After 15 years doing solo work, Genesis reforms for one of the biggest tours of 2007; first in Europe and then in the US.  This mammoth concert is filmed in Rome, where half a million fans witnessed the groups last concert in Europe for free.  This three disc set captures the entire concert on two discs and also contains a two hour documentary on the reunion and planning the tour.

The stage is one of the most massive ever assembled; pretty good for a 3 piece band and measured 210 feet wide with an enormous video screen and lighting system.  As you can see from the track listing, the sets contained a lot of material for both old and new Genesis fans.  Too bad Peter Gabriel couldn't have shown up.

There are two schools of thought when directing and editing a massive concert like this;  concentrate on the music and flow of instrument and singer highlights by focusing on what is being sung or played,   or since I have all these great cameras situated all around the venue, I'm going to use everyone of them for a variety of shots, regardless of what is being played. Unfortunately, that is what the director chose to do with this concert, with cameras skipping around the venue throughout the concert.  While you get lots of good shots, they don't last long until the next one, breaking up the flow of watching the group perform.  For me, it was hard to watch when the shot changed every ten seconds.  There is a place for such camera work but not for the entire concert. 

Picture quality was also not as nice as it could have been but acceptable.  Far away shots were a bit too far away for  a 480i  picture and some shots contained artifacts.  It was easy to get distracted by the video screen behind the group in close up shots. The venue was also filled with smoke and fog, leading to a less than clear picture in some portions of the concert. Highlights for me were two numbers near the end when Mike Rutherford actually looked animated a bit in "Domino" and "I Can't Dance".  Collins , as usual, was the spokesperson and kept reading messages to the audience from cue cards in Italian.  He played the drums on a couple of numbers but most of that work was done by their long time sideman Chester Thompson.  Daryl Stuermer  provided extra guitar and bass for the concert. Tony Banks concentrated entirely on the music; I don't think he smiled once during the entire concert. 

The music on this set is superb with both Dolby 5.1 and DTS sound as options.  Curiously, the disc defaults to a stereo track so you'll need to go into setup for 5.1 surround sound.  The group sounds great, even though Collins seems to struggle a bit on high notes.  The mix is a real treat for the ears.

The third disc in this set is a two hour documentary on the reforming of the group through the concert, with the guys clowning around in the studio, and planning the tour.   I thought it was bit long and you can ony take so many of Phil Collins jokes and schtick.

A massive set, this disc set will only be sold at Wal-Mart , Sam's Club and on line at Genesis.com.  If you missed the tour in 2007, this is a great way to get the entire concert plus lots of extra material.  While I thought the video could have been better, the sound is superb and fans should be happy with this set.