Review: Steve Hackett – Symphony Hall, Birmingham 18th Sept 2022

OK, so a five minute standing ovation said it all really….

The Dave Grohl of Prog graced us with his presence in the heart of the UK last night (18th) and having seen Mr Hackett multiple times in the past, what can I say ??? At the age of 72, he just goes from strength to strength with a touring schedule that would put the fear of God up a band 50 years younger !!!!

Only last year we witnessed the entire “Seconds Out And More” tour with a first part dedicated to his solo material and after the interval, the whole of that great live album. Well, this year was much the same except we had an extended first part and with a huge back catalogue I was keen to hear what tracks he’d picked from his extremely impressive history as a solo performer (but as he said during the show, it’s not really a solo performance as he always attracts an impressive band to accompany him and this year was no exception !!)

Not going to spoil the surprise by revealing the set list for the first part of the show (although I suspect it is probably available somewhere online LOL) but what I will say, it was a “safe” setlist. If you are particularly familiar with his first four and latest albums, you won’t be disappointed. Fan favourites and a leaning toward his spectacular debut album were highlights and as usual we had the usual flourishes and wonderful meanderings we’ve come to expect from this extremely inventive and creative musician. So many highlights, it would be difficult to pinpoint one track that stood out, but “A Tower Struck Down” did it for me (there you go, I’ve given it away….) a superb instrumental interlude that give every member of the band (Nad Sylvan excluded of course) that chance to shine. We had the obligatory drum solo courtesy of Drum-Meister Craig Blundell, albeit short and sweet, Jonas Reingold impressed us with his bass skills, but this tour we weren’t given a demonstration of his bass balancing ability (you need to see it to believe it LOL).

There was some nice interplay between keyboard wizard Roger King and master of all things blowable Rob Townsend and overall, the first part of the show was over far too quickly, where does the time go when you’re enjoying yourself. Worth the asking price of the ticket for this alone, but with a 20 minute interval and the entire “Foxtrot” album to follow in part 2, nobody here tonight could complain about value for money.

No need to hide the setlist for the final part of the show as I suspect every self-respecting Genesis fan is totally familiar with this standout album, which obviously features PROBABLY the greatest Prog Epic of all time “Supper’s Ready”, which was covered on the last tour as part of the Seconds Out set list. Nice to hear “Time Table” which was never played live back in the day and of course, to kick it off we had the mighty mellotron intro for “Watcher Of The Skies”, always guaranteed to put the hairs on the back of your neck standing to attention !! Roger King TOTALLY nailed every keyboard part tonight and recreated not just note for note, but the original SOUND of the classic keyboard parts of this masterpiece of an album. If you’d closed your eyes, it would be extremely difficult to NOT know you were listening to the original band in all their glory back in the 70s and with Nad Sylvan adding his unique and impressive presence and vocal skills to the mix, the whole experience was mind blowing to say the least – honed to total perfection, this was (and is) a band at the peak of their performance.

Throughout the entire Foxtrot experience, there were no vocal interludes between the tracks, the music spoke volumes and needed NO introduction and as the dying strands of “Supper’s Ready” faded away, the entire room stood as one and erupted with applause, whooping and whistling their total appreciation and as the band stood together to take a bow, it was inevitable they would return for “just one more track” and they did NOT disappoint. Not giving anything away, but let’s just say, it was a fitting finale to an evening that will live in the memories of everyone who attended tonight. Still a number of UK dates to go before the tour leaves UK’s shores, so do yourself a favour and get your ass to the nearest show when it rumbles into town and if it means you have to travel a few miles – DO IT !!!

You’ll be glowing all the way home, impressive doesn’t come close !!! Mr Hackett (and friends) – WE SALUTE YOU.

Steve Gould   

Full credit to ANDY SHAW for his top notch camera work.