Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited
28th July 2017
The Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
For many in the audience, last night’s two and a half hour performance by Steve Hackett and accompanying band was close to being a religious experience. Set in Auckland’s beautiful Town Hall which had seen a sea of people writhing to the electronic mastery of Bonobo within its walls just the night before; tonight’s show was in rather stark contrast, the audience being contained within the stalls section politely on chairs
Support for Steve Hackett tonight, is none other than Steve Hackett. Yes, Hackett technically is his own support act as he plays a small selection from his solo work before moving into his work with Genesis. Hackett was a member of the world famous group from 1971 through to 1977. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 for his work with the band, he contributed to six studio albums before leaving to pursue a solo career (which to be fair he had already begun before actually leaving Genesis – Voyage of the Acolyte being his first solo effort released in 1975).
The first thing that you notice about Hackett when he walks out onto the stage is how well he looks for the age of 67; dressed simply in a black t-shirt with a thin coloured scarf around his neck, he took centre stage and remained there for the duration of the show. No sitting down or leaving for a break (except for a few moments before the encore), he remained steadfast the entire time. Hackett’s band tonight consists of an impressive array of talented musicians; one of the most recognisable being that of Nick Begg on guitar and bass (as well as at some points throughout the night a beautiful double-neck). Begg who is infamous for his work with Kajagoogoo has also toured with the likes of Gary Numan and John Paul Jones; his performance tonight adding some wonderful character and flavour to the show as rocked out from beginning to end. On drums we had Gary O’Toole who certainly stood out behind his rather impressive kit (which came complete with a set of chimes) wearing a full suit and tie, the latter remaining in place for the full duration of the set. Together along with Roger King on keyboards and the impressive Rob Townsend who donned in a striking military styled jacket spent the majority of the night moving through an array of wind instruments, his work with the flute on many of the tracks most noteworthy.
Beginning the night with ‘Every Day’ Hackett looked quite at home in front of the majestic town hall organ, delicate wisps of stage smoke moving about the stage, coloured spotlights projecting almost psychedelic patterns of green and red across the ceiling. Followed closely with ‘El Niño’ it is notable that rather than being particularly theatrical on stage, Hackett is rather a more reserved player. He tends to stay rooted in one spot, eyes closed, and head softly tapping out the rhythmical beat of the song. However, if you watch just how he plays you will find yourself quite transfixed. Yes he is indeed a world class guitarist so his finger work was never going to be in question, however he is also a guitarist that tends to use all of the hand and wrist to play. Often he uses the palm of his hand to gently encourage the sound forth from the strings, at other times he almost saws away at them using the side of his hand and wrist.
During the wonderful ‘In the Skeleton Gallery’ from his album entitled ‘The Night Siren’ released this year, we are treated to Hackett’s vocal prowess; the stage bathed in darkness, the purple and blue highlights lending to the dramatic feel of the track itself. Finishing his solo section of the night with ‘Shadow of the Hierophant’ from the aforementioned Voyage of the Acolyte, Hackett has already blown away many in the audience, and we haven’t even got to the main part of the show yet.
Hackett had already greeted the audience earlier in the set, thanking them and stating how nice it was to be here performing for the first time “only took 67 years to do it”. As he began to introduce the Genesis portion of the show an audience member enthusiastically called out “Welcome Back!” Hackett looking rather bemused as he thanked said fan but gently reminded him that he had never actually been here before, but that he was thankful for even being welcomed at all. We caught a brief glimpse of humour as Hackett readjusted his guitar and began to adjust one of the pedals at his feet, murmuring that he didn’t want to come in “sounding like shit”, as the audience broke out into raucous laughter, Hackett – obviously amused stated that that was all we were going to get from him this evening “pure honesty”.
The Genesis portion of the set began with ‘Squonk’, Hackett introducing the theatrical Nad Sylvan on vocals. While Sylvan warmed up later on in the set, I must say I was more of a fan of Hackett’s and O’Toole’s vocal work, especially O’Toole’s on ‘Fly on a Windshield/The Lamb lies down on Broadway’. Tonight was certainly all about the prog era of Genesis; highlights of the evening included the wonderful 1974 track ‘The Carpet Crawlers’ with its fascinating lyrics, and ‘Afterglow’. There were several standing ovations throughout the night, something I have not seen for a while at a show, the fans visibly pleased with Hackett and Co.’s outstanding performance. Sylvan, who changed coats a few times, gave a very thoughtful performance, often leaving the stage to allow Hackett’s solo’s to shine before returning once again to deliver the lyrics with panache. Finishing with ‘Supper’s Ready’ the audience were not quite ready to let Hackett leave and with stamping feet and cries for more, they remained determinedly in place until they received their encore, that being ‘Los Endos’.
It may have taken Steve Hackett 67 years to finally make it to New Zealand, but it was undoubtedly worth the wait.
Were you there at the Auckland Town Hall for this magnificent example of musical brilliance? Or have you seen Steve Hackett perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Every Day
- El Niño
- In The Skeleton Gallery
- Behind The Smoke
- Shadow Of The Hierophant
- Squonk
- Dancing With The Moonlit Knight
- Fly On A Windshield / The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
- Broadway Melody Of 1974
- The Carpet Crawlers
- Eleventh Earl Of Mar
- Afterglow
- Dance On A Volcano
- Firth Of Fifth
- The Musical Box
- Supper’s Ready
- Los Endos (encore)
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