The Musical Box Tickets

I have to admit I saw the 30th anniversay show in 2005 and it was better. 3 reasons, larger stage, better audio (couldn't hear the vocals at times at this show) and the drummer in 2005 was more like Collins.

My favorite album of all time is The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. My favorite song of all time is Carpet Crawlers. So you can imagine my excitement to see The Musical Box. I had seen Peter Gabriel sing some of these tunes in concert in the '70s and also heard a remarkable singer in Ohio before the days of tributes present many of the songs in costume and original reproductions of Gabriel. When I heard this production had the blessing of Genesis and Gabriel I was sure it would be excellent. Instead, I was utterly disappointed. The band was wonderful. The music was well played and delivered. The lead singer was terrible. The band played extra loud, I guess to drown out the inadequacies of the singer. He stumbled on the words, missing many, and the timing was off, often times his singing tunes at the wrong speed. Most of the rest of the audience seemed to love the concert. But I thought maybe many had not heard the album as many times as I have or been exposed to Gabriel or to the wonderful tribute I saw in Ohio. The singer was so bad, I could barely stand it. I actually left at the beginning of side three of the album, I was so unhappy with the performance. I really felt ripped off.

This was a wonderful experience. The band did a great job recreating LLDOB. They're excellent musicians. Unfortunately, the sound mix was off, so the vocals were all but completely drowned out by the keyboards and drums. Most of us there knew the lyrics by heart, but it would have been great to hear him clearly, as he's almost spot on with his Peter Gabriel impersonation. Still, it was a memorable experience.

I had always wondered what it must have been like to see Genesis at the peak/decline of their best creative period. This was a glimpse into that band At the end of the performance, I felt as though I had witnessed the band but it lacked the mastery of the actual performances. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the experience. I did. The performance felt.......staged. The band did stay true to the actual performance right down to the annoying tuning in between songs..My wife reminded me that this was a musical. nothing more, and nothing less. Would I see this band again? Yes, but a different tour of Genesis. I did have an issue with the beverage pricing of the Regency and the price of a $45 tour t-shirt. Come on, this is a tribute band. My wife had a (plastic cup of wine and a bottle water for the low price of $16. I had the $4.00 plastic cup of club soda. Go check out this band if you were a prog rock stoner in the 70's.

The musicians were great, effectively recreating the feel of the original. However, there were two problems. The stage felt a little low-energy due to all but the singer pretty much sitting for the whole performance. But the worst problem was the sound mix. The instruments completely drowned out the vocals on most songs, making it impossible, in my opinion, for someone who hasn't already memorized the lyrics, to appreciate the story. I definitely enjoyed it, the music was spot on, but the missing vocals was a big detractor. If they were to fix this technical problem, it would have been amazing.

I was astounded by the authenticity of the sound, right down to the vocals. Was truly like stepping back into the 1970s. The band did not have introductions, no fanfare, just solid playing, no intermission, and just the occasional narration to explain the story.

the musical box allowed me to see the lamb lies down on broadway, a genesis concert that i was never able to see. driving 3 hours each way was well worth the price. these guys were fabulous! every note, drum beat, every lyric was true to genesis. it was great to see a large crowd in sf that loves old genesis as much as i do.

I saw Genesis on the original Lamb tour in Kansas City and have always ranked that show among my top 5 concert experiences. It was a treat to see such an accurate recreation. Denis Gagné does a great Peter Gabriel, from his voices to his mannerisms, and the Steve Hackett performer was spot on. A few of the keyboard voicings were a bit off (who still uses an ARP Pro Soloist?), but the keyboardist's chops were right there. Maybe the biggest treat for me was seeing the amazing ORIGINAL slide show. I wish i knew more about its production - did Hipgnosis contribute? It was great to see the photos of Peter/Rael. I'd forgotten many of the images and had a whole new appreciation for this additional subtext. The sound was ironically similar to what i remember - loud keyboards often masking Peter's voice. Good thing i knew a lot of the lyrics by heart. I guess i had built this event up a bit too much in my head - so it ended up not meeting my expectations 100%. Probably had more to do with this being a cover band, albeit a thoughtful and talented one. But the chance to relive a seminal moment from my musical past was not to be missed and worth the effort. The encores were the same as on the original tour too - bombastic earlier Genesis. Besides not being the actual musicians, the only other thing that was missing were, as i stated in my title, those huge fluorescent black light fixtures that often sat at the foot of the stage. They would have made a huge visual difference in the Lamia and Watcher of the Skies.

The music and the performance was exceptional...but the music was so loud it drowned out the majority of the vocals. The Lamb tells a story and if you can't hear the lyrics...there's no story. I'm sure it had more to do with the venue than anything else, it's a small place and was just too loud.

Seeing the Musical Box perform The Lamb Lies Down was like going back in time to see the original Genesis show. While the band has different faces from the original, the sound was spot on! The theatrics and costumes were an added bonus, although the music was more than enough to make the show great!

The Lamb from start to finish, plus The Musical Box and Watcher of the Skies. Solid music, full costumes, no breaks. LOVED IT

I loved this re-enactment of Lamb Lies Down on Broadway! The Musical Box dutifully recreated one of Peter Gabriels greatest works in concert with Genesis and Peter Gabriel himself, using images from the original effort. This music is not easily duplicated! The band was brilliant! The vocals should have been mixed much higher though.

Simply amazing! Period. The lighting, the slides, the instrumentation, the wardrobe, the sound effects were so close to the original, it was a bit scary. Genius!

loved the concert! loved the lead singers act! one problem, the keyboardist drounded out the singers voice, could sometimes barely hear the voices over the instruments! overall this was a fantastic repro of the original!

excellent, sound was very good, lights were perfect. everything was very professional.

The Musical Box LLDOB performance was excellent. But the sound was not up to par. The vocals were almost always totally overwhelmed by the other instruments.

This was every bit as good as I was hoping and maybe a bit better than that. Wish I could have seen the next night's show. Band was very tight and professional and was just like stepping back into a show from the '70's. Wish there were more shows like this from bands of this era.

Having seen the original performance by Genesis in 1974, I was excitedly telling my friends that this would be like the original only with better sound. Unless the band was going for the full 70s Genesis re-enactment that included flawless performances marred by their legendary spotty sound mixes, Sunday night's show was a major disappointment, especially for someone who took time off work and drove 230 miles just to see the event. The sound man broke the cardinal rule of live front-of-house mixing, which is ALWAYS keep the vocals at the very front of the mix. We came basically to hear a band with a guy singing like PG, and left wondering exactly how much he sounded like Peter, because we could never really hear the guy. The sound was so muddled that no one instrument was really ever 'in the pocket". The whole mix was overpowered by keyboards and drums, bass was muddy, lead guitar typically showed up only on solos. You had to look at the guy sometimes, just to see if he was playing or not. I spent time standing next to the house board, in case the acoustics at my seat were causing the problems, but the mix there was identical, so he seemed to hear something different from the rest of us. Everyone I spoke to after the show mentioned the sound.. I'm happy to acknowledge the problems in mixing a band like this, but I'm a sound guy, and have seen perfect mixes of great complexity accomplished with a lot less technology than these guys had. That was a great system in a great acoustic space, and the band should have just sounded completely god-like. As previously mentioned, the actual stage performance was electrifying and virtually flawless, with the band performing even the original costume-change improvisations note-for- note, as far as I could tell. I'd love to tell you how much the vocals sounded like PG, but I can only say that he sounded pretty good in the few times we could really hear his voice. I totally loved the entire performance, but left really frustrated by the fact that it was so hard to hear it properly. A few other notes re the performance. It's really very weird to have the players twiddling and tuning up so LOUDLY over the introductions to the musical pieces. The lead guitarist seemed oblivious to anything going on around him in between some pieces, completely drowning out parts of the vocal narrative by testing out his guitar sounds, and destroying the atmosphere surrounding the story. What's with that? Gotta say the songs that faded out were a little problematic, as if the guys really didn't know what to do with them and were afraid of improvising anything for fear of offending the purists. I see a great opportunity to let a little of the band's own character slot in and create some interesting finishes. Also, speaking as a performer and a bit of a purist, coming onstage and tuning up and twiddling loudly prior to the performance went out of fashion in the '80s; again, it kind of blows the suspense and anticipation of the start of the show. Come on guys, blast out some Scarlatti or something to open the show, and do yer tuning and twiddling quietly under that. That's what The Guys used to do. All whining aside, I ( and everyone else in the hall) loved every minute of this performance, and found it amazingly close to the original as I recall it. The tumultuous applause brought the guys back for two wonderful encores, the eponymous Musical Box, and a earth-shaking rendition of Watcher of the Skies. A truly fantastic band who gave everyone got their money's worth I can't wait to see them again, but I hope they figure out their sound problems. Otherwise, the next time they play in SF, I'll be the guy yelling " We can't hear the vocals" in between the songs. :)

I was thrilled when this show was announced! The staging was very 70s'ish which was a surreal, amusing step back in time... but the music is why I went, and this band did not disappoint!! Great job!! This is no simple composition... it is a multi-layered masterpiece of rich orchestration and often unconventional, wry undertones with overtures of genius melody & lyric. If ever in your radius... Go! Why Mr.Collins retired, maybe he needs to be reminded of his roots and indulge beyond pop for real satisfaction! Thanks Mr.Gabriel for endorsing the faith... That's Progressive.

this band is amazing, letter perfect recreations of early-era Genesis. But I have to say, was the sound guy asleep? We could not hear the vocals well in the 7th row, they were often buried in the mix except when lead singer was doing very loud vocals. Very dissappointing aspect of a great show. I'd seen The Musical Box perform this some years ago at Nob Hill Civic and it was seamless. I do not recommend this venue and felt very upset about the mix.