There is a joke, attributed to John Lennon, that when asked if Ringo Starr was the best drummer in the world he replied that he wasn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles. Something similar could be applied to Mike Rutherford, the guitarist from Genesis. That accolade would probably go to first Steve Hackett and subsequently Daryl Stuermer. However, on the evidence of last night he sure knows how to bash out a catchy tune or two, not something you could accuse Starr of.
Rutherford has reformed (resurrected?) Mike + the Mechanics but with Paul Young sadly gone and Paul Carrack now busy those roles now go to Tim Howar and Andrew Roachford respectively and this seems to have given the band a whole new lease of life. This means a new writing partnership between Rutherford and Roachford/Howar along with some of the original contributors.
Given that it has been 25 years since The Living Years has been released and the considerable catalogue of hits the band has accumulated you could be forgiven for assuming that would be all we got. However, not only did we get a couple of Roachford classics (This Generation & Cuddly Toy) but also a couple of Genesis songs (Turn it on Again and We Can’t Dance).
Hearing a couple of late Genesis songs was quite novel as , understandably, Hackett only plays those he was with the band for. This does mean, however, that he plays the “classic” era Genesis and I would struggle to call We Can’t Dance a classic.
The addition of Andrew Roachford is inspired as he is such a great and energetic performer. I’ve always liked his music but only got to see him live at last year’s Weyfest and thought that he stole the show. The combination of Roachford and Hewar worked really well.
So a good night out with a sing along to some great hits – what’s not to like!