Location: St. Veit a. d. Glan / Herzogburg / Austria
Date: Saturday, June 9, 2018
The idyllic Austrian town of Sankt Veit an der Glan played host to legendary guitar maestro Steve Hackett, who came as a special guest of the world-renowned Hungarian jazz rock fusion/world music outfit Djabe. Hackett first rose to fame as a member of the cult English prog rock band Genesis, and went on to build a superb and wildly varied solo career. He has been collaborating with Djabe on and off since 2002. Together they’ve recorded a whole slew of live albums and worked on two Djabe studio projects, including the current studio album “Life is a Journey – The Sardinia Tapes” (2017).
Djabe also played in Slovenia back in 2009, in Slovenj Gradec, which was also Steve’s first visit to the country and our first hangout with him, most of which we spent by a local fountain before the show. This time Steve wasn’t the only special guest among his old Hungarian friends. He was joined on stage by the versatile Icelandic drummer/percussionist Gulli Briem, who switched between two different drum and percussion setups with Djabe drummer Peter Kaszás, and the two made a seriously dynamic rhythm duo. In the rare moments when Steve wasn’t on stage, Djabe guitarist Attila Egerhazi handled lead guitar. For most of the night he was the rhythm guitarist, though he also looked after some of the percussion and an extra synth now and then. He entertained us too with introductions to the individual Djabe pieces, delivered in English with a thick Hungarian accent.
To warm up, Djabe, playing this time in a small but idyllic space amid castle walls, opened with their piece “Flow”. Then Steve joined them on guitar, wearing his trademark scarf, for one of the lesser-known Genesis evergreens, “In That Quiet Earth”. The scarf reminded the few Slovenes in the mostly Austrian crowd of our own Lado Leskovar’s long-standing habit. Genesis and Hackett solo evergreens always come out fascinating when the English guitar icon and Djabe tackle them together, because these excellent musicians add loads of jazz and world music flavor, mostly thanks to Áron Koós’s trumpet and a whole range of percussion. After the opening warm-up, Briem stepped up for his percussion number “Hang Drum Song” and surprised everyone by playing a special drum that looked like the metal lid of a giant sea shell. Along the way, Briem slipped in the rhythmic motif of the Bowie classic “This Is Not America”, and he even shares a similar look with the late music legend.
The small crowd got a bit louder for the first time when this very skilled bunch of old musical buddies set about ‘reworking’ Steve’s beloved solo classic “The Steppes”. Djabe always play it with extra fire whenever the guitar legend guests with them, thanks to its world music elements. Next came “Life is a Journey”, written by Djabe bassist Tamas Barabas for the studio project of the same name mentioned above. He took over the lead vocals for it as well. Soon we got another surprise, a newer rock classic from Hackett’s solo treasure chest: “Last Train to Istanbul”, which he created for the album “Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth” (2009).
Mr. Hackett also treated himself to a short solo spot on acoustic guitar, which started with an unpleasant surprise: a cable connecting his guitar to the amp burned out while he was playing the Genesis instrumental “Horizons”. Sadly, the whole thing killed Steve’s desire to start “Horizons” over, so once the technical problem was fixed he opted to play the solo instrumental “Walking Away from Rainbows” instead, which also closed the first part of the show in St. Veit. After a short fifteen-minute break, the international crew returned to the little stage of the castle building in grand style with the Djabe piece “Lava Lamp”. The moment some had been waiting for arrived with an unusual version of the epic Genesis masterpiece “Firth of Fifth”, where keyboardist János Nagy fumbled a few times before getting in sync with the rest of the band. Steve’s famous guitar solo inside the classic once again won the crowd over completely. Always remarkably calm, Steve didn’t get ruffled at all by Kovacs’s slip-ups, and that’s exactly how it should be.
One of the evening’s best moments was undoubtedly the transition from the Genesis evergreen “Fly on a Windshield” into Hackett’s solo standard “Please Don’t Touch”, which he doesn’t play all that often. Steve and his Hungarian-Icelandic gang wrapped up their set the expected way, with the unforgettable Genesis treat “Los Endos”. The jazzy stamp of this masterpiece came through even stronger, and the drum-percussion duo had a special moment, even though they didn’t stage a drum battle like the one Genesis used to put on with Phil Collins and Chester Thompson.
During Djabe’s show in St. Veit we got to enjoy an exceptional atmosphere, which always seems to happen when the great Steve Hackett is on stage. He once again wowed us with his guitar artistry and musical versatility. Whether it’s Djabe compositions, his solo achievements or Genesis classics from the seventies, Steve enjoys every single performance equally and plays it in the best possible way. Some people worried beforehand that it would all be too loud for such a small space, but in the end nobody complained about the sound at all. This time it’s also worth mentioning that Mr. Hackett isn’t just an exceptional musician but also an incredibly kind and approachable person who takes time for every fan. Before and after the show he was available the whole time for a quick chat or an autograph, strolling freely among the concertgoers. During the occasional breaks when he was off stage, he even sat down with the audience on a bench in the front row several times. After the concert he signed records with the Djabe members and exchanged a word or two with some fans of his music, which has long been his habit, and which more than one of his prog rock guitar peers could learn a thing or two from.
words: Peter Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. Flow
2. In That Quiet Earth
3. Hang Drum Song / This is Not America
4. The Steppes
5. Life Is A Journey
6. Buzzy Island
7. Last Train To Istanbul
8. Walking Away From Rainbows
—15-minute break—
9. Lava Lamp
10. After Limoncello
11. Firth Of Fifth
12. Fly On A Windshiled / Please Don’t Touch
13. Angklung
14. Clouds Dance
15. Los Endos
—encore—
16. Distant Dance
