Yverdon April 2nd 1998 by Peppe

Pre concert  We arrived at  Yverdon after 11 hours by car.   We reached the Amalgame at 6 PM of April 2nd, 1998.  They  were checking the sound. We entered at 8 PM.  The place is little but very OK. The stage is also  little but all is ready for the show.  While waiting,  Mike  is  playing  some  records  of  Neil  Young and he is very cheerful. At 9:50 PM the show begins.

Overture  A sheet hides the band while the notes of Overture start and during the whole song images of  Peter are projected  on it.  The sound is very good.  John is very laden. Paul is precise as always. Mike and Martin are in unison.

Provider  The  sheet  goes  up  and  Peter sings Provider. He has not the "warm" voice yet, but he is OK.

Subterranea The  beginning  is  splendid!  Subterranea  is  powerful  as it must be. Paul is more evident.  Peter's  voice is almost perfect,  and  all  the public sings with him.

Slepless incidental Mike's  beginning with the guitar is perfect.  The song goes on very well with big strength and big precision. At the end of the song Martin and Mike are practically perfect and Paul is amazing.

Failsafe  Mike  does  not  put  the  right  effect,  so  the  beginning  is  not perfect. Laughing,  he arranges the effect and goes on,  seeing that  Martin is laughing, too.  The rest of the song is OK with Martin that works very well.

Speak my name  At 10:20 PM  sharp Speak my name  starts.  Peter  is OK and Mike uses an acoustic guitar for its phrasing.  It  is the  only one time in the concert that Mike uses this guitar.

Tunnel vision  There  are  few  comments:  it  is  practically  perfect.  Peter is determined,  Mike  is perfect with his solos,  Martin weaves the notes, Paul is still more fantastic,  Jonh never stopped.  Mike starts his solo in a strange way but then he returns in a classic way tapping. At the end Mike "helps" Martin with the keyboards.

Infernal chorus  Peter  returns  to  sing  with  the  face covered with a black mask. The climate is dismal and the scene becomes animated. Peter interprets the song in  a  masterly  way.  Suddenly  when  Peter  is  in front of  the public,  a figure appears behind him and controls him as a marionette.

King of  fools  The  sheet  is  down again and images of  Peter's face with black sunglasses are projected on it. The song is richer than the original.

The sense in sanity  Mike helpes again Martin with the keyboards.

State of mine  The  crescendo is  fabulous!  I think that it is the song where the band gives  the  greatest performance.  There you can really hear the  "band" !!  Where does Paul find all that energy??!!

Laid low  A poem of Martin with the piano and Mike with the guitar.

Breathtaker  Without  any  "Breath":  another  pearl.  Peter is at his best.  " The honesty is gone now !!!!"

Capricorn There is no comment:  it is wonderful! Mike, playing an intro different from the original,  can resume and invent a new solo. Peter feels the effects of the effort of Breathtaker.

The other side  Martin is perfect and Mike helps him.

Unsolid ground and Somewhere in time  All  of  us are enjoying ourselves and  it is the same for Martin,  Mike, Peter,  Paul and John.  These songs are two other masterpieces.

High waters  What can i say??  It is impossible to describe this "almost ending". I only say that Mike is perfect like his solo.

The narrow margin  The  end  of   Subterranea  is as  it   must  be.  There aren't  any  imprecisions,  the IQ can transmit to everyone the strength they have inside. The concert finishes in the right way.

Awake and nervous - The wake   Two  gifts,  very  nice,  but  only two!!!  The band returns twice. The first time they do Awake and Nervous in a slower speed.  The Wake  is  splendid!  When they start,  Martin  begins  a millisecond before and Mike turns toward him laughing.

Post Concert  Before  going  back  home  making again 1000 km to Rome we looked for Mike and gave him two  floppy  disks.  He asked:  "What is this ?"  and  we answered:  "It is our work:  there is all the tracks of Subterranea in midi format" and he said: " Ah!! these are mine, then !!". He took the disks, greeted us and went away.

Final Comment Exactly  24  years  after April 2nd,  1974,  at  the concert of Genesis  at  Palasport in Naples,  we  have  probably  attended to an exceptional event with  a  band  that  can  transmit  to  all  the  presents  the  right message.  Paul merits a particular   mention;   I  think  that  he  can  be  considered  the  best  progressive-rock drummer of the world nowadays.