Mike & The Mechanics "Looking Back Tour" in Erfurt

Tuesday, 15 April 2025 00:00
Written by Portal Editor

In addition to his activities with Phil Collins and the band Genesis, guitarist Mike Rutherford and his band Mike & The Mechanics scored several world-famous hits, especially in the 80s and 90s.

After the sold-out "Refuelled! Tour" in 2023, Mike & The Mechanics are returning to the big stages in Germany, including Erfurt, with the "Looking Back - Living The Years 2025 Tour."

Mike & The Mechanics // Looking Back - Living the Years 2025 Tour // April 20, 2025 // ERFURT, Trade Fair

The tour began in March 2025 and covered the entire United Kingdom, before continuing with 14 shows in Germany, including Dortmund, Stuttgart, Munich, Leipzig, Frankfurt, and Hamburg.

Mike Rutherford's Band History – From Anon to Genesis

When Mike Rutherford was 14, he transferred to Charterhouse School and met his future bandmate, Anthony Phillips. With him, he formed the school band Anon. At the beginning of 1967, two Charterhouse bands, Anon and The Garden Wall, merged to form Genesis. Mike initially became the bassist of the new band, later becoming lead guitarist.

From 1969 to 1997, Genesis produced numerous successful records, on which Rutherford often contributed as a songwriter. During Genesis' progressive rock era with Peter Gabriel as vocalist, he was primarily responsible for the electric bass, but he also played some rhythm guitar parts. Until the 1980s, he often used double-neck guitars, which featured an electric bass and an electric guitar. Rutherford is also known for his use of the Dewtron Mister Bassman (until 1975) and Moog Taurus (from 1976).

Peter Gabriel left Genesis as lead singer in 1975, after the legendary concert series "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway." After Steve Hackett's departure in 1977, Rutherford also took over lead guitar for Genesis; in the studio, he played both bass and guitar. Although he was quite convincing on his debut as the band's sole guitarist on ...And Then There Were Three on tracks like "Down and Out" and "Burning Rope," he mostly refrained from solos, which significantly changed the character of Genesis' music because there was no longer any counter to the dominance of Tony Banks' keyboards, thus diminishing the sound's heaviness.

At Genesis concerts, the band is joined by guitarist Daryl Stuermer, with whom Rutherford shares bass and guitar duties. Stuermer usually plays Hackett's material on lead guitar, while Rutherford, as before, plays bass or rhythm guitar.

Mike Rutherford – alongside Genesis, also Mike & The Mechanics

Rutherford is also active outside of Genesis. In 1980 and 1982, he released two stylistically quite different solo albums, which were not commercially successful. He also contributed the song Making a Big Mistake to the soundtrack of the film Against All Odds. The track, sung by Rutherford himself, was released as a B-side of various singles from the soundtrack album, including "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" by Phil Collins and "Walk Thru the Fire" by Peter Gabriel.

Mike + The Mechanics was founded in 1985 by Mike Rutherford "as a side project to Genesis," with Paul Young and Paul Carrack as the original frontmen, keyboardist Adrian Lee, and drummer Peter Van Hooke. Together they achieved huge commercial success in the 1980s and 1990s, reaching number one worldwide and selling over 10 million albums.

In early 1986, he and his band Mike & the Mechanics, featuring singers Paul Carrack and Paul Young, achieved the worldwide hit "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)."

"Looking Back - Living the Years" is the title of both the tour and the new compilation, which will be released on CD and as a double LP. It includes classics from various phases of the band, featuring the various singers Paul Young and Paul Carrack, as well as the two current frontmen Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar.

From the early days to the atmospheric "Silent Running" and the Grammy-nominated hits "All I Need Is A Miracle" and "Living Years" to the catchy "Over My Shoulder," this 16-track "best of" CD and LP recalls just how prominent Mike + The Mechanics were on the radio and in the charts in the 80s and 90s. And all this while Mike Rutherford was also enjoying success with Genesis.

Mike Rutherford says: "It's exciting to announce that we'll be touring with the Mechanics again.

Touring with the guy’s last year was a real pleasure.

Even though the last tour was years ago, we quickly fell back into the old ways, the old jokes, and the camaraderie as if it had only been a day!

We had so much fun on the last tour, and the audience was so appreciative and welcoming.

When we played the final show in Düsseldorf, we all agreed that we absolutely wanted to do it again.

We can't wait to see you all."

Mike Rutherford – Double-Neck Guitar

Due to his playing technique in the 1970s, Rutherford is recognized as a bassist in the progressive rock world. His guitar playing, on the other hand, is characterized by a minimalist approach, featuring concise riffs like those found in "Land of Confusion," "Turn It On Again," and "Abacab," and the avoidance of dexterous guitar solos.

In addition to six-string electric guitars, Rutherford also plays 12-string acoustic instruments in songs such as "Supper's Ready" and "The Cinema Show." He also uses bass pedals to play guitar and bass simultaneously.

In concerts, in addition to conventional instruments, he also uses a double-neck instrument consisting of a bass and a 12-string guitar.

Rutherford primarily plays bass guitars from Rickenbacker and Shergold. Together with English guitar maker Roger Giffin, he developed the Steinberger M-Series, which he favoured in the 1980s and during the Invisible Touch tour with Genesis.