Allmans continue winning streak; Genesis bores
by Steve Webb, The Knickerbocker News, July 2, 1980
Why the Allman Brothers Band is approached as typical Southern rock by listeners who worship the alleged sophistication of the British band Genesis is beyond this writer’s grasp. Genesis performed a two-hour show at SPAC Monday that was positively boring.
The band sounds like it must be very serious stuff, with a very dense, keyboard-laden blend of electronics, minor chords, and dramatic vocal stylings. But the results are lifeless. The only distinguished moment on the entire “Duke” album, or Monday’s show, was the latest single “Misunderstanding.” This particular song is an overt copy of Led Zeppelin’s “Fool in the Rain.” Heavy, huh?
Genesis’s legion of fans — 11,634 turned out Monday — will take these remarks as a philistine attack on rock groups seeking an intelligent, sophisticated sound. That’s balderdash. Artists such as Bill Bruford’s quartet, the various versions of Gong, National Health, and numerous American groups such as Dixie Dregs and — yes — the Allman Brothers can put together truly exciting, creative music that these guys only make tired pretenses at.
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