Mike Rutherford's Mechanics hit top gear for slick Oxford show

They may have only had a handful of hits, and a long time ago at that, but Mike + The Mechanics march on stage like the rock stars they are.

The band is the project of Mike Rutherford – better known as the founding member of Genesis. And with that band on indefinite hiatus, this is the closest fans will get to seeing the prog-rock behemoth any time soon.

That Genesis connection was rammed home with a dignified, ram-rod straight Rutherford playing on a stage littered with packing cases emblazoned with the name of his former band (one even carrying the name of his former drummer - a certain Phil Collins).

This was not Genesis-lite though; the Charterhouse-educated Rutherford – the son of a Royal Navy Captain – is far too modest for that. Tonight’s set was as much about the other two core members of his re-imagined band – soul singer Andrew Roachford and Canadian rocker Tim ‘The Power’ Howar – and, of course, The Mechanics’ own back catalogue.

They take no time to hit their stride, leaping in with hit Silent Running. The production is big, and the lighting superb, with spotlights raised on gritty scaffold stacks. It all feels polished. The music and banter is tightly arranged and is rehearsed within an inch of its life – with even spontaneous moments looking a bit scripted. But then what would you expect from a member of Genesis – a band famous for taking stage craft to new levels of excess.

“We’ve been touring since February,” says Mike, “So are just hitting our peak!”

“It’s all downhill from here,” Roachford retorts, adding. “We’ve been going so long we need another cup of coffee...” And with that, launches into, yes, Another Cup of Coffee. If there were groans, they were good natured.

While the heart generally sinks at mention of new songs, they had a treat in store with Let Me Fly – Roachford’s extraordinary, sky-scraping vocals doing just that – removing layers of paint from the theatre ceiling in the process. The reaction was immense.

Then we’re in for a treat, the Genesis fans in the house twitching at the bouncy opening riff of the swaggering stadium-filler Turn it On Again (written by Rutherford, of course) – Howar throwing in a great sweaty performance as Phil Collins.

This heralds a vanity session, with Roachford belting out his own ‘80s hit Cuddly Toy to similar levels of excitement, and another Genesis monster, I Can’t Dance.

Then it’s the one we’ve been waiting for. Roachford tingling spines with the opener to choker The Living Years, his emotive voice adding poignancy to an already charged song. If lighters were still allowed in theatres, this would have been the flame moment. Instead we settled on standing, swaying and waving our arms. Still, it was magnificent.

The encore featured their other biggy, Over My Shoulder and closed with anthem Word of Mouth, Howar powering through lyrics originally sung by the late Paul Young.

Slick, polished but heartfelt, this was stadium-sized rock with a sense of fun.