The Selling England by the Pound Tour was a concert tour by the English rock band Genesis, to promote their album Selling England by the Pound. The tour began on 19 September 1973 in Paris, France, and concluded on 6 May 1974 in New York City, USA.

Background Initially the band were to perform with a new and more elaborate stage set than before, that included inflatable objects with projected images, but a change in fire regulations following the Summerland disaster in August 1973 led to the idea being scrapped. Gabriel devised new stories before songs, and wore a full costume with a helmet and shield representing the Britannia character for "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" and sang "The Battle of Epping Forest" with a stocking over his head.

The tour began with a sold-out tour of the UK, but had to cancel the first date at the Green's Playhouse, Glasgow due to electrical safety issues minutes before its start. The group realised they were substantially in debt and needed better management, so recruited Tony Smith (no relation to Charisma boss Tony Stratton Smith). In October 1973 a pair of dates in the tour were filmed by Charisma for a possible cinema release, but the plan was rejected by the band who felt the film was not up to standard. Instead, the band performed a five-song set in front of an invited audience at Shepperton Studios that was filmed and broadcast as Tony Stratton Smith Presents Genesis in Concert. The group returned to the U.S. in December 1973 to perform six shows in three nights at The Roxy in Los Angeles, and a performance of "Watcher of the Skies" and "The Musical Box" on the late-night television show The Midnight Special. January 1974 saw the band perform five nights at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, at which Gabriel was lifted in the air by a wire during "Supper's Ready".

Tour dates + List of 1973 concerts Date City Country Venue 19 September 1973 Paris France Olympia Theatre 22 September 1973 Hamburg Germany Musikhalle 23 September 1973 Osnabrück Stadttheater Osnabrück 25 September 1973 26 September 1973 Hamm Kurhaus 27 September 1973 Darmstadt Staatstheater Darmstadt 29 September 1973 Lausanne Switzerland Palais de Beaulieu 30 September 1973 Frankfurt Germany Festhalle Frankfurt 5 October 1973 Glasgow Scotland The Apollo 6 October 1973 Manchester England Manchester Opera House 7 October 1973 Oxford New Theatre Oxford 9 October 1973 Glasgow Scotland The Apollo 11 October 1973 Southampton England Gaumont Theatre 12 October 1973 Bournemouth Bournemouth Winter Gardens 15 October 1973 Brighton Brighton Dome 16 October 1973 Bristol Colston Hall 18 October 1973 Leicester De Montfort Hall 19 October 1973 London Rainbow Theatre 20 October 1973 23 October 1973 Liverpool Liverpool Empire Theatre 25 October 1973 Sheffield Sheffield City Hall 26 October 1973 Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle City Hall 28 October 1973 Birmingham Birmingham Hippodrome 30 October 1973 Surrey Shepperton Studios 1 November 1973 7 November 1973 Quebec City Canada Capitole Theatre 8 November 1973 Toronto Massey Hall 9 November 1973 Kingston Queen's University 10 November 1973 Montreal University of Quebec Sports Arena 11 November 1973 Buffalo United States State University Auditorium 13 November 1973 Lawrence Kosh Auditorium 15 November 1973 Upper Darby Township Tower Theater 17 November 1973 Medford Tufts University 18 November 1973 Paramus Bergen Community College 22 November 1973 New York City Felt Forum 24 November 1973 Princeton McCarter Theatre 26 November 1973 Miami Gusman Hall 27 November 1973 Rochester Rochester Institute of Technology 29 November 1973 Columbus The Agora 30 November 1973 Cleveland Allen Theatre 1 December 1973 Buffalo University of Buffalo 3 December 1973 Evanston Northwestern University Cahn Auditorium 7 December 1973 Fort Wayne Purdue University Fort Wayne, Student Union Ballroom 8 December 1973 Ypsilanti Pease Auditorium 9 December 1973 Toledo Hara Theatre 10 December 1973 Detroit Ford Auditorium 17 December 1973 West Hollywood Roxy Theatre 18 December 1973 19 December 1973

+ List of 1974 concerts Date City Country Venue 13 January 1974 Bristol England Bristol Hippodome 15 January 1974 London Theatre Royal 16 January 1974 18 January 1974 19 January 1974 20 January 1974 26 January 1974 Brussels Belgium Forest National 28 January 1974 Winterthur Switzerland Eulachhalle 30 January 1974 Düsseldorf Germany Philipshalle 31 January 1974 Offenbach am Main Stadthalle Offenbach 3 February 1974 Turin Italy PalaRuffini 4 February 1974 Reggio Emilia Palasport 5 February 1974 Rome Palazzetto dello Sport 6 February 1974 Naples Teatro Mediterraneo 8 February 1974 Winterthur Switzerland Salle Vaubier 9 February 1974 Marseille France Palais des Sports 10 February 1974 Lyon Palais d'Hiver 1 March 1974 Passaic United States Capitol Theatre 2 March 1974 Upper Darby Township Tower Theater 3 March 1974 4 March 1974 Baltimore East Wind Ballroom 5 March 1974 Washington, D.C. Warner Theatre 7 March 1974 Fort Wayne Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 8 March 1974 Atlanta Fox Theatre 9 March 1974 Coral Gables University of Miami, Maurice Gusman Concert Hall 12 March 1974 Nashville Muther's Music Emporium 13 March 1974 Memphis Ellis Auditorium 17 March 1974 Austin Armadillo World Headquarters 20 March 1974 Phoenix Phoenix Civic Plaza 21 March 1974 Santa Monica Santa Monica Civic Auditorium 22 March 1974 24 March 1974 San Francisco Winterland Ballroom 26 March 1974 Seattle Seattle Center Arena 27 March 1974 Vancouver Canada PNE Garden Auditorium 2 April 1974 New York City United States Avery Fisher Hall 3 April 1974 Davenport RKO Orpheum Theater 4 April 1974 Fort Wayne Embassy Theatre 5 April 1974 National Guard Armory 6 April 1974 Toledo University of Toledo, Student Union Auditorium 7 April 1974 Columbus Agora Ballroom 10 April 1974 Philadelphia Spectrum 11 April 1974 Chicago Auditorium Theatre 12 April 1974 Indianapolis Indiana Convention Center 13 April 1974 St. Louis Kiel Auditorium 14 April 1974 Kansas City Memorial Hall 16 April 1974 Detroit Ford Auditorium 17 April 1974 Evanston McGaw Memorial Hall 18 April 1974 Quebec City Canada Centre Municipal des Congres 19 April 1974 Ottawa Ottawa Civic Centre 20 April 1974 Montreal CEPSUM 21 April 1974 22 April 1974 Rochester United States Auditorium Theater 24 April 1974 Boston Music Hall 25 April 1974 Allentown Allentown Fairgrounds 27 April 1974 Buffalo Century Theatre 28 April 1974 Cleveland Allen Theatre 29 April 1974 1 May 1974 New York City Academy of Music 2 May 1974 Toronto Canada Massey Hall 3 May 1974 Pittsburgh United States Syria Mosque 4 May 1974 New York City Academy of Music 6 May 1974

Personnel Peter Gabriel – vocals, flute, percussion Tony Banks – Hohner Pianet, RMI Electra Piano, Hammond Organ, Mellotron, ARP Pro Soloist synthesizer, acoustic 12-string guitar, backing vocals Steve Hackett – electric guitar, acoustic 12-string guitar, electric sitar Michael Rutherford – bass, bass pedals, acoustic and electric 12-string guitars, backing vocals Phil Collins – drums, percussion, backing vocals; lead vocals on "More Fool Me"

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