Genesis - When in Rome - Live 2007 (3 DVDs)

This is an excellent, well-priced concert DVD package. You get the entire Rome concert from the 2007 Genesis 'Turn it on again' tour, spread across 2 discs, along with a third disc containing a 1 hour and 50 minute long documentary about the tour. The package is nicely presented in recycled card and plastic with a good booklet containing concert photos. Edited versions of both the concert and documentary have been shown on BBC4 recently, but the DVD seems a lot better. From a technical point of view, the audio quality is good on a surround system - crisp, and with the mix giving a good sense of what it was like at the shows (I was at Twickernham). If I was nit-picking I would say the surround mixing could have been slightly better (sorry Nick) in that the rear channels are maybe a little too loud, but overall the sound quality is great, and you can have fun annoying the neighbours with it on a loud surround system with a decent sub. The picture is crystal clear - I am guessing it was shot on high def cameras, and it shows. The days of those grainy old 70s,80s and early 90s concert videos are, thankfully, long-gone, and even the darkest shots are vibrant and detailed.

The direction, on the live material, is pretty good. Most of the time the camera is right where you would want it to be. There aren't any options to choose alternate cameras - you need to dig out earlier Genesis DVDs for that, but they had so many cameras in use that it doesn't really matter. There are some great shots of the crowd and venue, so you get a feel for the scale of the event.

On the whole the boys played well that night in Rome - of course, those who were there or who are die-hard fans will know that some mistakes (e.g. on firth of Fifth) have been 'fixed' in post-production, presumably by taking audio from other shows that had been recorded.

The track list for the show included something for everyone, although most Genesis fans have their favourite eras, and some only like the early stuff so groaned at the inclusion of tracks like Invisible Touch. But the older material is generally played really well, and with a sense of affection and respect for it, even if a lot of the songs have had to be taken down a key (or more) to compensate for the ageing of Phil's voice. And did Phil realise how, on this tour, he made our hearts skip a beat in the spiel before Carpet Crawlers when he said he wanted to introduce the audience to two members who had been in the band a long time - was I the only one that night at Twickers hoping that Steve and Peter would walk out onto the stage at that point?

...the crowd were...interesting...quite into the music, but not as ecstatic as I might have predicted, maybe because it was a free concert. They certainly weren't as vocal or emotionally charged as the south american crowd on Rush's live DVD shot in Rio...

The documentary is OK - an interesting insight into how much work goes into a major stadium tour, but I guess of more interest for the die hard fan.

So, in conclusion - this is a terrific live DVD. If you were hoping for the 2007 incarnation of Genesis to give us 'Seconds Out' part two, you will be disappointed. But if you are open-minded about Genesis and like them through all of their eras and incarnations, you should like this DVD. if you were at the 2007 shows and enjoyed them, then this is a terrific souvenir - hell, they even scanned the tour programme for you and put it on the DVD as an extra...

If you only buy one Genesis Live DVD, you will not get much better then this. The boys are looking a little older, but they prove yet again that they are one of the best live bands ever. I think the overall the set list was spot on, good blend of old and new songs. Phil's voice is still very strong, and no one can doubt the professionalism of this band, and the respect they have for their audience. Sound and picture quality of this DVD is also superb.

"I cannot contain my emotion," as someone once said. Hmm...I wonder who that could have been? Anyway, I've been a Genesis fan since about 1975 and I've always preferred the 70's songs to the later material. But... I think this DVD is fabulous!

Firstly, there's plenty of nostalgia for us old fans, and secondly the newer songs that are on the DVD are mainly good rocky ones which older fans are more likely to enjoy, rather than the shorter pop songs.

No Genesis concert is going to please everybody, but this DVD will certainly please a lot of us. If you think Genesis didn't do anything decent in the 80's, try watching the `Domino' performance on this DVD; if that doesn't get you excited you must have a heart of stone. Visually the concert is breathtaking; even the audience is spectacular! The 'Los Endos' light show is like a scene from `Close Encounters' (only better!).

There are complete versions of `In the Cage', `Ripples', `Afterglow', `Carpet Crawl' and `I Know What I Like' (similar to the `Seconds Out' version), as well as many excerpts from other historic pieces. There's also some old concert footage and a photograph montage during the show, which I thought was a nice touch. Great music, great light shows, great atmosphere. What more do you want?

Well, if you do want more, the extras on the DVD are interesting and fun to watch, and there's also a booklet of concert photographs. Happy now?

So turn off the lights, turn up the volume, wave your lighters around, light a few joss sticks and press the play button.

Enjoy the show, everyone.