Phil Collins combines good music with all the right=20 political credentials, writes Pat Sidley
FOR those with their hearing (and purses) still intact=20 after the Rolling Stones blast, the best reference for=20 the Phil Collins concerts has come inadvertently from=20 the Stones’ own publicist, who thinks Collins’ concert=20 is one of the best on the international circuit. “He’s=20 very warm, and it comes across,” she said.
Collins will be playing at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park=20 tonight, and at Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday. The=20 support act, Bright Blue, kicks off at 7.15pm, with=20 Collins appearing on stage from 8.30pm.
Forty-three and balding, Collins seems to possess the=20 required amount of angst to produce the kind of ballads=20 which top charts — and have made him very wealthy. His=20 marital difficulties make tabloid headlines, but he=20 impresses many locally with his social concerns –=20 evident not only in many of his songs, but in his=20 financial support for the homeless. In this country,=20 Collins’ record royalties have, for the last five=20 years, gone to Promat, an organisation which educates=20 black teachers. His political credentials (not=20 mandatory for an enjoyable evening) include having=20 played drums at a London concert honouring Nelson=20 Mandela’s 70th birthday.
He also came out in support of the 1989 South African=20 Musicians’ Alliance’s Human Rainbow Concert when it was=20 banned. That, too, was organised by Roddy Quinn, now of=20 Big Concerts, the company responsible for bringing=20 Collins here.
While those who buy tickets for his concert can do so=20 with clear consciences, they should also know that they=20 will be getting their money’s worth. Collins brings=20 with him a 10-person brassy band packed with musicians=20 whose track records read like a who’s who of jazz and=20 fusion bands in the US.
Big Concerts and Ellis Park have ensured that the=20 smooth running of the previous two concerts will=20 continue, with buses ferrying concert-goers from=20 several points in town (the JCE in Parktown, Mark’s=20 Park in Emmarentia, Rand Stadium, Bezuidenhout Park and=20 Milpark Holiday Inn). Security arrangements are similar=20 to those which have proved effective in the past. Don’t=20 bring booze, drugs or firearms, and expect to be=20 searched at the gates for any of the above.=20
This all applies at Kingsmead on Sunday night, though=20 the stadium is smaller and transport has not been laid=20
For fans wanting to take memorabilia home with them,=20 there will be plenty of it available. The idea is to=20 buy the authorised merchandise (available at official=20 stands) and not the pirated versions which will be=20 available along the roads leading to the performance.=20 This may dent the purse, but one might as well stay=20 with the “correct” spirit of the concerts.