Hear This!

12/01/2004

While plenty of cover bands ply their trade with all the creativity of a clock-punching wage slave, some transcend mere mimicry with their passion and obsessive attention to detail. The French Canadian progressive-rock madmen who make up the Musical Box have been mounting their meticulous, note-for-note re-creations of Peter Gabriel era Genesis shows for over a decade. Pulling off the intricate music, elaborate costumes, and ambitious multimedia productions that matched -- and, in some cases, topped -- Pink Floyd's mind-bending concert theatrics during the '70s, the quintet offers prog-rock graybeards a chance to experience the lysergic sensory overload of Genesis concept albums brought to life onstage. Fans who sing "Invisible Touch" and "Illegal Alien" in the shower should stay home. The Musical Box makes its first visit to the Bay Area with a full-length rendition of the sprawling, surreal 1974 opus The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway on Sunday, Dec. 5, at the Nob Hill Masonic Center.
-- Dave Pehling

Originally posted at SF Weekly

Buzz Town

12/01/2004

Once in a while, an event comes along that is so unexpected and powerful, I must deviate from my normal format and write a preview. Because San Francisco is such a city of cover bands and onstage musical theatrics, it must be reported that the mother of all theatrical cover-band events will be taking place at the Masonic Auditorium Sunday, Dec. 5. Montreal's premier Genesis tribute band, the Musical Box, will be presenting, in its entirety, the 1974 Peter Gabriel-era Genesis concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. This dramatic prog-rock event, fully licensed by both Peter Gabriel and Genesis, is a note-for-note authentic replication, and there will be masks, costumes and special effects. This is the first trip to California for the Musical Box, which is wrapping up a 42-date European tour.
-- Beth Lisick

Originally posted at SF Gate