Steve Hackett - Melbourne, Australia, 5/8/2017

STEVE HACKETT - `GENESIS REVISITED'- MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, AUGUST 5TH, 2017



Last night, August 5th 2017, Melbourne was witness to a wonderful performance from legendary guitarist Steve Hackett and company, part of his Genesis Revisited tour that has been doing the rounds of Australia and New Zealand the last few days.

The two hour show began, naturally, with highlights of his recent studio album `The Night Siren' - `El Nino', `In the Skeleton Gallery' and `Behind the Smoke', but also dipped into select choices from his solo back catalogue such as `Every Day' (which was the opener) off `Spectral Mornings' and `Shadow Of The Heirophant (Part 2)' from his classic `Voyage of the Acolyte'.

But then, as Unifaun/Agents of Mercy vocalist Nad Sylvan took to the stage, the band tore right into a lengthy set of classic Genesis pieces, performed with such vigour and energy that it seemed like it was the early-mid Seventies all over again from when the pieces were first performed! No classic-era Genesis fan would have been disappointed, as Steve and his musical friends raced through everything from `Squonk', `Dance on a Volcano' and `Los Endos' from `A Trick of the Tail', `The Musical Box' from `Nursery Cryme', `Fly On A Windshield', `Broadway Melody' and `The Carpet Crawlers' from `The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway', `Dancing With The Moonlit Knight' and `Firth of Fifth' from `Selling England by the Pound', `Eleventh Earl Of Mar' and `Afterglow' off `Wind and Wuthering' and no less than the complete version of `Supper's Ready' off their classic `Foxtrot' album.

What more needs to be said about Mr Hackett? Of course he delivered an impeccably performed masterclass guitar exhibition that brimmed with so many moments of absolute beauty and thrilling grandiosity. He offered brief but dignified and jovial interaction with the crowd, as well as offering some genuinely touching thoughts on the late John Wetton, which had many of the proggies gently applauding and no doubt moved by his words.

But while, of course, everyone was there to see Steve, no part of his touring band were slouches either! Current prog go-to bassist Nick Beggs was as dynamic and animated as ever, proving once again what a complete asset he is to any artist he performs with. Rob Townsend provided some very tasteful flute and sax contributions, sometimes his soloing replacing little keyboard moments from the studio discs but sounding perfectly fancy and successful in their own right. Drummer Gary O'Toole was an absolute force to be reckoned with, powering away with such complexity as well as providing some charismatic vocals, mostly throughout some of the `Lamb' material. Keyboardist Roger King was fairly subdued for the first portion of the concert, but once the more keyboard dominated Genesis material hit, he delivered such a fine and unexpectedly precise performance, pretty much leaving the jaws of the entire audience dropping as he soared through the piano passages of `Firth of Firth' and absolutely destroyed (in a good way!) the aggressive final minutes of the `Magog' section of `Suppers Ready' that probably left everyone thinking - "I cannot believe we just saw freaking `Supper's Ready' live in Melbourne, and it was absolutely brilliant!"

But special attention must go to vocalist Nad Sylvan, who completely nailed recreating the classic Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins vocals (especially the way Phil had the slightly snarling, fragile quality here and there on those early Genesis discs that he smoothed out by the time of the `Duke' album), and he proved to be a such gifted singer with an incredible range, as well as having a hugely charismatic and theatrical stage presence.

If you have the opportunity to see this gifted artist, or are a fan of the classic Genesis period and are a little wary of seeing a recreation of the real thing, put all such thoughts aside and just GO - you will have one of the greatest music-related nights of your life, delivered by a bunch of first-rate musicians and performers that have nothing but absolute love and respect for the music!

The full setlist was as follows:

Every Day
El Niño
In The Skeleton Gallery
Behind The Smoke
Shadow Of The Heirophant (Part 2)
Squonk
Dancing With The Moonlit Knight
Fly On A Windshield/Broadway Melody
The Carpet Crawlers
Eleventh Earl Of Mar
Afterglow
Dance On A Volcano
Firth Of Fifth
The Musical Box
Supper's Ready
Encore: Los Endos






















By the way, Melbourne is also getting an exclusive `Wind and Wuthering: A 40 Year Celebration' concert tonight, which will focus even more on the classic Genesis period, as well as offering a different set-list from this show - so see you all back here for a report on that one!

PS - Putting out a request to hear `Return of the Giant Hogweed' and `One for the Vine' at that next show - fingers crossed!

Michael Hodgson (Aussie-Byrd-Brother), August 6th 2017.

Edited by Aussie-Byrd-Brother - August 06 2017 at 10:11

OK, looks like they're working now, please post in here if there's still problems with the pics

Yeah, man....IT'S ALIVE, BWAHAHAHAHA!!

But the pics are nothing in comparison to the ones I got at last's night show. Pretty sure I've been spoiled for choice this time around with the amount of great ones, almost every single pic turned out beautifully.

Plus how amazing to randomly get all those things signed, eh?