Aging rockers Genesis back to beginning with tour

11/07/2006 1:27 PM, Reuters


English rockers Genesis announced plans on Tuesday for an international tour in 2007, joining a lengthening list of aging acts seeking to revive their careers on the road.

Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks of Genesis are in good company, with the Rolling Stones, Duran Duran and Queen among the bands shrugging off the advancing years and hitting the circuit.

Record executives say touring can be very lucrative, with older bands tending to be able to charge more for tickets because of the higher average age of their audiences.

Collins told reporters they were not in it for the money, and did not have to worry about where "the next million or two" was coming from.

In an interview with Reuters, Banks added: "It's a coincidence if other groups are doing it. For us, we've been talking about it for a long, long time and it's one of those things where it's all come together at this point."

The "Turn It On Again" tour will take Genesis to large stadiums in Scandinavia, across continental Europe and in Britain. It kicks off at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki on June 11 and ends in Rome on July 14.

Banks said Genesis also planned to extend the tour to the United States with 20 dates in September.

Collins, who has enjoyed a successful solo career and quit the group a decade ago, said the idea of a tour was something he and his colleagues had mulled over many times.

"We are actually good friends apart from being in the same band, so we've seen each other many, many times since I left the band, certainly," he told Reuters. "It's always been floating around and we just decided to get together."

The three band members will be joined by long time Genesis sidemen Chester Thompson on drums and Daryl Stuermer on guitar.

The band was formed 40 years ago by Banks, Rutherford, Peter Gabriel and Anthony Phillips, but its greatest success came in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Collins, now 55, took over lead vocals. Gabriel left the group in 1975.

Banks said Gabriel appeared reluctant to return to his Genesis roots for the tour, although the group had talked to him and another former member Steve Hackett about the possibility.

"He's not too sure he wants to go down that road again, and I understand that for all sorts of reasons," Banks said.

Tour organizers say Genesis has sold more than 130 million albums worldwide, with hits including "Invisible Touch."

(Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White)