Live From The Shrine Auditorium, 1975 by Genesis (2025 Remaster)

Genesis - Live From The Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA. January 24, 1975

This album has also been the subject of further celebrations, one of which I particularly appreciated:  IT - A Celebration of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Deluxe Edition, produced by Dave Kerzner. This impressive, beautiful, and majestic album was released in 2024, a beautiful 3-CD box set produced by Dave Kerzner for the fiftieth anniversary of the original Genesis album.

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary celebration, I had the opportunity to listen to it again and to listen to the remastered version of Live From The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, January 24, 1975 (2025 Remaster). This review focuses on this fantastic concert and the box set that contains it.

Peter Gabriel had already informed the band of his intention to leave at the end of the tour, but the news was kept secret so as not to jeopardize its success. This tension, paradoxically, contributed to a spectacular and intense performance.

It is a cornerstone of Genesis's live history from that period. The recording of this concert was used as the basis for several releases, including Genesis Archive 1967–75 (1998).

For the 1998 release, some parts, particularly almost 80% of Gabriel's vocals, who had partial laryngitis that night, and some of Steve Hackett's guitar parts, were overdubbed in the studio in 1997 to improve the audio quality.

The 2025 edition, released for the album's 50th anniversary, included a Super Deluxe Edition with remastered versions of the concert.

Performing the entire double album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway required superhuman technical precision and physical endurance, but the individual performances of the musicians are legendary:

Peter Gabriel, despite suffering from mild laryngitis that evening, delivered a visceral and theatrical performance. Gabriel had to sing almost continuously for 90 minutes, managing complex costume changes (including the cumbersome Slippermen costume and Rael's makeup). For the official release in Archive 1967-75, Gabriel had to re-record much of the vocal tracks in 1997, as the 1975 original featured pitch drops due to stage movements and the mask covering his microphone.

Steve Hackett demonstrates his mastery of tapping in this concert, with the guitar becoming almost orchestral and with extraordinary precision, featuring impeccable solo parts.

Tony Banks is the concert's true conductor. Banks masters a vast array of instruments (Mellotron, Hammond organ, ARP Pro Soloist synthesizer), with performances on songs like "In the Cage" and "Riding the Scree" legendary for their speed and clarity.

Phil Collins delivers his best live performance ever, showcasing immense power and rhythmic control with a frenetic and precise drumming style, keeping time in extremely complex prog structures and featuring crucial backing vocals to support Gabriel.

Mike Rutherford, with his bass and Moog Taurus, could make the entire room vibrate during the more dramatic sections, and his 12-string work during the acoustic moments made the sound delicate and bucolic.

Some tracks improve in the live performance compared to the studio version, reaching absolute heights, with the magnificent "In the Cage" being the most powerful moment of the concert, with the rhythm section of Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford creating a frenetic wall of sound, and Tony Banks' synth solo reaching peaks of speed and precision that make it superior to the studio version.

"The Colony of Slippermen," featuring Gabriel in his grotesque "Slipperman" costume, is a tour de force for Tony Banks, flawless and brimming with virtuosity.

"It" and "Watcher of the Skies" are the grand finale. After the rousing conclusion of "It," the band performs an encore with a stripped-down, instrumental version of "Watcher of the Skies," featuring Banks's Mellotron intro, one of the most evocative moments in Genesis live history.

Box Set The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)

Box Set Contents (5 CDs + 1 Blu-ray)

CDs 1 & 2: The original 1974 album mix, remastered in 2024 at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell.

CDs 3, 4 & 5: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – Live At The Shrine Auditorium (January 24, 1975). For the first time, the concert is released in its entirety, including the closing tracks ("It" and "Watcher of the Skies"), which were excluded from the 1998 Archive box set.

Blu-ray (High-Resolution Audio): Contains Bob Clearmountain's Atmos mix of the original album, as well as the 5.1 Surround Sound and High-Resolution Stereo mixes.

Extra Audio Material: Includes three previously unreleased demos from the Headley Grange recording sessions (including "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" and "Magog").

Documentation and Merchandise

60-page book: With text by Alexis Petridis, interviews with all the band members (Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, and Rutherford), and rare studio and tour photographs.
Tour Program: A reproduction of the original 1975 program.
Ticket and Poster: Reproduction of a Shrine Auditorium concert ticket and a period advertising poster.

Artwork and Cover

The cover retains the original iconic black-and-white design created by Hipgnosis, but is presented in a high-quality box-set format that recalls the surreal aesthetic of Rael's story.

All the photos are below.

Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page.

LineUp

Peter Gabriel – Lead vocals, flute, oboe, percussion
Tony Banks – Keyboards (Hammond organ, Mellotron, Hohner electric piano, ARP Pro Soloist synthesizer, acoustic piano), backing vocals
Steve Hackett – Electric and acoustic guitars
Mike Rutherford – Bass, 12-string guitars, bass pedals (Moog Taurus), backing vocals
Phil Collins – Drums, percussion, backing vocals, a brief lead vocal section on the song “The Colony of Slippermen”

The Box

The First Volume, Blu-ray and concert material

The album and concert CDs

The Photographic Book and some Photos

One of the CDs being reviewed