The restoration of the film of Genesis performing at Shepperton Studios in 1973 is perhaps the single most heroic episode in the history of fanatical fandom.
I might not have all the details exactly correct, but the gist of it is that about ten years ago a guy who goes by the online handle of “King Lerch” became aware of a 16mm film of of a live Genesis concert from 1973 that was being auctioned off as part of an estate sale in New York. He then noticed that a small group of Genesis fans were planning to pool their resources, rather than bid against each other and joined forces with them. No one had any idea what exactly was on the film or even what condition it was in, so by banding together, their risk was spread out, and minimized.
Like most reels of Kodak film from 1973, the film had gone a bit red and required significant clean-up in that department. The audio was kind of iffy, too, coming as it would from the magnetic track on the celluloid print. Apparently a few hundred man hours were devoted to the project and it became widely known when it was released—for free—to grateful Genesis fans on the Internet.
The version that was done ten years ago amazed and delighted fans of the group, but a couple of years ago, good King Lerch and his merry men opted to make yet another better version, taking advantage of updated audio/visual technology, and the fact that many people now have Blu-ray burners, to offer an HD version—it’s free for download at the Genesis Museum—of the Shepperton concert. That’s… really generous
Old Michael went past the pet shop, which was never open, into the park, which was never closed, and the park was full of a very smooth, clean, green grass. So Henry took off all his clothes and began rubbing his flesh into the wet, clean, green grass. He accompanied himself with a little tune - it went like this….
Set list:
“Watcher Of The Skies”
“Dancing With The Moonlit Knight”
“I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)”
“The Musical Box”
“Supper’s Ready”
This is perhaps the single best representation of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis on film. Sadly there is next to nothing that exists of live footage of them playing their enigmatic, inscrutable masterpiece, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, but if I had to pick a second choice, it would be seeing them do their seven-movement progressive rock sonata, Foxtrot‘s epic “Supper’s Ready.”