Phil Collins honing drum skills for comeback shows

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By ( Classic Rock ) published

Phil Collins says drum practice in his garage will help him 'pull it together' for 2017 reunion shows – after he admitted he'll never play the way he used to

Phil Collins
Phil Collins (Image credit: Getty)

Phil Collins says he’s been practicing drumming in his garage for next year’s comeback tour.

The 65 year old previously said he’ll never play the way he used to and reported that “something happened” to his performance on the Genesis reunion tour in 2007 – but he’s working on making drumming feel “natural” again.

He tells Rolling Stone: “After the Genesis reunion tour, I played with Eric Clapton at Albert Hall for one song in 2010, and I had that feeling of ‘This isn’t happening.’ That kind of scared me.”

He continues: “The one thing I could rely on in life was that I could sit down at the drums and it would sound good, and suddenly I couldn’t pull it together. Now, I’ve got a drum kit in my garage and I’ve got into a routine of practicing.

“I’m trying to get my hands to feel natural again when I hold a pair of sticks. I’ve got some comeback shows booked for next year, and we’ll see what happens.”

Collins recently reflected on his spontaneous creativity in the studio with Genesis colleagues Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks – and says he wouldn’t rule out working with them again in future.

He’ll play a number of shows in London’s Royal Albert Hall, followed by concerts in Cologne and Paris next June.

Phil Collins European tour 2017

Jun 04: London Royal Albert Hall, UK
Jun 05: London Royal Albert Hall, UK
Jun 07: London Royal Albert Hall, UK
Jun 08: London Royal Albert Hall, UK
Jun 09: London Royal Albert Hall, UK
Jun 11: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Jun 12: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Jun 18: Paris Accor Hotels Arena, France
Jun 19: Paris Accor Hotels Arena, France

The Phil Collins Quiz: how well do you know the former Genesis man?

Christina O'Neill

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.