Steve Hackett: Genesis Revisited Band & Orchestra – Live at the Royal Festival Hall

Release date: 25.10.2019
Label: InsideOut Music
Production: Steve Hackett
Length: 114:32
Genre: progressive rock
Rating: 9.5/10

»Live at the Royal Hall« is the fruit of a long-held ambition of the legendary English guitar maestro Steve Hackett: to record a live album with an orchestra. His years-long wish came true on October 5, 2018, when he took the stage at London’s prestigious Royal Festival Hall with his touring band and a 41-piece orchestra called Heart of England, under the baton of conductor Bradley Thachuk. The night’s special guests were Steve’s brother John on flute and guitarist/singer Amanda Lehmann, the sister of Steve’s wife Jo. Amanda shone on vocals on the epic »Shadow of the Hierophant«.

Most of Mr. Hackett’s catalog, led by his solo work and the magnificent Genesis legacy that sits among the elite of symphonic progressive rock, feels tailor-made for an orchestra, so it’s no surprise that this double live album, born from that one-off concert event where Steve finally made his dream come true, turned out brilliantly.

The tried-and-tested crew, which alongside Steve includes the superb singer Nad Sylvan, keyboard wizard Roger King, versatile drummer Gary O’Toole (who once again takes over lead vocals on the Genesis evergreen »Blood On the Rooftops«), the excellent reed and wind player Rob Townsend and cult Swedish bassist Jonas Reingold (The Flower Kings, Karmakanic), who filled in on bass on the previous tour for his even more famous countryman and fellow The Flower Kings buddy Roine Stolt, meshes perfectly with the orchestra, which adds extra richness to the symphonic arrangements of Hackett’s solo standards and Genesis evergreens.

The setlist is nicely balanced between Genesis classics from 1971 to 1977 and Steve’s solo standards, both older (»The Steppes« and »Shadow of the Heirophant«) and newer (»Out of the Body«, »Serpentine Song«, »El Nino«). The high point of this excellent live document is undoubtedly the closing stretch, with phenomenal versions of the Genesis super-epics »Supper’s Ready« and »The Musical Box«. Between the numbers there was plenty of room for individual musicians to ‘let loose’ with their solo chops on their instruments, while Sylvan, with his theatrical and melodramatic singing, once again proved he’s the ideal vocal hybrid of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins.

Anyone who loves the grand sweep of Hackett’s music, both his solo work and the pieces from his Genesis days, is going to have an absolute blast with his first live collaboration with an orchestra. As mentioned, it’s no surprise that the pairing worked so well, since most of Hackett’s material was long ‘ripe’ for the live ‘treatment’, and orchestral arrangements and symphonic progressive rock go together like butter and honey.

Review by: Peter Podbrežnik

Track list:
CD1
1. Dance On A Volcano (6:36)
2. Out Of The Body (2:31)
3. The Steppes (7:17)
4. Firth Of Fifth (10:45)
5. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (8:33)
6. Acoustic Guitar Solo (0:20)
7. Blood On The Rooftops (5:54)
8. Shadow Of The Hierophant (11:27)

CD2
9. In That Quiet Earth (5:20)
10. Afterglow (4:24)
11. Serpentine Song (7:11)
12. El Niño (4:04)
13. Supper’s Ready (28:01)
14. The Musical Box (12:09)

Steve Hackett & Genesis Revisited Band:
Steve Hackett – guitar, backing vocals
Nad Sylvan – lead vocals
Roger King – keyboards
Jonas Reingold (The Flower Kings) – bass guitar
Gary O’Toole – drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Blood on the Rooftops”
Roger Townsend – saxophone

Guest musicians:
John Hackett – flute
Amanda Lehmann – guitar, lead vocals on “Shadow of the Hierophant”
41-piece Heart of England orchestra conducted by Bradley Thachuk