Drifting Through an Ambient Voyage with Steve Hackett on the Final Day of Summer Rock Festival in Trieste (2010)

Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Piazza Unita d'Italia / Trieste / Italy
Concert date: 01.08.2010
Attendance: 3
Ticket price: free admission

The third day of Trieste’s summer rock festival was graced by the arrival of the legendary guitar maestro Steve Hackett, who first rose to fame as a member of the unforgettable prog-rock institution Genesis, earning his keep alongside such famous names as Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. On top of being part of Genesis in their best creative period, Steve can also boast a mighty solo career that has now been going for 35 years, one he kicked off while still a member of those prog-rock champions.

For his summer tour of Europe, maestro Hackett picked a backing band made up entirely of superb session players, with former Kajagoogoo bassist Nick Beggs standing out in particular. Rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Amanda Lehmann also drew quite a bit of attention, since it doesn’t exactly happen often that Steve brings a second guitarist of the female persuasion into his band. Pretty much as expected, it was Hackett’s set that pulled the biggest crowd into the main square, with every single seat completely filled. Mr. Hackett had prepared a truly thrilling selection of numbers from almost every period of his rich career for the night, with plenty of room given to material from his excellent latest solo album “Out of a Tunnel’s Mouth” (2009), and he also surprised with great versions of four Genesis classics.

A recorded intro, “Last Train to Istanbul”, was followed by an almost epic opening with the “Spectral Mornings” (1979) classic “Every Day”, which delighted all the longtime fans, who especially enjoyed its dramatic finale with layered harmonies, as well as its stylistic kinship with Hackett’s work from his Genesis days. A thoroughly fitting opener that instantly grabbed the crowd’s attention before the newer material took its turn. With “Fire On the Moon” and “Emerald and Ash”, Mr. Hackett and company presented two of the best moments from the excellent current studio album, which Steve is rightly more than thrilled about. Of course, he didn’t forget for a second that the longtime fans crave nothing more than to hear as many classics as possible from the early stretch of his solo path, so he quickly obliged with a phenomenal version of “Ace of Wands”, which comes from his first solo album, “Voyage of the Acolyte” (1975). You could also say it’s probably Hackett’s most popular and recognizable song ever, one he never forgets to play at any gig.

Drum duties were handled by Gary O’Toole, who was also tasked with the thankless job of covering the vocal parts on the Genesis classics. Most of the numbers also featured saxophone backing courtesy of Rob Townsend, which some thought was completely unnecessary, while others applauded this jazzy woodwind touch that added something new even to long-standing standards. The most attention (besides maestro Hackett, of course) went to Nick Beggs, whose look alone (braids and a kilt) made it clear there’s still plenty of that unforgettable Kajagoogoo eighties eccentricity in him. Nick switched successfully between bass guitar and Chapman Stick.

Steve touched on the newer chapters of his solo career again with “Serpentine Song” and the dark, almost “King Crimson-style” spiced-up “Mechanical Bride”, which all the fans of somewhat edgier rhythms enjoyed too. After a great rendition of the evergreen instrumental “Spectral Mornings”, it was time for the first Genesis classic of the night with “Blood On the Rooftops”. Plenty of people in the crowd came to see the guitar maestro precisely for this. To a degree that thinking is justified, since besides Ray Wilson, Steve is currently the only former Genesis member still performing and playing their classics. “Blood On the Rooftops” was played at a truly enviable level. The acoustic intro, where Steve was left alone on stage for a short while, was especially impressive.

The only complaint is about the drummer handling the vocals, since he didn’t come even remotely close to the charismatic level of Collins’s and/or Gabriel’s voices, which bothered quite a few longtime fans. Maybe it would’ve been better to play instrumental versions only. The vivid rendition of “Fly On a Windshiled” from the “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” (1974) was definitely one of the bigger surprises of the night. Before the end of the main set, Nick Begg also had a short solo spot, in the middle of which he vividly showed off his command of the Chapman Stick. The peak of the main set was the performance of the Genesis instrumental masterpiece “Los Endos”, where all the jazz rock fusion fans especially got their fill. They also slipped in a section of “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight”, setting off a thunderous response from the crowd, which was, incidentally, the loudest of all three nights.

For the encore, they played the entire Genesis epic “Firth of Fifth”, led by Hackett’s monumental soloing, and in doing so gave a good thumbing of the nose to his three former Genesis bandmates, who performed this masterpiece only in a shortened version in the middle of their 2007 tour. For many, this was the high point of Hackett’s performance, which he wrapped up with the “Spectral Mornings” classic “Clocks – the Angel of Mons”. The latter featured a rather superfluous drum solo, but still thrilled most of the longtime fans. The ovations went on for a long time as they left the stage to the recorded sounds of “Last Train to Istanbul”. It would be hard to say which of the festival’s performers left the best impression, but if the only criterion were the atmosphere at the gig, then Mr. Hackett was undoubtedly the big winner.

photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Setlist

1.Every Day 2.Fire on the Moon 3.Emerald and Ash 4.Ace Of Wands 5.Serpentine Song 6.Mechanical Bride 7.Spectral Mornings 8.Second Chance 9.Blood On The Rooftops (Genesis cover) 10.Fly On A Windshield (Genesis cover) 11.Sleepers 12.Chapman Stick Solo 13.Still Waters 14.Los Endos (Genesis cover) —encore— 15.Firth of Fifth (Genesis cover) 16.Clocks

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