Genesis reunites three man lineup for European and American shows

As announced by The Rock Radio more than 2 weeks ago, the latter-day lineup of Genesis has reunited. The official announcement was made on Tuesday, November 7th, in London, with Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks on hand to discuss their reformation. Genesis will play 20 dates across Europe next June and July, followed by 20 more shows in the U.S., and Collins stressed that the group is doing a "selection of shows," as opposed to a tour.

The original plan was to re-team with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett, but once Gabriel passed on the offer, it was decided to just do the three-man lineup, with Darryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson filling out the band. Collins said that Gabriel can sometimes take things too seriously: "I think he's very sensitive -- far more sensitive than we are -- about what it means, you know? This is just music, great fun to do, whereas Peter, since he left really, has been doing his 'thing,' albeit lots of different things under that umbrella, and I think he's just a little over-cautious sometimes about going back to doing something (that) basically, fundamentally, is just fun."

Collins also said that the shows are about friends getting together to play, and that money is not their motivating factor: "I think if we were to satisfy the demand that I suspect there is out there, we would be playing the Far East, we'd be playing South America, we'd be playing Asia, we would be playing more shows than we are in Europe, more shows that we are gonna be playing in America. So I think we're all loaded enough, without worrying about where the next million or two are coming from."

The European tour begins June 11th in Helsinki, Finland, and it closes on July 14th with a big outdoor show at the Coliseum in Rome. The U.S. dates haven't been announced yet.