Windy Day Southampton (Virtuoso 061/062)
Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, England – January 20th, 1977
Disc 1 (67:42): Squonk, One For The Vine, Robbery Assault & Battery, Your Own Special Way, Firth Of Fifth, In That Quiet Earth, Afterglow, I Know What I Like, Eleventh Earl Of Mar
Disc 2 (59:44): mc, Carpet Crawlers, All In A Mouse’s Night, Supper’s Ready, Dance On A Volcano, drum duet, Los Endos, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Musical Box (closing)
Genesis played two shows at the Gaumont Theater, January 19th and 20th, in the closing days of their month long UK tour for Wind & Wuthering. Windy Day Southampton is the first silver pressed release of the second night’s soundboard recording. It is thin in the bass but the tape was worked to boost the lower end to produce a very enjoyable recording (this is probably copied from the I4Detail fan based remaster to be honest). There is a small cut after “All In A Mouse’s Night” but no music or Phil Collins’ introductions are lost.
Three weeks after the Rainbow shows the set list has taken definitive shape for the upcoming tour of the United States with the weighty “Squonk” starting the show followed by the pretentious faux epic “One For The Vine.” One must picture the light show during this song to fully appreciate its power, but on audio recordings it comes off a too long and uninteresting.
“Robbery, Assault & Battery” is described by Collins as “a silly song about…a petty thief, a crook, you name it, he’s done it as long as it didn’t cost him anything” and is the first chance Collins has to act for the audience.
Collins again introduces “Your Own Special Way” as he did throughout the UK tour. Rutherford would assume that duty on the upcoming US dates with the little ballet bit included. Collins says, “sea shanty and why not? We haven’t had one all night. This sea shanty it’s a story about Myrtle the Mermaid. She used to hang out down by the dum dum tree at the foot of the lighthouse at the end of the pier just off the coast. And because of the physical differences in shape between Myrtle and other ladies her house was soon a favorite stopping off point for sailors. And they dedicated this song to her rather cheekily called ‘You Have Your Own Special Way.'”
Rutherford does introduce “Eleventh Earl Of Mar” by explaining that “it tells the tale of a failed Scottish uprising. That would have worked if young Prince Charlie wouldn’t have come two weeks too late.” Afterwards Collins gives a speech saying, “Tonight, something a little bit special. Don’t want to get too heavy. We’re going out live tonight to eight hospitals in Southampton and Winchester, around there. So why don’t everybody say hello to the people in hospital. And for all those listening, I hope you’re having a good time.
“Carpet Crawlers” is a bit of a mess in the begging and Collins jokes “I think we enjoyed that one too, what can you say?” He gets into a long story introducing the next song “All In A Mouse’s Night” saying that “The next song is another bit of Genesis melodrama. This time it’s a much maligned creature that gets the brunt of our humor. That is, of course, the mouse. Now this particular mouse has a very sad story to tell. It’s the story of his struggle to co-exist in a world filled with two legged and four legged creatures each bent on his extermination. Ah, indeed. The lover is played by Mr. Anthony Banks. And we have, making a marked difference from his usual role as a sperm whale, Mr. Michael Rutherford as the mouse. A brief cameo performance by King Kong Mr. Chester Thompson. And of course every story has an evil person and this one is the cat played by Mr. Steven Hackett.”
It is good to have another excellent recording of this rarity. The song has an interesting melody and frantic drumming that would resurface next year in “Down And Out.” But the lyrics and story are trite. Collins referred to this song in Mojomagazine in 2000 when he stated that he couldn’t find the right emotion for the word “bread-bin” and was an impetus for him and the band to write more accessible songs on the next album. “Supper’s Ready” sounds very powerful as does the finale of “Dance On A Volcano,” the one minute drum duet and “Los Endos” bring the musical themes full circle. Overall this is an excellent Virtuoso release of a show that desperately needed a gorgeous silver release and is worth having.
