Carpet Crawlers at The Peel

It's a well known fact that 70's music is the best and that prog rock is one of the reasons for this. Sadly most of the bands that played then are either dead, retired or too rich to play these days and so the many tribute bands are the closest that we can get to reliving those glory days.

So when the House of Progression at The Peel announced a show by the Carpet Crawlers it went straight into my diary.

Carpet Crawlers recognise that one of the things that made Genesis legends was the grand performances that they put on, starting with Peter Gabriel's costumes and acting then on to the light shows of Seconds Out, so this is a large part of what they do - even in a small place like The Peel.

Their act is in two parts with the early era first and then a short break and a change of tempo to the Phil Collins era with songs I'd never heard of before.

Part 1 was, as expected, a joyous ramble through the early catalogue with songs like Watcher of the Skies, Supper's Ready (all of it!) and a medley from the Lamb Lies down on Broadway (oddly without Carpet Crawlers).

Part 2 was all new to me but I appreciated the extended instrumental sections that clearly descended from Genesis' progressive origins. I was rather expecting to hear at least one of the classic ballads from Trick of the Tail, i.e. Entangled and Ripples, but all we got from their last great album (my personal prejudice) was Los Endos which, not surprisingly, closed the show.

There is a great deal going for Carpet Crawlers, the show is well planned and delivered and they really do look and sound a lot like Genesis. But that is their problem too because thirty years on the Genesis songs do not stand-up to close examination in the same way that, say, those from Yes and Pink Floyd do.