Review by Shawn Perry
Steve Hackett is doing more to keep the classic music of Genesis in the 70s alive and thriving in the minds and ears of fans around the world. For whatever reasons, Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel, as solo artists, stay away from those prime and proggy Genesis cuts, so Hackett picks up the slack, brings in some top-notch players and a singer nearly as flamboyant as Gabriel — but in a far more regal manner — with the appropriate set of pipes and love for the music. Together, they’ve been consistently blowing minds with renditions of everything from “Supper’s Ready” and “The Musical Box” to “Inside and Out,” the last song he recorded with Genesis in 1977.
In Los Angeles, at the Orpheum, the quaint art deco theater he has played frequently, Hackett actually pulled a fast one and opened with “Please Don’t Touch,” the title track from his second solo album, in celebration of its 40th anniversary. He swiftly slipped into the catchy “Every Day,” a song that sounds like a Genesis hit, but actually sprung up on the third solo album, 1979’s Spectral Mornings. With over 20 solo albums to pick from, he could have gone anywhere from there.
The guitarist and his band — Roger King (keyboards), Gary O’Toole (drums / percussion), Rob Townsend (saxes / flutes), Jonas Reingold (bass / twelve string) — proceeded to cut out three songs from 2017’s The Night Siren — “Behind the Smoke,” with its exotic Eastern-flavoring to the rumbling flow of “El Niño,” and then simplifying the cadence with flair on “In the Skeleton Gallery.” When it comes to his 43-year-old solo career, Hackett continues to carve out highly potent prog on his own terms, and will likely write and record several albums before he is done.
Along with the 2018 release of the live album, Wuthering Nights: Live In Birmingham, Hackett also issued a new version of “When The Heart Rules The Mind,” the Top 20 hit he’d cut with Steve Howe and GTR back in 1986. Tonight, singer Nad Sylvan joined in on the choruses of the song with Hackett taking the lead vocal originally handled by Max Bacon. The audience didn’t seem to mind, and ate up every single note. Sylvan took the lead vocal on “Icarus Ascending,” another one from Please Don’t Touch, before the troupe finished up the first set with the epic “Shadow Of The Hierophant” from the guitarist’s 1975 debut solo album, Voyage Of The Acolyte.
As to be expected, the second set was all Genesis, and the audience was primed for as much as possible. Sandwiched in between gallant stomps of 1973’s “Dancing With The Moonlit Knight” and 1971’s “The Fountain of Salmacis,” Hackett covered two from 1977, “One For The Vine” from Wind And Wuthering and “Inside And Out,” from the three-song Spot The Pigeon EP that marked the guitarist’s final recordings with Genesis.
“Firth Of Fifth” was frothy and full of fire, providing the perfect segue to the crowning double apex of “The Musical Box” and “Supper’s Ready.” These two songs represent classic early 70s Genesis better than just about anything else Hackett could have added (unless he’d pulled in something from The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway). It all came alive with the superb instrumentation, highlighted by Townsend’s spiraling flute solos, King’s flawless keyboard work, and Hackett’s flights of fanciful fretwork.
An encore that begin with snippets of his own “Myopia” and “Slogan” lead right into the grandeur of “Los Endos,” which reaffirmed the musicianship and chemistry Hackett has established with the other players, all of whom except new bassist Jonas Reingold, have logged some considerable time with the guitarist. The audience rose to their feet during the last five minutes of the show, savoring every moment to revisit Genesis with Steve Hackett as their guide. And when the lights came up, it was obvious no one was leaving the house without complete satisfaction and a memorable journey with Steve Hackett and his arsenal of solo and Genesis classics.
