“We’ve never been a tribute band,” says Sebastien Lamothe, bassist-musical director of The Musical Box, in a 2013 interview. “We’re not a cover band. That’s not what we’re trying to do. Everything we do on-stage has a reason, a purpose.”
For the past 20 years, The Musical Box have been recreating the Genesis live experience — primarily the beloved early-to-mid ’70s period with frontman Peter Gabriel — from every possible angle: the setlists, the gear, the surreal slides, the between-song chatter, the hilarious and bizarre costumes. This isn’t a bar band cranking out classic rock covers — in that same interview, Lamothe compares the quintet to classical musicians who dedicate decades to playing the masterworks of one composer.
Granted, Vivaldi conductors rarely air-hump while wearing old man masks.
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As 8:00 approaches, The Orange Peel begins to buzz. The Asheville venue is crammed with several hundred devoted prog dorks (mostly bearded, middle-aged dudes in vintage tour tees), who squirm in their folding chairs with sweaty anticipation — reminiscing about their favorite epic version of “Supper’s Ready,” taking selfies with their mostly disinterested wives. (Two nearby blondes, clearly there against their will, sigh while surfing their iPhones.)
Then the Big Moment arrives: Guillaume Rivard (“Tony Banks”) eases into “Watcher of the Skies,” his very first ethereal mellotron chord earning a hoard of gasps as Denis Gagné (“Peter Gabriel”) menacingly strolls on-stage decked out in Gabriel’s iconic Batwings costume. Suddenly, it’s 1973.
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On this particular tour (possibly their last), the band is alternating between Foxtrot and Selling England By the Pound setlists, and the Asheville date was, luckily, the latter: Selling England is, pound-for-pound, the richest album in the Genesis oeuvre, offering both progressive epics (“Dancing With the Moonlit Knight,” the synth-driven “The Cinema Show”) and sing-along levity (“I Know What I Like”). Staying faithful to the original Genesis setlists, The Musical Box performed nearly the entire LP, minus the lightweight, Phil Collins-sung “More Fool Me” and connective tissue (like the instrumental “Aisle of Plenty”).
Fittingly, the major highlights were from that prog masterpiece: “Moonlit Knight” was an early standout, an immaculate showcase for Gagné’s expressive voice; “Firth of Fifth,” meanwhile, found Rivard going all-out — even playing the impossible piano intro (which Banks himself rarely played on-stage) — while guitarist François Gagnon (“Steve Hackett”) nailed every nuance of Hackett’s iconic guitar solo. Barring a rhythmic botch during “I Know What I Like,” the rhythm section were consistently brilliant, with drummer Marc Laflamme (“Phil Collins”) recreating the tom-heavy bombast of Collins’ peak period (not to mention his excellent mid-70s beard) and Lamothe switching nimbly between 12-string and bass on his two-headed Rickenbacker (when not directing the entire band via eye contact cues).
But the show, fittingly, was memorable even outside of musicianship: Gagné’s stage banter (the “fifth river” intro to “Firth of Fifth”) and theatrical gestures (the “Know What I Like” lawnmower bit, the “Epping Forest” mic-stand sword) added an extra layer of authenticity, as did the Genesis-assisted backdrop slides that appeared throughout.
After the ecstatic climax of Nursery Cryme highlight “The Musical Box,” which found Gagné air-humping in Gabriel’s iconic old man mask, the crowd rose to their feet with thunderous applause. Some laughed; some gasped; the two iPhone ladies rolled their eyes. Almost all of us watched in reverence.
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“They’re not a tribute band,” once said the real-life Phil Collins, after watching The Musical Box perform. “They have taken a period and are faithfully reproducing it in the same way that someone would do a theatrical production.” Call it a tribute, call it nostalgic tomfoolery. Much like the original Genesis, The Musical Box defy easy categorization.
After the show, smiling breathlessly as I sauntered to the parking garage, I felt truly alive — jolted out of mundanity by a still-lingering magic.
Setlist
Watcher of the Skies
Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
The Cinema Show
I Know What I Like
Firth of Fifth
The Musical Box
Horizons
The Battle of Epping Forest
Supper’s Ready
ENCORE
The Knife
