Phil Collins has reunited with his classic Gretsch drum kit and tested it out for the first time in over a decade.
In a newly released video by Drumeo, the 73-year-old legendary drummer and former Genesis singer’s son Nic Collins and Drumeo Host Brandon Toews assembled the ‘Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)’ singer’s Gretsch kit which had been in storage for over a decade. “He could have definitely modernised his setup a little bit,” Nic joked while opening up the cases.
Upon building the kit, Nic acknowledged how low the kit was set up. “No, there’s no way. maybe. I refuse to believe it was this bad,” he said as he began air drumming, noting how intense the low positioning of the kit really was, meaning that it caused Phil to lean over a lot. This potentially contributed to his bad posture and contributing in some parts to the drummer’s physical disabilities.
Phil underwent a major spinal surgery back in 2007 and currently suffers from drop foot and chronic neck pain. He uses a cane to help him walk.
Nic then proceeded to test out the kit by playing Phil’s iconic drum fill from the musician’s legendary 1981 debut single ‘In The Air Tonight’. The Gretsch kit is the same one Phil used during Genesis’ 1992 ‘We Can’t Dance Tour,’ but not the one used during the track’s recording.
At the end of the video, Phil is brought into the room in which his kit was fully built and shared “It looks alright,” after being asked about the setup. Nic helps him to sit behind the kit, where, once seated, he picks up the drumsticks, saying: “Just feels so strange to hold a pair.” He then took the stick in his left hand and used it to test out a few of the drums before putting it down and saying: “That’s enough of that.”
The Drumeo video of building Phil’s drum kit is an accompanying video to the online drumming platform’s interview with the legend. The discussion originally took place in 2022, but has only just been shared as part of the new documentary Phil Collins: Drummer First.
During that interview, Phil provided an update on his ailing health and revealed the “shock” of no longer being able to play the drums.
“If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack of it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles,” he said. “It’s still kind of sinking in a bit… I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To be suddenly not able to do that is a shock.”
Back in 2021, Phil revealed that he could “barely hold a stick” due to health issues.
“I’m kind of physically challenged a bit which is very frustrating because I’d love to be playing up there with my son,” he said amid the Genesis reunion shows, which saw his son Nic stand in for him. “I would love to but, you know, I mean I can barely hold a stick with this hand, so there are certain physical things that get in the way.”
Elsewhere, Genesis’ performed their last ever show in March 2022, in which the icon performed in a chair.
In March 2023, Phil’s bandmate Mike Rutherford shared an update on Collins’ condition, saying: “As you know, Phil is… much more immobile than he used to be, which is a shame. He’s fine now at home, enjoying life. He’s worked so hard over the years. I think he’s enjoying his time at home.”
Things do seem to have improved in recent times, however, as earlier this summer it was reported that Collins may be working on new music for the first time in over two decades.
He hasn’t released an album of original music since Disney’s Brother Bear soundtrack in 2003. One year prior to that, he released his last solo studio album ‘Testify’.
In a post shared on Facebook by record producer and journalist Simon Napier-Bell, he explained that Collins was “in top form” and recently had his studio revamped. “For sure, before too long we’re going to hear some new music,” he continued.
At the time of writing, no plans for new material have been shared.
The post Watch Phil Collins test out his classic drum kit in over a decade appeared first on NME.
