Genesis – Providence Lamb (Virtuoso 077/078)

Providence Lamb (Virtuoso 077/078)
Palace Theater, Providence, RI – December 8th, 1974

Disc 1 (50:33):  Intro, story of Rael part 1, 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, the story of Rael part 2, Back In NYC, Hairless Heart, Counting Out Time, Carpet Crawlers, The Chamber Of 32 Doors

Disc 2 (78:55):  the story of Rael part 3, Lilywhite Lilith, The Waiting Room, Anyway, Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist, The Lamia, Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats, The Colony Of Slippermen, Ravine, The Light Dies Down On Broadway, Riding The Scree, In The Rapids, It, the story of Henry and Cynthia, The Musical Box, Watcher Of The Skies

Genesis’ Providence show on the Lamb tour occurs within the first week of the tour the night after the big New York show.  An excellent quality audience recording has been in circulation and is the source of all the previously released silver pressed titles including Brother John Is Number Nine (Alternative Recording Company GNV018), Rael Imperial (Highland HL059/60#G7), From One Fan To All Others (Stonehenge STBX 016/STBX 017/STBX 018), and The Lamb Lives (Backstage BKCD 033/034).

Providence Lamb utilizes the newly circulated Dan Lampinski tape which, like the others, is simply spectacular.  It picks up with extreme clarity every note from the stage and also the dynamics of the performance with only a cut at the beginning of “The Chamber Of 32 Doors.”  The virtue of Lampinski’s tapes are their ability to convey the

It was a snowy evening in Providence that night.  Gabriel explains the delay at the start of the show due to the leak in the ceiling allowing rain to fall onto the stage.  An interesting anecdote regarding the show was posted: “Another little tidbit of info on this show from Dan Lampinski’s brother. It was a miserable night in Providence with snow and then heavy rain. Peter Gabriel refers to the rain leaking through the roof directly over the stage.

“It was quite a delay until the rain stopped and the tarps were removed from the gear. What Mr. Gabriel doesn’t tell you is that directly across the street from the theater was a Dunkin Donuts. Genesis arranged for dozens and dozens of donuts and gallons of coffee to be brought into the lobby, all for free because of the delay. Dan convinced me to go to this concert despite the fact that I had no idea what the Lamb was. I was mesmerized and to this day I still say it was the single best concert I have ever seen.”

The tape opens with Gabriel explaining to the audience why there is a delay, point out the rain falling on the equipment about the advertising for the show which “was something appropriate to bullshit…”  Once the music gets underway they deliver a very powerful and aggressive Lamb, probably due to frustration.  This is particularly evident with Hackett in his early numbers “Fly On A Windshield” and “Hairless Heart.” 

Gabriel on the other hand sounds quite vulnerable in “Cuckoo Cocoon” and “Carpet Crawlers.”  This tape is very good at picking up his and Collins’ distinct voices in the latter as they sing the lines together.

It is in the second Rael story before “Lilywhite Lilith” where there are loud crackling noises and Gabriel jokes about “raindrops keep falling on my synthesizer.”  The middle section of the narrative has some of the best moments on this tape with Gabriel’s descriptive vocals concerning the Lamia.  His vocals are clear in the Slipperman too which sometimes is obscured by his massive costume.  The show ends with two very good encores, a very heavy thirteen minute version of “The Musical Box” and eight minutes of “Watcher Of The Skies.”  Providence is one of the most well known Lamb shows which it deserves and Virtuoso did a good job with pressing onto silver this excellent sounding tape.