Review of Phil Collins: Finally The First Final Farewell Tour

Introduction

Phil Collins first came to prominence as the bloke behind the drum kit in the Charterhouse prog rock band Genesis. There he stayed for a while until vocalist Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975, upon which he was promoted to the bloke behind the drum kit who also sang lead vocals. Genesis had a pretty successful career in their original form, but with Collins at the helm their career changed direction and they went stratospheric.

The 80`s was arguably the decade that Genesis is probably best known for outside of die-hard fans, and thus it is for Collins also. As well as best-selling albums like Invisible Touch, Collins found time to also launch his own solo career and do a bit of acting too. Collins film career started early, with appearances in A Hard Days Night and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and he managed to forge his own on-off career with an appearance in Miami Vice as Phil The Shill in 1985, and the lead role in Buster. With credits up until 2003, it would appear that Phil Collins has aspirations to carry on his acting in some capacity whenever he has time.

Collins` solo music career, although tailing off to a degree over the last decade, has been pretty consistent since he unleashed the drum-laden In The Air Tonight back in 1981. Scoring three number one singles and twenty Top 20 singles, Collins found his route to success via a pop-tinged song writing ability that was a couple notches more radio-friendly and lighter than Genesis. Live Aid in 1985 also saw him perform on both sides of the Atlantic. Finishing his performance at Wembley Stadium, he then hopped on Concorde to rush across to Philadelphia to perform a second set of sorts. More recently Phil Collins has branched out into film soundtrack work that includes work on the Disney animated version of Tarzan.

Here then, for your delectation is a capturing of a live performance from Bercy, Paris.

Video

Very clear picture, some nice detail present and it would appear that the stage set and lighting was geared towards the possibility of filming.

Audio

The concert is presented in DD 5.1, DTS and DD 2.0, whilst the extras are all presented in DD 2.0 only. The 5.1 mix is very good, but the DD 2.0 mixes are very powerful in their own right.

Features

Where do I start? This 2 disc set has some quite impressive extras.

The concert footage itself has extra angles on four of the tracks, I haven`t seen much use of this DVD feature recently so a welcome return to that.

All but five of the concert tracks are also accompanied by their original promo videos. This is arguably the best thing about this release, you can hop out of the concert at set points and watch the vids or watch them individually via the front menu. The only minor complaint I have about this feature is that there is no Play All option so you have to choose each on individually.

Extra video footage that includes the performance of Against All Odds at Live Aid, Philadelphia and In The Air Tonight at The Secret Policeman`s Other Ball. Hidden away as a `Wild Card` you also have an extremely long version of Pick Up The Pieces by Phil`s Big Band. Clocking in at over 20 minutes, the performance from the 1998 Montreux Jazz Festival features some amazing sax playing from some of the best performers of the day.

A Bit Of A Parking Problem sees Phil `disguised` a local council busybody despatched to investigate sloppy bus and truck parking from the tour crew. Essentially this is a behind the scenes look at the tour and an introduction to some of the many support staff that Phil employs/requires to back him up on the road. A nice touch.

At Last…The Long Lost Network TV Special is a TV show put together in the 90`s and shown on US TV. Featuring a host of cameos from the likes of Bruce Willis, Don Johnson, John Travolta, John Candy and Dr Dre(!), plus some nice over the top acting from the likes of Vanessa Williams (yes, that one…) and Jeffrey Tambor, this is a nice slant on the ubiquitous TV special and is very funny in places.

But First…The Final Documentary - does exactly what it says on the tin. A look at the tour and the making of the DVD; some interesting interviews with members of the band (many famous in their own right), backroom boys and director Hamish Hamilton, as well as the man himself.

Conclusion

I`m not the biggest fan of Phil Collins in the world, but I seem to know more about him and his career than a lot of other artists of the same era. This probably says more about his appeal and public persona than anything else, although I can generally listen to his singles with no problems. I`m not sure I actually own any of them though, or any of his albums, as they are just a touch too pop for me. I had the same problem with this concert, as it was very slick and put together but just felt a little too bland and pedestrian in places. The audience, and Collins fans in general, will lap it up though. The main highlights for me were the tracks where Phil got behind the drums again himself, particularly the aptly titled Drums, Drums & More Drums which does exactly what it says on the tin.

The stage presence and rapport between Phil and his band is obvious, with some trademark Collins comedic touches in there. My favourite pieces were the Drums, Drums track and In The Air Tonight (suitably moody), Sussudio (suitably Prince funky) and Wear My Hat (just bonkers, a song about pushy fans) and the subdued but apt closer Take Me Home.

The documentaries are a nice set of extras for this DVD, but the inclusion of the promo videos and the other included performances just ramp up the Value For Money quotient. I can see this in many Dad`s stockings this Christmas…