Watch Peter Gabriel Wear a Foxhead and His Wife’s Red Dress

This is part one of an upcoming blog series which I should probably title “Abusing My Blogging Privileges,” as it will consist entirely of me posting old, weird YouTube clips of Genesis performing in the early ’70s. Those were the days when Peter Gabriel was the lead singer and Phil Collins did not venture out from behind the drum kit—in other words, better times. Genesis was the proggiest of pointy-headed prog bands, full of youthful ambition, virtuosic talent, and a proper English public school education that had them referencing myths, Freudian sexual philosophy, Christian allegory, and, in the case of “The Return of the Giant Hogweed,” obscure botanical phenomena. In my dumb opinion, they were totally fucking fantastic.

Coming from a performance in Paris in January 1973, this is the second half of Genesis’ incredibly long song “The Musical Box.” If the galloping, wonky first part of this clip doesn’t set your heart racing, just wait until Peter Gabriel dons his wife’s red dress, a foxhead mask, and sings/screams/bellows the song’s wacked out conclusion: “Now, now, now, now, NOOOOOW.” This is so goddamn strange. I love it.

I mention all this because the Musical Box—the band, not the song—is coming to Portland next week, performing at the Aladdin Theater on Thursday, February 27. They’re a Genesis tribute band from Montreal whose specialty is recreating, with immaculate detail, Genesis’ live show from the early ’70s. These were spectacularly theatrical affairs, with Gabriel donning all sorts of weird costumes to act out the songs. I don’t know if we’ll see the foxhead and the red dress at the Aladdin next week—shortly after this video was filmed, Gabriel began performing “The Musical Box” while wearing an old man mask—but you can bet that I will be there to find out. Holy crap, I am excited about this.

More of this to come, until I get fired.