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Liner Notes: Tour De Force

By the time Genesis reached Toronto, Canada, on May 2^nd 1974, the 'Selling England By The Pound' tour was drawing to a close. The only commitment left for the band to fulfill after the Toronto shows would be a three-night stay at the famed Academy Of Music in New York City, the strenuous events of which have been detailed at length in the liner notes of a previous release, PRRPGS 013. Genesis had already played in Toronto on the first leg of the tour in the fall of 1973 and, as was the case in Montreal at that time, their initial performance had proven to be a great success. It was then only natural for return engagements to be booked in both Canadian cities on the second leg of the tour, in the spring of 1974. The band were due to play two nights in Montreal but, while they would also perform two shows in Toronto a few days later, they would have to do them both on the same night. Was this due to the limitations of their touring schedule or were Genesis initially booked for one night only in Toronto and promoters had to turn the event into a double-header to satisfy the heavy demand for tickets? We will never know for sure but the fact remains that, at the end of a very demanding tour, Genesis would have to perform two shows on the same night.

Looking back through the years, Genesis do have a history of performing two shows on the same day. They had in fact ended the first leg of the 'Selling England' North American tour with a record six shows in three nights at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. Going back further, we can also see that on two different Italian tours in 1972, they had played double-headers on seven occasions, including twice in Ravenna, once on April 15^th, and then again on August 19^th. But 'Nursery Cryme' and early 'Foxtrot' shows were a different breed to those of the 'Selling England By The Pound' era where the stage presentation was far more elaborate and demanding, especially for singer Peter Gabriel with his many costume changes and the unique choreography of the show, not to mention the heavy strain on the man's vocal cords. This also applied to the other members of Genesis for whom the performance of such refined and complex music was very demanding, both physically and mentally. Needless to say, the almost boundless energy of youth (they were all barely 23 or 24 at the time) was a major factor in making such a physical tour de force possible at all.

So, despite the fatigue of such a long tour away from home, Genesis delivered two superb and determined performances that night in Toronto. It would have been impossible for them to offer the full show twice in one night since Toronto city laws demanded that any concert event be over by 11pm, so the band dropped the long and complex 'The Battle Of Epping Forest', along with the shorter 'More Fool Me' and the rare 'Horizons', and played no encores. We now bring you both Toronto shows in remastered form. Both performances appear to have been recorded by the same person, as indicated by the many spoken interventions present throughout the recordings - amusing at times but also quite distracting in the long run. These guys were there to have a good time, that much is certain. You will also notice that the sound quality of the late show is slightly better than that of the early one. Did the taper change location between the two shows? Again, we can only speculate.

As for the shows themselves, the band were in fine form that night, and all songs were played with equal prowess and energy. Genesis were also helped considerably by the fact that no major equipment breakdown occurred during either performance, a rarity on this tour. Peter's voice held up remarkably well and all the band members sound relaxed and confident. Although the set list for both shows was identical, Peter Gabriel did manage to inject some variation by introducing 'Firth Of Fifth' with two completely different stories from one show to the next. For the early show, he used the classic 'Five Rivers' story, while on the late show he chose to go with the 'Lady On The Tube Train' story, well-known from the back sleeve of the 'Genesis Live' album. After the end of the 'Selling England' tour, it would be nearly three years before Genesis played two shows in one night again. They repeated the feat (astonishingly) seven times during the 'Wind And Wuthering' tour in 1977, in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Leicester, Bristol, Paris (twice) and Brussels. It is important here to underline the fact that the four Paris concerts, from which most of the material for the 'Seconds Out' live album was drawn, were played in two days, which goes to show just how hard the band was working to firmly establish themselves without Peter Gabriel. After the last double-header in Brussels, Belgium, on June 28^th 1977, there is no recorded evidence that the band ever had to resort to that kind of demand again. But they certainly did on May 2^nd 1974, and PRRP is proud to bring these two great performances to you in this one very special package. Enjoy!

Harold Demure

Notes From the Re-Master

Both remaster projects began with lossless data files derived from first generation cassette tapes. Both shows were apparently recorded by the same person but the exact equipment that was used is unknown. Both shows are complete with the exception of tape flip gaps which were patched, in each show, using material from the other. This was possible because the tape flips occurred at different points in each show. It also appears that the taper had better seats for the second show as the quality if the recording was better and the acoustics were less degrading to the overall sound of the show.

The early show required some general hiss reduction to allow for the softer components of the performance to be better appreciated. The channel balance was off and was therefore corrected. The dynamics were adjusted to create some consistency of volume throughout the show, particularly during the louder sections of the music. There were segments of the recording that were degraded in sound quality and marred by frequent dropouts. These sections were patched using material from the late show for best effect. A distinct speed error was found throughout the show and was corrected. Once corrected, a final tonality adjustment was made to balance the sound and improve clarity given the hall acoustics. A few segmental tone adjustments were made to improved the balance of the frequencies.

The late show also required a general hiss reduction. Because the same equipment was used for this recording the same channel imbalance was found and corrected as was the same excesses in the dynamics. Just like the early show, this show's tape flip gaps and few degraded segments were patched using material from the other show. Speed analysis found a problem with this show as well, but this was different that the early show. This fact suggests that the tapes themselves may have been the major source of the speed error, not the recorder. This speed error was corrected as well. A final tone adjustment balanced the sound.

PRRP Staff

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