The fox on the rocks
Gabriel's stage persona had matured and developed from the moment he got appointed the role of lead singer. Being unable to afford more reliable equipment, an early Genesis show would normally contain quite a few extended breaks in which the instruments had to be retuned or even needed to be repaired (the mellotron, admired by many because of its special sound, being the instrument that was cursed most in that respect). Being a shy person by nature, Gabriel would just be standing behind his microphone during these breaks, hoping to become invisible. As he became more and more confident on stage, he started to develop stories that he could tell to make the breaks less embarrassing for everyone involved. Some of those stories were extensions of the song that they were about to play, but he also had some in his repertoire that were very bizarre.
A Belgian TV Photo of GenesisGenesis' stage act was rather static in the beginning. Sitting down in order to concentrate on their sometimes rather tricky parts, Steve Hackett, Rutherford and Banks were not exactly mobile, whereas Phil Collins was bound to one spot for more obvious reasons. On top of that, Rutherford, Hackett and Banks were not the kind of "stage animals" that some performers are; they preferred anonymity. Anything that meant deflecting the attention of the audience away from them suited them just fine. So when Gabriel felt relaxed enough on stage to let go of himself completely, thereby capturing the audience's attention, they were completely okay with that.
His first step on the way to his notorious masquerades was set when he decided that Genesis should get some extra attention during the Lincoln Festival in May 1972. To achieve that he appeared on stage with his face painted white, thick black eye make-up, a heavily jewelled Egyptian collar with matching cuffs and, most striking of all, the front of his head shaved. The audience was shocked, but the extra exposure this simple act got through the press was definitely rewarding.
