RAMzine 27 | Avatar, Festival Flashbacks, Sister Shotgun

GENESIS at Knebworth
24th June 1978
By Laurence Todd
In 1978, Genesis were probably, along
with Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, one of
the three biggest bands in the world.
They’d survived the loss of charismatic
frontman, Peter Gabriel, and had
ridden out the crescendo of vitriol
from Punk, which was supposedly all
about getting rid of these dinosaur
bands who not only played lengthy
songs, but who also prided themselves
on their musical ability, and were
filling stadia all over the world.
The sole UK date for Genesis on their
1978 world tour was at Knebworth in
front of a 90,000 crowd and, as a fan
since buying ‘Trespass’ in 1971, plus
having seen them several times with
Gabriel, I was really up for this event.
My girlfriend, however, wasn’t interested,
and neither was the boyfriend
of a girl on my course, Alison, so we
talked about it and we agreed… sod it,
we’ll go. So, with tickets bought, transportation
arranged (she was going to
drive from London to Knebworth), she
picks me up very early on Saturday
morning, and we get to Knebworth
in reasonably good time and were
extremely fortuitous with where we
managed to park, right by the exit,
which would become a Godsend later
in the day, for reasons I shall come on
to explain. All the way to the site, along
the A1M, the weather had looked ominous,
threatening rain, but, late morning,
the sun made an appearance and
hung around most of the day. Ally and
I made our way into the arena and
parked ourselves right at the back of
the crowd, near to the beer tent
(I wasn’t driving !) and the toilets, but
still with a great view. We consume the
days first beers. So far so good.
The opening acts Devo, Brand X and
Atlanta Rhythm Section pretty much
came and went unnoticed. Brand X
were at least musically very proficient,
but hearing sophisticated jazz-rock
played in 17/5 time at 1.45 on a sunny
afternoon didn’t quite hit the mark.
The Atlanta’s were wholly unimpressive
and, while Devo were at least entertaining,
sadly a few idiots down the
front saw fit to throw mud and bottles
at the band, all wearing white boiler
suits, which meant their set having to
be curtailed.
Late in the afternoon, however, came
the first real highlight of the day as
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers took
the stage for their UK debut gig, and
they blew a hole in the place with a
stupendous set and got a great reception.
Then came the days first big disappointment.
Late 60’s American psych
legends Jefferson Airplane had, by
now, morphed into the more commercial
Jefferson Starship and, when they
come onstage, I looked anxiously for
Grace Slick as I’m a big fan of hers
(forget Stevie Nicks, Grace is the real
queen of the west coast) but she didn’t
appear. The Starship’s set was fair
enough but it lacked the star quality
Grace gives the band. In the music
press the following week, it was stated
she’d been sent home in disgrace for
unspecified reasons. But at least west
coast legends Marty Balin and Paul
Kantner played.
To fill in the lengthy gap before the
headline act, perennial seventies festival
favourite Roy Harper turns up and
played an unannounced solo acoustic
set, which is a delight.
Around 6pm, Ally decides she has
to use the ladies, so off she goes. She
arrives back soon after, saying the
queues for the ladies’ toilets are really
long (surprise !!) so she’d decided to
wait till the queues get shorter. They
don’t. She tries again a little later,
waits her turn, goes in then comes
straight out again, stating the toilets
are ‘absolutely disgusting.’ At 8pm,
Ally was now really feeling the need to
go, so I suggest she goes behind one of
the many bushes around the edge of
the field. She reluctantly agrees, and I
stand in front to afford her some privacy.
A couple of minutes later, out she
comes… she can’t do it in a bush !!
Fast forward to 9pm… The days second
big disappointment is about to
occur.
I’m buzzing; the crowd’s anticipation
level is building, the stage music has
stopped, the house lights are going
down, huge cheer from the crowd as
90,000 fans get on their feet; Genesis
.. the reason I’m here, the band I came
to see .. are about to take the stage. It’s
pitch dark all around us and the stage
now becomes completely bathed in a
glorious white glow from God knows
how many stage lights which, from
where we’re standing, looks almost
celestial. Genesis then bound on stage
to the kind of reception only superstars
get .. at which point, as the first
notes of their opening number can
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