The Musical Box Bring Phil Collins-Era Genesis to Hall for Cornwall

Hall for Cornwall has landed a stop on one of next summer’s most unusual tours. On 30 June 2026, Canadian outfit The Musical Box arrive in Truro with And Then There Was… Phil, a show that recreates Genesis in their late 1970s pomp down to the lighting rig and the instruments on stage.

Not a tribute band, a reconstruction

The Musical Box have spent more than three decades doing something stranger and more ambitious than a standard tribute act. They rebuild Genesis shows as theatrical pieces, complete with period costumes, vintage gear and original staging. For And Then There Was… Phil, the band have reconstructed the 1978 Mirrors tour stage set, including the tour’s mirrored lighting design.

Phil Collins himself joined them on stage in Geneva in 2005, and his assessment has become the line that follows the band around. “They’re not a tribute band, they have taken a period and are faithfully reproducing it in the same way that someone would do a theatrical production.” Steve Hackett has played with them. Peter Gabriel has watched them. Tony Banks gave them access to original material via his staff.

The Phil Collins years

Most of The Musical Box’s UK work since 2003 has focused on the Peter Gabriel era. The 2026 tour is the first time they have moved into the period after Gabriel left, covering four albums: A Trick of the Tail (1976), Wind & Wuthering (1976), …And Then There Were Three… (1978) and Duke (1980). It is the stretch where Genesis went from cult prog band to something approaching mainstream, and where Follow You, Follow Me became their first proper hit.

Singer Denis Gagne, speaking ahead of the tour, said the era appealed because of what it represented for the band. “We wanted to do a show that would show that Genesis were still a very strong band after they lost their frontman in 1975. Some of the material on A Trick of the Tail is simply amazing and I always said it was a TRUE Genesis album.”

He picked Duke as the most underrated record of the period, and Behind the Lines as one of the tracks he is most looking forward to playing. “This is the song Genesis opened with the first time I saw them.”

Archaeology, not impersonation

Gagne describes the work of getting the sound right as “archaeology”. The band hunt down the same vintage instruments Genesis used in the 1970s, a market where prices have climbed steeply in recent years as the gear has become harder to find. They have also tracked down original footage, spoken to people who saw the shows first time round, and in one case visited The Farm, the band’s old recording studio, where staging director Serge Morissette reassembled original slides used on the Lamb tour and was given copies to use.

There will be at least one surprise in the Truro setlist. Gagne mentioned a track he is keeping back, though he admitted the running order will probably leak the moment they play the first date. “I imagine the setlist will end up on the web very quickly.”

The Truro show falls between Brighton and Cambridge on the 14-date UK run. Tickets are available through the Hall for Cornwall box office and at rg.live.