One
more joyful night with Collins
By Steve Morse, Boston Globe, September 17, 2004
Any anger that Phil Collins may have once held against critics seems long gone. The once defensive, notoriously high-strung Collins is on his farewell tour, and the hatchets are buried. When he told a near-sellout crowd at the FleetCenter, "These are songs you have grown to love and many critics have grown to hate," he said it with a wink in his eye and a bounce in his step.
Collins has enjoyed a fruitful 25-year solo career that has contained 21 Top 40 hits. As he joked on Wednesday, some of the songs "have been played at weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, perhaps even during sex."
No, this is not a man bearing any more grudges. Collins is happy these days; he's living in Switzerland, he's scoring the music for the upcoming Broadway version of "Tarzan," and he'll become a father for the fifth time in November. His joy radiated throughout the FleetCenter, where fans showered him with applause and two women in the front rows hoisted a sign that read "Can't stop loving Phil" when he began his song "Can't Stop Loving You."
This was a greatest-hits tour, but it also suggested a farewell before its time. Collins remains a skilled entertainer -- investing his best songs with enthusiasm and even his worst with a passion that nullifies their schmaltzy, sometimes almost cheesy surface. It's a shame to see him go -- he'll still make records and may do some occasional concert dates with his other band, Genesis -- but he experienced a bout of sudden deafness syndrome a few years ago (losing 40 percent of his hearing in one ear), and he doesn't want to push it too hard onstage.
He pushed it this last time in Boston, though. He bounded out alone to first play a drum solo (remember when he played drums with Led Zeppelin at Live Aid?) and then dueled with his regular drummer, Chester Thompson. He drove Thompson hard, and then revved up the rest of an extraordinarily talented band that boasted six backup singers (one of them Arnold McCuller, who also tours with James Taylor), four humorously choreographed horn players, furry-bearded bass ace Leland Sklar, and fluid guitarist Daryl Stuermer.
The night attested to how crazily versatile Collins is -- from adult contemporary movie ballads such as "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and "Separate Ways" to the oldies pop of the Mindbenders hit "Groovy Kind of Love" and the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" to the pop-funk of "I Missed Again" (his first solo hit in 1981), the deeper rock of "Misunderstanding" (a Genesis track), and the rumbling, Pink Floyd-evoking psychedelia of "In the Air Tonight."
Collins effectively mounted a staircase in back to sing various songs -- and he was flanked by an LED screen that beamed full-moon images during romantic numbers and U2-like social messages during "Another Day in Paradise." Granted, much of the show had a high-fizz, showbiz quotient (with Collins showing some of his old MTV videos), but the range of the evening was remarkable. This is one farewell that you wouldn't mind catching again.
New
York Daily News
Phil's Garden farewell plants seeds for more
BY ISAAC GUZMAN
Sunday, September 19th, 2004
Whether they loved or hated the middle-of-the-road pop that made Phil Collins an inescapable force in the '80s and early '90s, New Yorkers had reason to take heart this weekend. That's because Collins played two shows at Madison Square Garden - one Friday and one last night - as part of his First Final Farewell Tour. Yes, after nearly 25 years of mid-tempo ballads and smarmy R&B, Collins is ready to stop touring.
But it doesn't mean he won't be back.
"You haven't heard the last of me," he told the soldout crowd on Friday night.
While he plans to stay home in Switzerland to see his 3-year-old son grow up, he's still planning to write and record. And maybe even play the occasional show.
Perhaps that's why the tickets described the night as "A Final (?) Evening with Phil Collins."
If it was the last time, Collins certainly didn't disappoint his fans. He played 23 songs over 140 minutes. Nearly every one, from "Sussudio" to "Against All Odds (Take A Look at Me Now)," had scored a massive hit for the 53-year-old singer.
With his head nearly shaved and the rest of him garbed in a charcoal-gray Nehru suit, Collins resembled a jolly version of Dr. Evil. He fronted a 16-piece band of crack musicians, including longtime cohorts Daryl Stuermer on guitar and Lee Sklar on bass.
He began the show alone, behind a drum kit, playing an elaborate solo that showed why his years with Genesis made him one of the most admired timekeepers in rock. After pounding away at the toms, he soon incorporated the polyrhythms of drummer Chester Thompson and percussionist Luis Conte.
But it was singers Arnold McCuller and Amy Keys who gave Collins his first show-stopper. On "Separate Lives," they turned a sappy song into a showcase for their astonishing vocal prowess. Likewise, Collins and his six backup singers made a mostly a capella of version "True Colors" a harmonic tour de force.
Other highlights included Collins playing the legendary tom-tom pieces on "In the Air Tonight" and the snuggle-inspiring tenderness of "One More Night," which prompted a host of 40-something couples to hold hands and sway. If nothing else, the singer's "final" New York concerts made a memorable date night for couples who like their music simple and sweet.
With
love in the air, Phil Collins says farewell
By Dean Johnson, Boston Herald
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Pop superstar Phil Collins has vowed the worldwide tour that brought him to the FleetCenter last night is his last. He wouldn't be the first to fib about such things. Artists ranging from Cher and the Who to Eric Clapton have made similar comments and then changed their minds. But assuming he keeps his word, is it too bad or good riddance?
Both, based on his two-hour-plus set for 12,000 fans, though mostly the former. Collins stuck to his best-known solo material for much of the show that featured nearly 20 songs. Along with hits such as ``In the Air Tonight,'' ``I Missed Again'' and ``Easy Lover,'' he did the odd Genesis song such as ``Misunderstanding'' and cover tunes ranging from ``Groovy Kind of Love'' and a soft ``True Colours'' to ``You Can't Hurry Love.''
The audience was comprised mostly of veteran fans who were swayed by his solo pop material, not his more progressive work with Genesis. It made Jimmy Buffett's recent Fenway Park crowds look like an annual gathering of Hell's Angels. Ballads such as ``Separate Lives'' and ``Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)'' generated some of the night's biggest responses.
Collins, who wore a gray Nehru suit that made him resemble a James Bond villain, assembled a strong band for the tour. There were sometimes as many as 17 people onstage, and he surrounded himself with ace players including drummer Chester Thompson, guitarist Daryl Stuermer, bassist Lee Sklar and saxman Gerald Albright. His six back-up singers featured the powerful Arnold McCuller, and together they churned out carbed-up versions of most songs. Collins was in good vocal shape, the sound was nearly ideal, and the tunes generally benefited from the tighter, punchier arrangements.
Yet if Collins doesn't make the rounds again, it wouldn't be a crime if we weren't subjected to one more round of ``Sussudio'' or a couple of his more gloppy ballads. He began the encores by thanking Boston for its loyalty over the years and added the Hub was the site of the first U.S. gig by Genesis 30 years ago.
Last night's show was decidedly different but not a bad way to end things.
Phil
a thrill
Collins ends First Final Farewell Tour on a high note
Air Canada Centre, Toronto
By JASON MacNEIL -- Toronto Sun
Monday, September 20, 2004
Although it wasn't a hockey game, Phil Collins made sure there were plenty of hits last night at the sold out Air Canada Centre.
The 53-year-old singer, on the road for the humorously titled First Final Farewell Tour, bowed briefly and then kicked off the nearly 150-minute show with a drum solo, recalling his earlier days with Genesis.
After being helped out by fellow drummer Chester Thompson and percussionist Luis Conte, Collins and his rather large band went into Something Happened On The Way To Heaven from his 1989 ...But Seriously album.
A large video backdrop provided much of the colour and spectacle for the night. Video screens on either side provided a view to those seated in the upper bowl.
Collins seemed to put out hit after hit, whether it was the melancholic Against All Odds or the punchier Don't Lose My Number. But he also sprinkled in a couple of newer songs, including You'll Be In My Heart from Disney's Tarzan soundtrack.
"Good evening Toronto," Collins said, before mentioning that this was indeed the last tour. It was the only moment where the audience booed the short singer/songwriter clad entirely in black. Prior to the encore, he recalled his first Toronto concert, a 1973 Massey Hall show with Genesis and Lou Reed.
Collins, who has reportedly sold close to a quarter of a billion albums solo and with Genesis, is an adult contemporary staple and it showed during the tender One More Night. Collins was only upstaged here by saxophonist Gerald Albright who delivered a soulful solo.
A couple of times Collins had more enthusiasm for the new material, including Can't Stop Loving You from 2002's Testify album. But he kicked into high gear, hopped around the stage and paraded his six backing vocalists across the stage during the bouncy horn-tinged Hang In Long Enough.
The first true highlight came halfway through the show with In The Air Tonight, where he walked to the top of the walkway to play the song's middle portion on drums. He followed this with the breezy, island-sounding Dance Into The Light.
The show had its cheesy moments. During I Missed Again, images of a younger Collins playing air guitar, air drums and air saxophone were shown repeatedly. The ensuing Separate Lives also didn't fare much better as two backing vocalists did most of the work.
The home stretch featured a seamless one-two punch of his Motown-esque favourites. Both You Can't Hurry Love and Two Hearts seemed to captivate the crowd. This led easily into Wear My Hat, a tune influenced by Paul Simon's Graceland album.
The set closed with streamers flying out for Sussudio, with bassist Leland Sklar's funky playing one-upping his chest-length grey beard. Collins also ventured onto the floor to get the front row to sing along.
The encore concluded with Collins on congas to get the lengthy show-closing anthem Take Me Home started. Drowning out the singer during the chorus and refrain, the audience left having gotten their money's worth.
Even if it was the last time ...