The Musical Box (band)

The Musical Box is a prominent Genesis tribute band.

History

Taking their name from the 1971 track of the same name, they formed in Montreal, Quebec in 1993 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 1973 album Selling England by the Pound. The original band was a seven-piece, and incorporated visual effects and costumes that were in the original Genesis shows of the 1970s.

With the addition of Denis Gagné as the new lead singer in 1995, the band reformed as a five-piece (mirroring the seventies-era Genesis) and put more emphasis on an accurate stage show, from the lights, costumes and in-between song banter of a classic Genesis concert. Gagné immersed himself in the role of Peter Gabriel, learning to play flute and shaving a bald spot in the front of his hairline to better emulate Gabriel's early-70s appearance. From 1993 to 2000 The Musical Box focused on the Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot and Selling England by the Pound shows.

In 2000 The Musical Box purchased the rights (even though this was not actually required) from Peter Gabriel and Genesis to re-create The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Genesis helped The Musical Box greatly with this show staging by giving them copies of the 1,200 original slides. They also had access to the original slide operators who helped them put them back (more or less) into the correct order. In addition the band was granted full access to the original album master tapes so they could correctly reproduce the sound live on stage, even though Genesis themselves did not do this. The band's decision to slavishly reproduce the sound of the original studio albums in a live environment has caused some controversy especially within the Genesis hard-core fan community, which has led to outright allegations of miming. The band themselves have always vigorously denied these allegations, though close examination of the band's performances both by fans who saw the original Genesis shows and by members of other Genesis tribute bands has left the matter in little doubt.

Since 2001 The Musical Box has grown in popularity, and has performed large sold-out shows in Canada, the USA, Europe and South America.

The band announced another world tour on 12 July 2007. This covered several countries in Europe and a number of midwestern and eastern US cities. The European leg of the tour was a selection of shows based on the Foxtrot and Selling England By The Pound tours, with both the white and black shows on the England Tour. It was reported to be the last time that Foxtrot based shows will be performed in Europe. The North American leg of the tour did not consist of any Foxtrot shows, but rather 1 Selling England "White Show" and 1 Selling England "Black Show" in most cities. The black and white shows feature the same setlist but very different set designs.

The Musical Box has recently announced a new endeavour. In early 2008, they will be on tour in Europe performing shows based on the Trick Of The Tail Tour, first performed in 1976. So far, 22 shows are scheduled. It will be the first time that they have performed music from after the Peter Gabriel era. As of July 21, 2008, the band's official web site has been updated to confirm the tour is happening. The role of Phil Collins will be played by Ron Belgard, with Denis Gagné sitting this tour out. Gregg Benidan will now be playing the part of Bill Bruford on drums. The rest of the band will remain the same. The site suggests that the band is working hard with Genesis and others involved with the original 1976 production to recreate the show as much as possible. Denis Gagné is to not be remaining with the band in the future, but is embarking upon a film career. He is cast in the upcoming film Soupernatural and will be lending his voice to the soundtrack, according to the Soupernatural Movie website and The Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB).

Setlists

• For the Foxtrot shows they played songs from the albums 'Nursery Cryme' and 'Foxtrot': "Watcher Of The Skies", "Can-Utility and the Coast-Liners", "The Musical Box", "Get 'em Out By Friday", "Supper's Ready" and "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed", with two encores: "The Knife" and "The Fountain Of Salmacis".
• The Selling England setlist comprised six eighths of the titular album ("After the Ordeal" and "Aisle of Plenty" were not performed), and a selection of live favourites: "Watcher of the Skies", "The Musical Box", "Supper's Ready" and "The Knife". "Horizons" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" were sometimes played instead of "More Fool Me" and "The Knife" respectively.
• The Lamb shows comprised the entirety of the 1974 album, plus "The Musical Box" and "Watcher of the Skies" or "The Knife".
• The A Trick of the Tail shows comprised the following numbers, "Dance on A Volcano," the Lamb Medley "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Fly on a Windshield/Carpet Crawlers," "The Cinema Show," "Robbery, Assult and Battery," "White Mountain," "Firth of Fifth," "Entangled/Squonk," "Supper's Ready," "I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)" and "Los Endos" with an encore of "It/Watcher of the Skies." "The Cinema Show" featured extensive double drumming from Collins and Bruford as did "Supper's Ready," and "Los Endos." "Watcher of the Skies" was a short instrumental version merging the beginning and ending sections of the song.

Group support

Genesis has fully supported The Musical Box in every aspect. In 2002 their former guitarist Steve Hackett joined the band in London, England at the Royal Albert Hall, playing on a special encore of "Firth of Fifth". Drummer Phil Collins joined the band in Geneva during a Lamb show in 2005. He watched the entire show and told reporters afterwards that "they played it better than we did." He then joined the band on drums during the encore of "The Musical Box". Peter Gabriel, meanwhile, has taken his children to a show so "they could see what their father used to do."

When Genesis told the world about their plans to reunite, the Musical Box came up numerous times during their press conferences.

Current band members

• Ron Belgard ("Phil Collins"): Lead Vocals, Tamborine, Drums, Percussion, Keyboards
• François Gagnon ("Steve Hackett"): 6-string electric and acoustic guitars, 12-string guitar
• Sébastien Lamothe ("Mike Rutherford"): bass, bass pedals, 12-string guitar, vocals
• Gregg Bendian ("Bill Bruford"): drums, percussion
• David Myers ("Tony Banks"): keyboards, 12-string guitar, vocals

Previous members

• Denis Gagné ("Peter Gabriel")
• François Richard ("Tony Banks")
• Guillaume Courteau ("Phil Collins")
• Denis Champoux ("Steve Hackett")
• Éric Savard ("Tony Banks")
• Noah Wyle ("Mike Rutherford")
• Martin Levac ("Phil Collins")

External links

• Official website
• Official MySpace