XinguTheTrue
Hi everyone, welcome to the chat with Tony Smith
XinguTheTrue
(This user is now known as Tony Smith)
Zorky-Mike
We’re still going, no crash
metalmike
Tony, please tell us what happened to the TIOA stage?
Tony Smith
Well, there's bits of it all over the world at the moment, some stored in America, some being stored in England, we decided to leave it that way in case we decided to do anything else.
uk76
Have you ever made (or had to make) decisions the band members didn't agree with? If so what for example? What was the most difficult decision you ever made?
Tony Smith
I don't think I've ever made a decision that the band ultimately hasn't agreed with, but there have been decisions made where the band would have had reservations, but have ultimately proven to be, in most questions, correct. On this current tour, there was a time when the guys were nervous about how large a production we could sustain. I pushed quite strongly for the bigger production. They were probably nervous that it was going to be sustainable from an audience point of view, and a financial point of view, I felt strongly that we had to come out with the biggest. I think I pushed harder than anyone.
Zorky-Mike
dodo's question being answered now
dodo
Mr Smith, Phil and Tony talked a few months ago about a test for South America to Turn It On Again Tour there, will happen that someday? Or was cancelled?
Tony Smith
No, we never say never, and we still continue to talk about it, it's more a question of timing. The will to do South America is there. It's really a question of timing and when everyone feels comfortable committing the time to do it. There is a big effort to move the show down there, and not that many shows to play. You have to commit a lot of time to it, and in terms of how many shows you can do, not that many. You have a long period of time with a huge amount of people on the road, and not a lot of shows to do it. We have to find a window in time when it works, or find a sponsorship or something. Phil really wants to go back to South America and we just don't know when we can do it.
el_kay
Why are the guys so reluctant to interact with their audience? Why was the decision made to play arenas in NA for the CAS tour that wasn't?
Tony Smith
The decision as to play arenas or not is to a large degree dictated by supply and demand. In the case of Calling All Stations, the demand wasn't there even for an arena tour. If the audience feels the band doesn't react...I'm not sure what you mean not interacting with audience. Phil does a terrific job interacting with audience, you can't ask for a better front man. As for the others, they don’t do anything different than they've ever done.
Tony Smith
I suppose as a follow up - is the question aimed at live performance, or generally?
(Zorknapp spoke up on the phone line here, saying that he thought it meant more generally)
Tony Smith
I think that the guys feel that in terms of their relationship with their audience, it's really through the music, and what they say through their music and lyrics is what they want to communicate. They don't feel it should go far beyond that, their statement is in their music and lyrics
gordonh
Hi Tony. Rumours of a booking at the O2 in the Autumn. Fiction?
Tony Smith
I would say that that is wishful thinking
At this point, the chat room went down for about 3 minutes. Genesis Rocks asked a question about future plans, although the question itself got lost in the shuffle, as did part of Tony’s answer. What we have is:
TonyS: Also looking like we're going to get some Mojo award for the band, that's what's happening at the moment, we're just taking time out and seeing what’s coming along. He's (Phil) doing some writing, and we'll see, it's a year off.
Zorky-Mike
Okay, we're still on the line
TonyS
er
TonyS
Sorry about that, i think we blew a fuse
TonyS
let's start again
charleybro
Will there be any Live Shows this Year to Coincide with the release of the last boxset?
TonyS
No.
truecolors
Tony, What is keeping you busy these days?
TonyS
Oh dear, there is plenty of things keeping me busy, getting the DVD out and released, we've been putting together the documentary edit, we've been authoring, putting artwork, etc. quite busy on that front.
hornsandtails (Mar 1, 2008 3:24:14 PM)
Tony, what's your proudest moments with the group -- one on the personal side, the other financial?
TonyS
I think actually one of my proudest moment is this last tour, the guys have played better this tour than ever before, it was a very rounded show, really pleased with production the way it came out. The Rome show is phenomenal, it was fantastic to see half a million people in Rome. Your closest memories are always your strongest. That's the one that sticks in my mind right now.
TonyS
As a follow up…
TonyS
As far as financial is concerned, getting the band out of their financial hole was my biggest achievement. Obviously the money is important, as a manager you'd be disappointed if you didn't do the best for the guys financially. It's never been a factor for them. It's always measured my response. Obviously I'm a commercially minded person. As I've said on this last tour, I've found myself at times arguing against the band to spend more money. Financially, it's a way of keeping score. It's not the main motivator
Zorky-Mike
Jan HH, your question is getting responded to
jan_hh
Is there a chance, that there will be a PC BOX SET one day with rare live tracks - or even a full Both Sides show on it - or maybe MTV unplugged ?
TonyS
Um, I think that there could be something with the stuff...you know we did a great thing with XM once, a program where Phil’s son talked about the process of writing songs. There are a few of those. Whenever Phil is presented with repackaging requests - Phil in the main is reluctant to present fans with material that's already been out. He feels that you shouldn't be asking for people to pay for things twice. It's always a battle with what the record company wants and the band wants. I’m always the mediator. There might be something in the future, but he feels that what's out there is representing him best. It's always a little bit of a battle when these things come up.
lilywhite
Hi Tony, from one manager to another, what is you best tip/technique that you can share about management?
TonyS
Listen to the artist and listen to your conscience
simonrba
I was lucky to go to Twickenham and got wet on the 12 Oct at the Hollywood Bowl...how emotional was it on the last night (13th Oct) ..Not knowing if this was the last gig ever....or perhaps you have inside knowledge of more to come? :-)
TonyS
Well it was very emotional because there is always the chance that it could be the last gig. Phil’s speech was fantastic and very moving. I personally never say never, and
I think that would be true of the guys in the band. They've never said "This is the last time we're doing this, the last time we're doing that." We've always said, let's leave it now and see how we feel in a years time, 6 months time, etc. I think it's quite likely that something else will happen at some point.
hornsandtails
What do people misunderstand most about the important role you play in the band's success?
TonyS
I think probably what the biggest misunderstanding especially from the hard core fans is the perception that I have as much influence as they think I might have. We’ve always worked very much as a 4 man partnership, I'm one of four. I'm not some Machiavellian character in the background pulling strings. We understand each other very well. That's probably the biggest misunderstanding. We've got three very intelligent guys in the band, you can't manipulate them very easily, and I wouldn't want to. It has to be a very honest and open relationship and that's what has sustained us for 35 years.
Zorky-Mike
Dom's question is getitng asked...
gottagodomino
Could you share with us your personal favorite songs from the band, perhaps from both the Peter and Phil era, and of solo careers?
TonyS
Cinema Show has always been a favorite of mine. For lots of reasons, it brings back lots of memories for me these days. Fading lights is a song that I really fought for to be played on the tour, to no avail, but it's always been a great favorite of mine. There are so many. There are particular songs on each album. Cinema Show has a special place in my heart, as does Abacab. I like Abacab a lot. As far as solo is concerned, there is a song called 'Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away.’ At the time Phil wrote it, we were both going through personal situations, and it struck a chord with me.
mat_c
The one I mentioned was what was the reason behind the move from Budapest to Prague? I would also like to know what’s Tony's view on Phil's recent comments about trying to retire?
TonyS
Yeah, well that was a bit of a real shame. We wanted to play Budapest and were keen to do it. The problem was that I had to - it's very difficult to explain. We sat down in September 2006 and I had to commit - stadiums aren't readily available. I had to commit to a date in stadiums to get a routing, some kind of routing. So at that time we hadn't finally designed the show. In fact, we didn't get the final design of the show, and the subsequent technical problems until January 2007. Once we got that info, it became apparent that we couldn’t' put the stage up and down again with the time we had. It became impossible to try and get to Budapest. The closest we could get was Prague. It was unfortunate, and to a large degree, it comes on my shoulders. I was in an impossible situation.
Once we decided to move to Prague, we had band info on various stadiums. At this time, we were in the middle of putting things together. It was weeks later when we got the real info on the venues in Prague. It wasn't ideal, it was a shame, I regret the fact that a lot of fans were put to a great inconvenience. We can only act on the info we're given, and if the info wasn't correct..... It wasn't until we got there that we saw the truth. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances. Now it wouldn't happen, we know the production timing, how long it takes to move, etc. At that time we were working in the dark.
Zorky-Mike
whitefang's question being responded to now
Zorky-Mike
Tony's still talking
whitefang
Tony, did the demand for tickets for the UK shows really surprise you and the band? To be honest I thought a handful of arena shows would be the deal for the UK, but two huge stadia seemed ambitious to me. How wrong I was! Any reason why more shows weren't added?
TonyS
First of all, yes it kind of took us by surprise, only insofar as the two shows sold out so quickly, Twickenham sold out in 70 minutes. There was a long debate about stadium and arenas. The band were a little nervous about the UK and the response. Finally we said ok, lets go for a stadium show, the production demanded it. We could have done three or four Twickenhams and more Manchesters. The reason we didn't is that it comes back to having to commit a long way ahead for these stadium shows. By the time the shows sold out, we were already committed to the other shows in Europe. We were already committed to the shows in each place, I had to make some tough decisions because of the distance. We wanted to play Portugal and Spain, but it was just too far, the band just didn't want to do that, they were insistent that it not be that long of a tour.
I talked to them about adding more shows to the end of euro tour, but 1 they didn't want to make that commitment it's the first time they've been on the road for 15 years, they didn't want to taint the experience. For example, after 6 or 7 weeks it becomes a drudge, they wanted it to be fun. It sounds fantastic to be on the road, but it's not to be honest. You're in and out of hotels, and if you have family, you don't want to be away too long. We wanted them to say 'hey that was really good fun' and that they'd want to go out again. We keep talking about arena shows, they work so well in NA - it would be nice to put that together again, it may happen.
lotusn
Tony, why was the 1970-75 box delayed?
TonyS
Which delay?
Zorky-Mike
That was accompanied by laughter on Tony's part
Zorky-Mike
More answer coming
TonyS
The reason we put it to the back of the queue in the first place was because we were having these conversations with maybe doing something with maybe the Lamb with Peter. Knowing that Peter had other things to do, lets put that at last release in case that possibility was to occur.
TonyS
As it happens, we still don't have any feedback on whether that could work. Because Peter’s involved as well, and Steve, the approval process has been a much lengthier process... all in all, we've had to put it back anyways. Getting answers out of people on whether they like this or that, or include this piece of unreleased material or not, that process takes a while. There are a few major reasons for delay. Also, you don't want to put it out at same time as putting other things out. We've put it back to fall of this year which we think is the right time.
behindthelines
disregard the previous: what I REALLY wanted to know was: When would the Milton Keynes video footage 1982 be released?? :-)
TonyS
I don't believe there is any video footage of Milton Keynes.. There might be some amateur footage, we didn't shoot it.
bender
Hi Tony, The band commented that they would be playing a song on the tour that they'd never played live before. Obviously it didn't make the cut, but can you tell us what it was? Blood On The Rooftops maybe?
TonyS
No I can't really
Zorky-Mike
Okay, about 2 or 3 more questions... Put some out there, and I'll try to get a few answered…
marktreadwell
Of all the fours you have been involved with, which one holds the most memories for you and why?
TonyS
I would say the first and the last for fairly obvious reasons
laura
Do the you and/or the band members ever visit the official website, and can we expect any involvement from Genesis to that end in the future?
TonyS
I'm on it now! I visit it. I often have a look to see what's going on and I know that Phil pops in now and again, and I know that Mike and Tony come on - Mike probably more than Tony. Whether they come on board more, who knows…
borellb
When you received the Peter Grant Award in 2000 why didn’t Peter participate in the small set Genesis played that night?
TonyS
I think if I recall correctly, and I can't be sure, I think he was out doing something and only managed to arrive that day, and we didn't have time to rehearse it. There was no underlying reason other than that, it was more just timing.
Zorky-Mike
Okay, hold on with questions for now...
shadow
did the bank want to play more shows in England on home soil
TonyS
I presume you mean the band rather than the bank....yes, they would have liked to have played more shows, and it may or may not happen in the future.
mat_c
and also any other projects in the pipeline for the boys
TonyS
Other than the documentary DVD and the early box set? Not really at the moment
duke_1979
Hi Tony. No matter what the lads do, Genesis always get short shrift from the music industry - from the Rock hall of fame to magazines who have no interest in mentioning them on their covers (VH1 Rock honors the one recent exception). Does this still grate with T, M & P?
TonyS
Yeah it does. I think that it's a shame that if you think about the complete legacy of Genesis, the songs that have come from the band and the solo activities, I do find it extraordinary that they don't get more recognition than they have. That's what's nice about the Mojo award. If you think about it, Pink Floyd only got in a few years ago. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are notorious for not acknowledging progressive bands. I think they have to change their committee.
behindthelines
What happened to the photos Phil took at all the shows?
TonyS
Some of those will be appearing in the DVD, and I think that Phil still has all the others and is thinking about what he wants to do with them. You never know, they may turn up in a book or something.
andrew1969
Is there future plans for the band to release some of the Archive collection and perhaps make them available as downloads?
TonyS
We're currently talking about a lot of the old board tapes and what we can do with them. Watch this space.
marktreadwell
would it be fair to say that of Tony ,Mike and Phil, Phil was the most reluctant to do the tour? He seemed quite nervous in most of the footage I’ve seen on YouTube etc
TonyS
I wouldn't say that's true. I think everyone really, really enjoyed the tour and they all remembered how much fun they had in the past working together. I think they all had a little trepidation, but I think everyone came away having a great time. I think people will see that in the documentary.
genesis_rocks
How did you get involved with co-managing Pink Floyd
TonyS
I've been a friend of the bands for years, for most of my life, and in particular Nick Mason. We both race, we used to share a motor home together. Steve O'Rourke was probably one of my best friends, it was a terrible loss when he died. Nick wanted to have someone representing him in the Floyd's business, it was a natural thing to do. He came to me, funny enough, when Roger approached to do some shows with him. He asked me to help him out and do some negotiations, I did, it was great to be involved.
TonyS
Thanks everyone for coming in - stay tuned for any news on the DVD, we'll tell you what we can as it progresses. Thanks to everyone for bothering to ask questions.
Zorky-Mike
And, that is it...
Zorky-Mike
Whew!
