Blagica Stefanovski, NBC5 Street Team (Video)

I was looking forward to this all summer. Me, Michael and Genesis. I spent the bulk of my day listening to 80s Genesis songs and screaming to my friends, 'Soo Soo SooDeeO!". I even walked around my condo acting out the '"I Can't Dance" video and crying to the tune of "Against All Odds". My mind was ready to embrace Phil and the boys for a night of nostalgia. Genesis performed at the United Center last night, along with more shows this week.

Let's set the scene. The bulk of the crowd for 40+ years old. Hey, I have NO problem with that. I also know Genesis has been around for a long time and have quite the collection of hits. Fine. Michael was going to buy us a round of drinks, but after seeing the $7.75 beer charge, $3.75 soda charge and $8.75 Mai Tai charge, we thought, no thanks. We just finished having an incredible dinner at Tuscany on Taylor and weren't about to spend 16 smacks on drinks.

We settled in for the concert to a crowd that was pretty laid back. I knew we wouldn't see mosh pits and what not, but wow, I was surprised by how tame everyone was. Anyhoo, the bulk of the concert had instrumental upon instrumental upon...instrumental. Genesis played tunes from the 70s, which is fine, but you'd think they'd play songs like "Rain Down on Me", "Against All Odds", etc. They did perform "Incredible Touch", "Follow Me" and "I Can't Dance". I also know some songs are specifically under Phil Collins' belt, but come on, I've seen Genesis perform those tunes with Phil in the past. Needless to say, I was disappointed. The encore, you'd think would be a lively song with drums, excitement, etc. Nope. The ending song was one I couldn't recognize (which is fine), but put me to sleep.

Phil commented a few times during the show about 'old people', 'do I have old people here', 'I'm going back to the old folks home, etc.' Doesn't Phil know that there are many of us that grew up on his songs circa 1985? Those comments made me feel like I wasn't supposed to be at the show in the FIRST PLACE. Geesh. Between that and the over-the-top expenses for buying United Center concessions, I'd rate my Genesis concert experience as 5 out of 10. The visual lights show the band had, along with the cool drum solos kept my spirits up.