Steve Hackett Once Again Conjures Up the Magic of Classic Genesis in Majestic Style (2014)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Pordenone / Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi / Italy
Concert date: May 24, 2014
Attendance: 1,500

Steve Hackett, the brilliant guitar virtuoso and former member of the legendary prog rock band Genesis, rolled into the Italian city of Pordenone this time, where he played the milestone 100th show of his ‘Genesis Extended’ tour. On this tour, Mr. Hackett and his longtime backing band keep on playing some of the most beloved Genesis classics from their classic era (the seventies), which he’s skillfully re-arranged in places with woodwinds courtesy of Rob Townsend, while holding on to all their essential traits, and he proved it beautifully again this night in the middle of a jam-packed Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi.

The atmosphere Steve’s band is able to conjure up is almost on the same level as what Genesis themselves could pull off in their classic prog rock days, which might just be the best compliment you can pay these exquisite musicians. The set was quite different from our encounter with Hackett’s band in Vicenza last year, so we got quite a few very pleasant surprises from the rich Genesis treasure chest this evening. There wasn’t a single song from the album »Wind & Wuthering« (1977) on the setlist this time, but there was all the more emphasis on »Nursery Cryme« (1971), while the main surprise of the night was the punchy symphonic prog epic »The Knife«. That one originally comes from the second Genesis studio album, »Trespass« (1970), on which guitar duties still belonged to Steve’s predecessor Anthony Phillips, who left the band because of his fear of performing live.

Genesis played »The Knife« live after Steve joined, too, so the song is by no means foreign to him, but it’s still great to see him put a composition into the set that he had no hand in creating. Singer Nad Sylvan, who on top of the vocal similarity has nailed the original stage mimicry of the legendary Peter Gabriel down to the last detail, again wore a musketeer shirt with baroque sleeves, making him the chief guarantor of the top-notch theatricality that must never be missing whenever classic Genesis are in play. Rob Townsend, with his colorful arsenal of woodwinds, took care of the jazz and folk arrangements that weren’t on the original versions but pleasantly enriched the sonic collage of individual songs, and he also pitched in with backing vocals now and then.

Drummer Gary O’Toole, crowned with a hat, was superb as well. He’s studied Phil Collins’ drumming technique down to the last detail, and he shone in the lead vocal role on »Fly On a Windshield«. Keyboardist Roger King had the very demanding job of covering the layered keyboard arrangements of the unforgettable Tony Banks, but he did it with flying colors. Of all the members of Steve’s band, King came across as the most serious and studious, which somehow suited him as ‘Banks’ stand-in’. His star moment, as expected, was the keyboard solo on »Firth Of Fifth«, that masterpiece from »Selling England By the Pound« (1973).

That night, though, Steve also had a musician in his band who got almost as many ovations as he did himself. After a brief absence, during which he was replaced by Lee Pomeroy (It Bites), the charismatic bassist Nick Beggs returned to Steve’s band, one of the most striking stage presences around, and not just a phenomenal bassist and Chapman Stick innovator but also a terrific singer, as all fans of new wave champions Kajagoogoo have known for ages. Beggs had no braids and no kilt this time; his new look was more reminiscent of some exuberantly cheerful thrash metaller, so he stood out among the members of Hackett’s band just by how he looked, while his bass technique at times resembles playing guitar more than bass. Beggs took over the vocal scepter wherever the highest registers had to be hit, and on the opening song »Dance On a Volcano« he played a double-neck bass. He also studied Mike Rutherford’s stage approach to the last detail, and, switching between standing and sitting for different songs, he deftly swapped between the bass guitar and his favorite instrument, the Chapman Stick.

The guitar maestro, who has been standing slightly hunched on stage since the seventies, had a red scarf draped around his neck this time to add at least a smidge of theatricality to his look, but otherwise he was the incarnation of great spirits and tight as a drum, so we followed all his signature guitar passages and improvisations with undisguised delight. After the powerful opening with »Dance On a Volcano«, Steve’s incredibly well-rehearsed crew immediately whisked us off to the Gabriel era with the Victorian epic »Dancing With the Moonlit Knight«, where, as far as ambience goes, we once again found ourselves somewhere halfway between reality and fantasy.

The first pleasant surprise of the evening was »Squonk«, another classic from »A Trick of the Tail« (1976), where Sylvan proved once more that he can hit Collins’ vocal register almost as well as Gabriel’s. With »Fly On a Windshield«, where O’Toole delighted on vocals, and »Broadway Melody of 1974«, we found ourselves for a moment on the album »The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway« (1974), from which they also surprised us with »Lilywhite Lilith« this night. To the great joy of all fans of the classic album »Nursery Cryme«, Steve’s crew played all three key epic masterpieces from that unforgettable record back to back, the one on which Hackett first introduced himself to the world as Genesis’ guitarist in 1971, after arriving from the obscure band Quiet World.

Next up was the punchy evergreen »The Return of the Giant Hogweed«, where Steve, among other things, wowed us with a demonstration of the ‘tapping’ guitar technique (he showed it off during »Dancing With the Moonlit Knight) as well), which he started bringing into rock music in 1971, roughly seven years before Eddie Van Halen popularized it far and wide. The epic tale of the invasive Russian weed that, thanks to the ‘merits’ of a reckless English explorer, enslaved Victorian England was followed by the ancient Greek myth of the birth of Hermaphroditus, in a rendition of the epic »The Fountain Of Salmacis«, decked out in lavish Mellotron arrangements. Of course, among the three »Nursery Cryme« evergreens, the most beloved one wasn’t missing either, namely »The Musical Box«, where singer Sylvan shone beautifully and, with his vocal performance and stage mimicry, managed for a moment to convince us that a reincarnation of the young Peter Gabriel was standing on stage.

Among the Genesis evergreens, the hit »I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)« couldn’t be left out, the best-known song of the Gabriel era among the ‘folks’, along with Steve’s traditional short solo spot »Horizons«, where all the stage spotlights were aimed at him. »The Knife«, which Sylvan announced with a high-raised dagger, was, as mentioned, one of the highlights of the night, while the big peak arrived through the Genesis magnum opus »Supper’s Ready«. During the key sections of this unforgettable super-epic, Sylvan didn’t dress up as a flower or pull a box over his head, but his version of the antichrist wrapped in a black cloak still left a mightily impressive mark. That was the end of the main set.

For the encore, Steve’s gang surprised us with another »Foxtrot« (1972) evergreen, »Watcher Of The Skies«, which was the opening number on the previous tour. Here everything was truly subjected to the original Genesis stage choreography, since even the lighting layout was the same as in the days when they played »Watcher Of The Skies« with Gabriel in the lineup. The concert ended almost as expected, with the instrumental treat with jazz fusion elements, »Los Endos«, into which Mr. Hackett deftly wove the central guitar motif of his solo song »Slogans«. The Italian audience nearly came off its hinges when the ovations kicked in, and they went on and on, while the band members were a bit embarrassed, or rather cracking up, as the organizers handed them roses of the kind usually given to opera divas.

Watching Hackett’s band run through some of the greatest moments in prog rock history is always an unforgettable, almost transcendental experience, like hopping into a time capsule and landing in a far more romantic musical era, and right now it really is the closest thing you’ll get to the original Genesis magic from their classic period. So with the Pordenone show, Steve and his virtuoso crew met and even surpassed our big concert expectations and left us hungry for another ‘reunion’ as soon as possible. Of which the traditional Italian hawkers, who were hanging out in front of the hall selling T-shirts with cheap knockoffs of various Genesis graphics from the eighties (that is, from the ‘pop rock trio’ era), naturally had not the faintest clue.

Setlist

1. Dance on a Volcano
2. Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
3. Squonk
4. Fly on a Windshield
5. Broadway Melody of 1974
6. The Return of the Giant Hogweed
7. The Fountain of Salmacis
8. The Musical Box
9. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
10. Horizons
11. Firth of Fifth
12. Lilywhite Lilith
13. The Knife
14. Supper’s Ready
—encore—
15. Watcher of the Skies
16. Los Endos (including Slogans)