Echoes Of The Broadway (Highland HL403/404)
Palais des Sports, Rheims, France – May 15th, 1975
Disc 1 (49:57): The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Fly On A Windshield, Broadway Melody Of 1974, Cuckoo Cocoon, In The Cage, The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging, Rael story, Back In NYC, Hairless Heart, Counting Out Time, Carpet Crawlers, The Chamber Of 32 Doors
Disc 2 (74:19): Rael story part II, Lilywhite Lilith, The Waiting Room, Anyway, Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist, The Lamia, Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats, The Colony Of Slippermen (The Arrival, A Visit To The Doktor, Raven), Ravine, The Light Dies Down On Broadway, Riding The Scree, In The Rapids, It, One-handed drum solo, The Musical Box
The May 15th Rheims show is the penultimate tape in circulation from the tour (the last is from May 18th, Velodromo Anoeta in San Sebastian, Spain) and one of the final Peter Gabriel Genesis shows (not counting the reunions). Echoes Of The Broadway is a fair audience recording of virtually the complete show. There is a cut forty-two seconds in “Riding The Scree” which eliminates all the vocals except for the final “here I go!”
A vinyl EP was issued with four songs from this tape called The Lamb Lies Down …The May 1975 Live EP (Rus Foley – RFEP 5) with “Fly On A Windshield,” “Broadway Melody Of 1974,” “The Light Dies Down On Broadway” and “Riding The Scree.” It is advertised as having a very rare, short version of “Riding The Scree” but that’s due to the cut.
There are also speed problems noticeable in the second half where the tape speeds up and slows down, and the entire show runs a bit slow. Better generations of this tape have come out since Highland produced this title which are much better sounding (but still not perfect).
Rheims is an inconsistent show. The unevenness in the performance could probably be attributed to the long tour, lasting the better part of a year, and Gabriel’s imminent departure. The Lamb this evening starts off with a slow “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” where Gabriel has problems with his microphone. The following song “Fly On A Windshield” is exceptionally strong by contrast, very dynamic and aggressive.
The same can be said for “Into The Cage” and “Hairless Heart.” In short, anytime Steve Hackett has a part he runs with it, demonstrating that the guitar could have been a more important part of Genesis’ sound. “The Carpet Crawlers” sounds poor with Gabriel giving a very tentative performance, and “The Chamber Of 32 Doors” is almost ruined by some banging close by the tape recorder.
The narrative weight occurs during the “Slipperman” section of the piece. The eight minute long track displays Collins’ talents as drummer very clearly. It’s also quite heavy too, sounding almost heavy metal in places. Gabriel relishes the finale of the piece “It,” sounding as if he’s going to blow his voice out.
After Gabriel gives the introduction for “The Musical Box” there is equipment failure, so Peter and Phil perform the “one-handed drum solo” from the old tours. But Phil adds some vocals overwards instead of them singing the hymn “Jerusalem.”
Echoes Of The Broadway is a worthy show for release for its historic significance. However, Highland used a very poor copy of the circulating tape and with a litte effort, and use of a better generation, there could be a very nice silver release of this important show. It comes packaged in the double slimline jewel case with stark black inserts with tour photos.
