Last week I got to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine – seeing Phil Collins in concert! I’m still wrapping my mind around how good this concert was, and all the feelings I have because of going. I have so many good memories of growing up to his music. My parents were huge fans, which means my sisters and I were raised to be fans, too (and now our kids are cursed with the gene for loving good music). Not so secretly, all of us had a huge crush on Phil, too. In fact, when I texted my sisters to let them know I was on my way to see him, my youngest sister told us again how much she crushed on him.
What I wasn’t expecting was to be faced with Phil Collins’ mortality. I mean, his tour is called “Still Not Dead Yet.” But when you listen to his immortal voice on songs like Home by the Sea, Land of Confusion, and Take Me Home, and air drum to his iconic solo on In the Air Tonight, you truly believe he’ll live forever.
But then, reality hit in the shape of a cane as Phil Collins walked slowly to his chair and explained his recent back surgery and messed up foot. His voice had a slight wobble, and his face looked much older than the one staring back at me on his Face Value album.
But it was Phil. He was funny, so charismatic, and completely personable. And then he sang, and while the age was there, so was his youth, and I was transported back to the days when my sisters and I would listen to his albums on repeat for every road trip, camping vacation, and hairbrush rock concerts in the privacy of our own rooms.
For three hours, Phil Collins played mostly the classics, and I was thrilled. His band was incredible, and included a few of the touring members that played with Genesis, as well as Phil’s 18-year-old son Nic, who killed all the drum solos. It’s obvious where he inherited his talent. At one point, Phil, Nic, and the other drummer performed a 10-minute drum solo that had us all sitting there with mouths hung open.
Since the concert, I’ve flipflopped between listening to Genesis and Phil Collins, and fighting tears as I prematurely think of what it will be like when the world no longer holds Phil Collins. I already know I’ll be a wreck, and I’ll probably need to call out of work so I have a day to mourn. Don’t laugh. He’s that important to me – not just because of his music, but because of what his music symbolizes in my life. The memories attached to his music will always be there.
I just feel so lucky I got to be there. And should he have a 3rd “Not Dead Yet” tour, I’ll be there then, too.
Set list:
1. “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)”
2. “Another Day in Paradise”
3. “Hang in Long Enough”
4. “Don’t Lose My Number”
5. “Throwing It All Away”
6. “Follow You Follow Me”
7. “I Missed Again”
8. “Who Said I Would”
9. “Separate Lives”
10. Drum Trio
11. “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven”
12. “You Know What I Mean”
13. “In the Air Tonight’
14. “You Can’t Hurry Love”
15. “Dance Into the Light”
16. “Invisible Touch”
17. “Easy Lover”
18. “Sussudio”
Encore
19. “Take Me Home”
