WHEN IN ROME

Every track on this incredible live experience is masterfully produced, editing is superb and the sound quality par excellence.

Phil Collins gets the audience clapping and singing from the get go and they are observedly having the time of their lives. Even songs that I usually can't stand such as Hold On My Heart, are so well performed that it is inspiring. Tony Banks is absolutely superb and drives every track with his scintillating keyboard work. The drumming is precise and bass and guitar flow evenly throughout.

The highlights on CD1 are the excellent Duke's Intro, Turn It On Again, In The Cage Medley: In The Cage, Cinema Show, Dukes Travels, Home By The Sea, Firth Of Fifth, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe). Each are masterpieces in their own right on the studio albums but the live treatment is second to none. It was so blissful to hear new versions of Firth of Fifth, and Cage. The screen in the background is artistically innovative ranging from beautiful light patterns to actual images, notably the running man in the Cage. A delight it is too to be able to see into the behind of the scenes work that went in to this concert with the special features.

CD2 begins with the wonderful Mama and Ripples. But the highlight is the lengthy, awesome Domino. The screen work is incredible portraying dominoes falling. An effort should be put into checking out the actual making of this clip and how the button pusher suffered a heart attack almost as the screen was not operating properly.

I did not like the pretentious Conversations With 2 Stools - the effort they put into getting the stools though is hilarious - but what a waste of time. No wonder Rutherford yawns while they are rehearsing this drivel.

Los Endos is as pleasant as ever but they did not perform Dance on A Volcano. Also I wished they had tackled the momentous Suppers Ready. But I guess you can't have everything. The concert ends with the magnificent Carpet Crawlers and the crowd love it and sing every word. What a concert. This is worth at least 4 stars but my 5 star rating is due to the extra DVD documentary.

As far as a fly-on-the-wall doco goes, this is about as good as it gets. We enter a world of decisions, concert schedules, stress, and pure energy as the band prepare to assault the world with their tour. It is a brilliant doco full of laughs and traumatic moments, particularly the things that go wrong, and those people who mean well but are off the scale when it comes to presenting their clips and the stage design. But Genesis are unswerving and bloody minded enough to let the promoters know exactly what they want and they get it. Music over imagery is the key. If its not Genesis they dont want it no matter how cool the graphics are. It is inspiring to see how the band work so well together and how much they care about their audience and about remaining true to their origins.

This is one of the best DVD live packages you will ever see!

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