If it wasn’t for Steve Hackett, one might forget how absolutely powerful and innovative Genesis were in the early 1970s. Even as all the members of Genesis still live and breathe, Hackett is the only one going out and playing the group’s music. In fact, he’s been consistently touring, playing those classics, as well as releasing albums of his own (nearly 30 at last count) for over 20 years. The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall, the latest in a series of Hackett’s live sets (available on Blu-ray, DVD, CD, and LP), offers fans the best of both Genesis and Steve Hackett.
The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall is unique for two reasons: 1) The venue holds a special place in the guitarist’s heart (as evidenced on 2014’s Genesis Revisited: Live At The Royal Albert Hall); 2) The celebration of 1974’s seminal The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, the last Genesis album with Peter Gabriel. To ring in The Lamb’s 50th anniversary, an expanded reissue of the original album will (hopefully) drop before the end of the year. Meanwhile, you can go down The Lamb rabbit hole with Steve Hackett and his incredible band. They tackle nine selections (aka Hackett’s “favorites”) from the album during the second half of The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall.
For the first half, Hackett’s solo offers are polished up and executed with care and precision. It can’t be overemphasized that the group of musicians Hackett has within his inner circle have developed a tight, organic bond. Keyboardist Roger King, with Hackett since the 90s, masterfully orchestrates the first three numbers — “People Of The Smoke,” “Circo Inferno,” and “These Passing Clouds” — from the guitarist’s most recent solo album, 2023’s The Circus And The Nightwhale. King pretty much steers the main vessel of all the arrangements.
The core players, including singers Nad Sylvan and Amanda Lehman, all come together on “Every Day,” perhaps Hackett’s most upbeat track and a regular on the setlist. While multi-instrumentalist Rob Townsend’s horn and woodwind contributions add tremendously to the overall musicality of the material, Hackett invites his brother John to come out and play flute alongside the acoustic guitar accompaniment of “Hands Of the Priestess” from the guitarist’s first solo album, 1975’s Voyage Of The Acolyte. Family night at the Royal Albert Hall doesn’t get any better. Bassist Jonas Reingold, the band’s newest recruit, showcases his smooth, well-honed finesse on “Low Notes And High Hopes,” and is then joined by drummer Craig Lundell, who takes a solo of his own later in the show. Lehman, a recording artist in her own right (and Hackett’s sister-in-law), is the featured vocalist on the heavenly “Shadow Of The Hierophant,” another number from Voyage Of The Acolyte written with Mike Rutherford for Genesis. It’s one of those “if-only” moments that span the imagination.
By the time we get to The Lamb portion of the show, both the band and audience are primed and anxious to take the proggy trip back to the mid-70s. King slips on his Tony Banks wings and effortlessly plays the familiar prelude. Watching the Blu-ray, you witness the piece practically absorb itself within the Royal Albert Hall’s brick and terracotta interior. The band and audience are at once transfixed and transformed by this willowy tale of Rael, a troubled young man on a surreal journey of self-discovery. Sylvan is the ultimate interpreter of Peter Gabriel’s words and vocalizations, punctuated with small dashes of his own. Like other longtime members, the singer has grown into his role so effectively that the idea of Genesis reforming to play this music isn’t as necessary as it once was.
Hackett turns “Fly On A Windshield” into a guitar-off when Marillion’s Steve Rothery steps up to trade licks during an extended break. One-time Genesis singer Ray Wilson (ironically in the band 20 years after Hackett’s exit) comes out for “Carpet Crawlers” and cooly nails the vocal, with Lehman and Reingold on the chorus. Sylvan returns to the fold to bring the rest of The Lamb home.
Even as everyone is winding down from a magnificent performance, Hackett comments on how he wished Twitter was around when John Lennon was alive because the former Beatle once said some nice things to the press about Selling England By The Pound, the album Genesis released the year before The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. This turns out to be his introduction to “Dancing With The Moonlit Knight.” After three more from Selling England By The Pound — “The Cinema Show” (another staple), “Aisle Of Plenty” and “Firth Of Fifth” (musicianship solidified) — Lundell takes the spotlight for a rollicking pouncing then dovetails into “Los Endos” to wrap the night up with a colossal finish.
As with previous live sets from the guitarist, the Blu-ray of The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall provides the optimum visual document, showing everyone just how integrated the musicians are with the material. The light show, on par with what Genesis pioneered and highlighting the magnificent décor of the Royal Albert Hall, combined with the performances clearly gave longtime collaborator and filmmaker Paul M. Green more than enough eye candy to capture. An interview with Steve Hackett is an added bonus. Altogether with the stereo or 5.1 surround sound mix, your home theater will be the envy of the neighborhood, a pillar of civic pride with a view and soundtrack unlike any other. Best to keep it down for the kids. They’ll eventually catch up when they’re older and wiser.
~ Shawn Perry
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The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall
