In 1978, British concert promoter Freddy Bannister was hoping to avoid the
politics and pitfalls he’d experienced two years earlier with the Rolling
Stones at the Knebworth Fair. So, instead of putting on one show with a high
maintenance headliner like the Stones or Led Zeppelin (who would eventually
play the festival over two weekends in 1979), Bannister promoted what he presumed
to be two lower key shows at Knebworth.
Both were wildly diverse in billing. Genesis, along with Jefferson Starship,
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Devo, Brand X, Atlanta Rhythm Section and Roy
Harper, played on June 24 and drew 80,000 people. Frank Zappa (a personal favorite
of Bannister’s), the Tubes, Peter Gabriel, the Boomtown Rats and Rockpile
played to a smaller, yet equally enthusiastic crowd on September 9.
From this an odd and old 23-minute film has surfaced on a DVD called Remembering
Knebworth 1978 Featuring Genesis: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Stiffly
narrated and routinely shot, this news-style profile includes individual interviews
with Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks; a sound check video of “Many
Too Many”; and some live clips featuring “Lady Lies” from the
June 24 festival.
On closer inspection, you may notice that this film is actually the tail end
of another, lengthier Genesis documentary included on the CD/DVD reissue of
And Then There Were Three. To balance it out, there’s a couple
of added bonuses here: a photo gallery of all the bands that played with Genesis,
and an interview with Freddy Bannister from 2007. The retired promoter talks
with Jon Kirkman about all the Knebworth festivals he promoted, leading up to
A Midsummer Night’s Dream and how well it came off. For an interview
that clocks in at around 30 minutes, it would have been nice to hear some of
Bannister’s more colorful stories about his dealings with the Stones and Zeppelin
(which he talks about extensively in his book), but maybe they’re saving those
for future releases.
For now, this DVD is another trinket Knebworth fans can savor, although there’s
plenty more memorabilia from the festival at Rockmusicmemorabilia.com
Ltd. Still, with Zeppelin’s slice of the Knebworth pie given a glowing
restoration via the group’s best-selling DVD, one can only hope other
moments from the historic Knebworth shows of the 70s find their way to the cleaners
and out into the market soon.
~ Shawn Perry
