Genesis Newcastle City Hall 1975 The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour
Always listen to the album before you go to the concert. That is a piece of advice I keep giving to myself, but I often don’t follow. It was never more true than in this case. It had been a couple of years since I last saw Genesis, and I wasn’t interested to see their new production for the new album “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”. I’d read the reviews, but hadn’t heard the album (you see; mistake). For some reason, I hadn’t bought a ticket for this tour, but when Genesis reached Newcastle City Hall, I decided to go along on the night and try to buy a ticket. I managed to do so, purchasing a ticket for a little more than face value from someone outside the venue. My seat was pretty near the back, but hey I was in! 
I knew what to expect; the set was the entire new (double) album played in sequence to tell the story of Rael, and was their most theatrical show to date. Peter Gabriel really excelled himself in terms of his performance and in costume changes, the most spectacular and outrageous of which was the Slipperman who was covered in terrible growths. The concert was incredible as a piece of theatre, however having not heard the album, I did find it a little hard going at times. Even to this day, I don’t fully understand the story or know many of the tracks; and I do have a copy now. My favourite is of course Carpet Crawlers. My memory tells me that they came back at the end and encored with The Knife, but published setlists tells me that it was likely to have ben Watcher of the Skies, The Musical Box; or both. This was the last time that I saw the Gabriel era Genesis, as big changes were soon to come. I will blog on my next Genesis experience tomorrow. Setlist: 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; Back in N.Y.C.; Hairless Heart; Counting Out Time; The Carpet Crawlers; The Chamber of 32 Doors; 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. Encore: The Knife?
31 Jan
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by David Atkinson (@DAtkinson4PC) on January 31, 2013 at 8:31 pm
I was there for one night and the encore was ‘The Musical Box’ and ‘The Knife’. I do understand ‘Watcher’ was played the other show.
My little piece on The Lamb:
http://www.fourpillars.co/vinyl-matters-the-greatest-lps-the-old-folks-own/
Newcastle City Hall – happy days. 🙂
Posted by John Johnstone on April 14, 2015 at 10:49 pm
A previous girlfriend bought me a ticket to the 24/4/75 gig as she was a huge fan. It was my introduction to Genesis and the first time that I saw a group perform a concept album. Blew my tiny mind. I also remember that the crowd would not leave even after two encores, so despite the main lights being turned on to try and get us out, Genesis ended up coming back on to play The Knife.
Posted by vintagerock on April 15, 2015 at 7:54 am
Hi John I always thought the Knife was the perfect encore Peter
Posted by TerriersFan on September 9, 2021 at 6:06 pm
Yep, I was there for the second gig and although setlist.fm doesn’t include it, I know for a fact that there were two encores: ‘The Musical Box’ followed by ‘Watcher of the Skies’.
We knew that they had played ‘The Knife’ at other gigs and we yelled ourselves hoarse for it, but in the end had to settle for ol’ bat-wings instead.
Fabulous gig – the only time that I’ve ever seen them.
And here’s my two-penneth on it…
Posted by vintagerock on September 9, 2021 at 6:13 pm
Happy days. Their like is never to be seen again. I am going to see the new Genesis tour and pray that they will return and play “the knife” as the encore. But I fear this will never happen. Cheers Peter