Steve Hackett Conquers Padua with a Stellar Mix of Solo Works and Genesis Evergreens (2015)
Location: Padua / Gran Teatro Geox / Italy
Date: Friday, 09/25/2015
Sometimes it seems that legendary guitar virtuoso Steve Hackett, who once, back in the ‘olden days’ when most popular music wasn’t yet an insult to the listener’s mind, was shredding strings with the unforgettable prog rockers Genesis, is more popular with Italian concert crowds these days than ever before in his long and wildly colorful musical career. At least that was the impression given by the almost sold-out Gran Teatro Geox in Padua, where fans of symphonic progressive rock gathered to witness yet another big concert spectacle of the year.
One of the finest and most influential rock guitarists of all time, who also chips in with vocal lines when needed, has long been known for going all out with his backing band on stage, and that goes double when he’s playing in front of the fiercely loyal Italian crowd. Mr. Hackett is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of his solo debut “Voyage of the Acolyte” (1975) this year, which came out while he was still a member of the legendary Genesis. That album, from which Steve played four classics in Padua, is still considered by prog rock fans to be one of the best (solo) debuts of all time.
Four decades of mostly fascinating albums and successful tours have passed since then, plus a short stint with the supergroup GTR in the eighties, while the much-hyped Genesis reunion with the classic lineup has fallen through (way) too many times for anyone to still take it seriously these days. In that time Steve, who, besides the eternally overlooked singer Ray Wilson, is the only (former) Genesis member still actively keeping the legacy of the famous English band alive on stage, has managed to pick up a few basic Italian words. Of course, he preferred to do most of his talking to the crowd in his native English this evening too, while his wife Jo Hackett watched him from the audience for a while.
Steve’s backing band featured longtime members: keyboard virtuoso Roger King, the outstanding drummer/singer Gary O’Toole, versatile wind player/keyboardist Rob Townsend and charismatic vocalist Nad Sylvan. The big change in the band was the presence of The Flower Kings mastermind Roine Stolt, who stood in on bass for the phenomenal Nick Beggs. Swedish prog master Stolt, himself an excellent guitarist and more than decent singer, showed off his versatility this evening, both on bass and backing vocals. That’s also why hardly anyone batted an eye at his slightly goofy, psychedelic look with bell-bottom trousers. All of Steve’s bandmates, except keyboardist King, who evidently, just like Tony Banks in Genesis back in the day, has no singing talent, provided heavenly vocal harmonies.
Of course, most of the crowd had their eyes on the guitar grandmaster and bandleader, who, after the short intro “Corycian Fire,” opened his set with the immortal instrumental evergreen “Spectral Mornings.” That sparkling rendition of one of Hackett’s most beloved classics, which filled the whole hall with magical atmosphere in an instant, was followed by performances of some newer pieces from his current solo album “Wolflight” (2015). The new numbers, as expected, came off phenomenally, while the longtime standards “Every Day,” “The Steppes” and “Icarus Ascending” got an especially loud response from the crowd. Steve dedicated the latter to Woodstock icon, the late friend and musical collaborator Richie Havens, who sang on the original version of that classic. For the occasion, vocal wizard Nad Sylvan, dressed in a white ‘musketeer’ shirt, joined Steve’s band on stage for the first time this evening, and with the help of excellent backing vocals delivered a decent vocal interpretation, even though his timbre is quite different from Havens’.
The highlights of the night definitely included the four central “Voyage of the Acolyte” classics, which couldn’t be more different from each other in structure and still reflect Steve’s early experimentation with different styles. The positively melodic “Star of Sirius,” where the lead vocal stamp belonged to drummer O’Toole, was followed by the ‘supersonic’ instrumental “Ace of Wands,” while Steve reminded us of his darker ambient side with the cataclysmic, King Crimson-style “A Tower Struck Down.”
Nobody expected Steve to hire a female singer for just one song, so his band only played the instrumental part of the majestic Mellotron epic “Shadow of the Hierophant.” If Hackett plays that epic at some prog rock festival in the near future and Karnataka happen to be on the bill, their singer Hayley Griffiths would definitely be the ideal pick for the main female vocal, in place of the original vocal turn by Mike’s sister Sally Oldfield.
With an incomplete but still very good version of “Shadow of the Hierophant,” the solo material came to an end. Steve then announced the second half of the show with the words “ancora, Genesis,” which was packed with masterpieces from his famous (former) band. This time, instead of the more famous pieces that marked the previous two tours, he focused, to the delight of many in the crowd, on material coming exclusively from the classic Genesis lineup era (Steve Hackett, Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins), which means the standards from “A Trick of the Tail” (1976) and “Wind and Wuthering” (1977) were left out.
That also meant some rarely played Genesis treats turned up, among the biggest surprises of the night: “Get ’em Out By Friday,” “Hairless Heart,” “Can-Utility and the Coastliners,” “After the Ordeal” and “Aisle of Plenty.” The unforgettable epic “Cinema Show” and the melodic treat “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” also returned to Hackett’s setlist, while the close of the main set with the always dramatic masterpiece “The Musical Box” was without a doubt one of the night’s peaks. Sylvan’s voice once again nailed the timbre of the young Peter Gabriel in the lower lines, while the resemblance was less pronounced in the more demanding, higher registers.
Steve’s band was the picture of perfect tightness, and once again you could hear and see that after years of playing together, the instrumentalists have every composition rehearsed down to the smallest detail. Maestro Hackett was in full swing again with his virtuoso trickery, and it was fascinating to watch Stolt’s bass work too, using a technique similar to playing an (electric) guitar, so most of the crowd probably didn’t even miss the absent Beggs.
For the obligatory encore, many in the audience were probably expecting something special from the Genesis treasure chest, but this time they had to settle for the otherwise excellent solo standard “Clocks – The Angels of Mons,” which often turns up in Steve’s solo repertoire, while they were noticeably more thrilled by the epic Genesis triumph “Firth of Fifth,” led by outstanding soloing from King and Hackett. With the triumphant “Firth of Fifth,” Steve’s band played half of the material from the legendary record “Selling England By the Pound” (1973), bringing yet another unforgettable gathering with the guitar legend to a close.
Steve Hackett came – played – conquered, leaving the packed-to-the-rafters Gran Teatro Geox in Padua utterly spellbound. There’s hardly anything special left to add about such a flawless performance, with just the right mix of new material, longtime solo standards and Genesis classics, other than a special thank-you to the English guitar grandmaster for yet another top-notch musical experience. This was once again a night of countless highlights and surprises, when the immortal spirit of classic Genesis shone with full force for a short while. And for those of us who have seen Hackett, still remarkably vital for his age, live many times, every new encounter with him seems even better than the last.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
Set 1:
1. Corycian Fire (Intro)
2. Spectral Mornings
3. Out of the Body
4. Wolflight
5. Everyday
6. Love Song to a Vampire
7. The Wheel’s Turning
8. The Steppes
9. Loving Sea
10. Icarus Ascending
11. Star of Sirius
12. Ace of Wands
13. A Tower Struck Down
14. Shadow of the Hierophant
Set 2:
15. Get ’em Out by Friday
16. Hairless Heart
17. Can-Utility and the Coastliners
18. After the Ordeal
19. The Cinema Show
20. Aisle of Plenty
21. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
22. The Musical Box
—encore—
23. Clocks – The Angel of Mons
24. Firth of Fifth
