Genesis have announced a reunion tour.
Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks are reforming to play 10 dates in the UK and Ireland in late 2020. Prog first reported the rumour the band might be working together when they were spotted at a New York Knicks game in January.
Titled The Last Domino? Tour, it kicks off at Dublin’s 3 Arena on November 16 and winds up at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro Arena on December 11. It also includes dates in Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle, plus two shows at London’s O2 Arena.
Tickets for the UK shows go on general sale from 9am on Friday, March 6. Tickets for Dublin go on sale on Monday 9 March.
The Last Domino? Tour will be the first gigs Genesis have played since 2007. Collins, Rutherford and Banks will be joined by longtime guitarist/bassist Daryl Stuermer and Collins’s son Nic Collins on drums.
Speaking exclusively to Prog, Collins says: “There were more reasons to do it than not to do it. If we had to do it the way we used to tour, I don’t think I’d be doing it. But nowadays it can be done differently, and I’ve been doing that for the last couple of years.
Adds Banks: “After Phil finished his own tour, everybody thought, ‘We could talk about it and see whether it’s a good idea.’
“Once we decided it was a possibility, we wanted to see how it would work out when we played together. So we spent a couple of weeks in January in New York seeing how it sounded. People asked, ‘Why are you here?’ We just said, ‘Oh, for a wedding.’”
Banks adds that having Nic Collins taking his father’s place behind the drum kit is a crucial part of the tour.
“Nic is a great drummer, but he is capable of sounding like early Phil. For Mike and I, that was always quite exciting. It means you can play some of the songs that you haven’t played with Phil as the drummer for a long time.
“We’re playing old material, but there’ll be some new old material this time. Songs we didn’t play last time.”
According to Banks, the band didn’t approach former singer Peter Gabriel or guitarist Steve Hackett to be part of the reunion.
“To get everyone on board would be quite difficult,” he says.
Genesis: The Last Domino? Tour 2020
Nov 16: Dublin 3 Arena
Nov 19: Belfast SSE Arena
Nov 23: Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Nov 24: Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Nov 26: Newcastle Utilita Arena
Nov 27: Newcastle Utilita Arena
Nov 29: London The O2
Nov 30: London The O2
Dec 02: Leeds First Direct Arena
Dec 03: Leeds First Direct Arena
Dec 05: Birmingham Birmingham Arena
Dec 06: Birmingham Birmingham Arena
Dec 08: Manchester Manchester Arena
Dec 09: Manchester Manchester Arena
Dec 11: Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena
Dec 12: Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena