I'll admit I'm not a real lover of "unplugged" concerts. However, some artists just seem to really have what it takes to get over a live audience in an acoustic setting, and in this case the listener at home, that being me. A few people might remember Ray Wilson as the final singer for Genesis before they called it a career (for how long remains to be seen) about a year or two ago. Hailing from Scotland, Wilson piled up an impressive solo career as well as great success with the band Stiltzken prior to joining up with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford for the Calling All Stations CD, which turned out to be a failure for the band and they decided to pack things up. Here Wilson takes his acoustic guitar and fine voice for a selection of his own material plus some Genesis songs and other interesting and fun surprises.
Without going into too much detail, the audience really gets into his covers of "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, as well as Genesis tunes like "Shipwrecked" and "Not About Us" from the bands last album. However, it is when Wilson breaks into "Lovers Leap" from "Suppers Ready" and "The Carpet Crawlers" that they really come alive. Ditto for Peter Gabriel's "Biko" and Springsteen's "Born to Run", where the singer shows some great range and emotion. A special chilling moment comes when he completes "Mama", echoing Collins' delivery to a tee, yet adding his own flair to the song. Many of his solo pieces are strong as well, especially the catchy "Another Day" or the tender "Always in My Heart."
While this may be a bit generic for some, it is obvious that Ray Wilson is not just another singer. It will be interesting to see if he can parlay his short stint with Genesis into a full-blown solo career with a decent band. No doubt on a small stage, he had the crowd in his palm, armed with just a microphone, an acoustic guitar, and two fellow musicians to help him out in a few spots.
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