genesis fanbases. There are the ones that embraced the band when they were led by Gabriel, as unique a frontman as there was. This edition didn’t have hit singles even in their native England. But that audience loved such early albums as 1971’s Nursery Cryme (with such lengthy LP cuts as “The Musical Box”) and 1973’s Selling England By the Pound, which included their first minor hit, “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).”
Watch them perform “Firth of Fifth” and “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)”
When Gabriel left, Collins took over as the group’s lead vocalist. [It’s said that Collins’ first concert as lead vocalist, in 1976, was 46 years to the day of this final concert.] Soon, the group were composing songs that were embraced by Top 40 programmers, leading to a whole new audience of fans who knew them for their singles, of which there were many.
Watch them close out the main set with their #1 single, “Invisible Touch”
They closed the concert, tour, and career as a band with “Carpet Crawlers” from 1974’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Genesis, The O2, London, U.K., March 26, 2022 Setlist
Behind the Lines / Duke’s End
Turn It On Again
Take a bow, gents! (Photo at the final concert on March 26, 2022 via Genesis’ Facebook page)
Mama
Land of Confusion
Home By the Sea
Second Home By the Sea
Fading Lights
The Cinema Show
Afterglow
That’s All
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Follow You Follow Me
Duchess
No Son of Mine
Firth of Fifth
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
Domino
Throwing It All Away
Tonight Tonight Tonight
Invisible Touch
Encore
I Can’t Dance
Dancing With the Moonlight Knight
Carpet Crawlers
Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours
Collins’ daughter, the actress Lily Collins, was at the final show and shared her thoughts.
View this post on Instagram
The last domino has fallen…the last Genesis gig ever: March 26, 2022, O2 Arena, London. A privilege to have been there #genesis pic.twitter.com/9V1L2GvocB
— Mark Nicholls (@MarkNicholls5) March 27, 2022
Genesis’ vast recording catalog is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
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3 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationNEED TO KNOW ,WILL THERE BE A LIVE DVD OR BLU RAY TO ADD TO MY COLLECTION?????????
Their management has said the shows weren’t taped or filmed, sadly. Seems weird.
Never say never. They’re one of the few classic bands where all original members are still alive. Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett are viable – Gabriel just put out a new record and is on tour, and Steve Hackett tours relentlessly. 4/5th of Genesis, even without Phil Collins, would still very much be Genesis…