Concert Review
Steve Hackett
Genesis Revisted
Riviera Theatre
North Tonawanda, NY
Thursday September 12, 2019
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto
Steve Hackett kicked off his North American tour Thursday evening with a sold-out show at the Riviera Theatre. This time Hackett brought his Genesis Revisited show which featured the album Selling England By the Pound in its entirety. He also focused on his 1979 Spectral Mornings album which is celebrating its fortieth anniversary.
Hackett and his band put on a performance that left the crowd in awe. One colleague who has seen and reviewed many shows over his career went as far to put this show in his top-ten of all-time. That’s saying something. Hackett’s band was comprised of vocalist Nad Sylvan, drummer Craig Blundell, keyboardist Roger King, multi-instrumentalist Rob Townsend and bassist Jonas Reingold.
The show began with a set of solo Hackett material and kicked off with “Every Day” from Spectral Mornings. He played six songs in all from Spectral Mornings including “Clocks” and the title cut which stood out during the first set.
After a brief intermission Hackett and his band returned and as soon as they launched into “Dancing With the Moonlit Knight” the whole feel of the show turned. How refreshing to hear Selling England By the Pound in a live setting. While many a Genesis tribute bands do an admiral job with the material, nothing can top having the lead guitarist who wrote and played on the studio recordings. Hackett was astounding on this evening as demonstrated on such delicacies as “Firth of Fifth” and “The Battle of Epping Forest”. Another highlight was “Déjà vu”, a track originally started for the album but was unfinished. Hackett took it upon himself with the blessing of then co-writer Peter Gabriel to complete it and it turned out amazing.
After Selling England By the Pound was complete, Hackett announced they would do another song and chose “Dance On A Volcano”, another lost classic from 1976 Genesis album, A Trick Of the Tail. One thing to note was how vocalist Nad Sylvan managed to keep things simple when it came to the material. He didn’t try to copy either Gabriel or Collins and still managed to make the songs sound so pristine to the way they were recorded. As with many Genesis shows Hackett and his band encored with “Los Endos”, a track that was a live favorite for Genesis.
After last seeing Steve Hackett in 2015, I had thought that would be a hard show to top. I was wrong. This show was not only amazing from a performance aspect, but also because of the choice of material and atmosphere inside the theatre. It was simply astounding. You really had to be there to fully appreciate it.
Set List
Every Day
Under the Eye of the Sun
Fallen Walls and Pedestals
Beasts in Our Time
The Virgin and the Gypsy
Tigermoth @Info[instrumental]
Spectral Mornings
The Red Flower of Tachai Blooms Everywhere
Clocks – The Angel of Mons
Selling England by the Pound Set
Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
Firth of Fifth
More Fool Me
The Battle of Epping Forest
After The Ordeal
The Cinema Show
Aisle of Plenty
Deja Vu
Dance on a Volcano
Encore
Los Endos ( exerpts of Myopia and Slogans)
