Oi, Hackett, where have you been? It’s been two years, man. You’ve been what? Touring Lamb highlights in Europe since July? And only had two months off since finishing the Foxtrot at 50 tour that took you all over Europe and the Americas for a year and a day? And what’s that… another album? What’s that now; the 28th? How many do you need, man?

Suffice to say, here at Wrinkly Towers we’ve somewhat got into the enjoyable habit of seeing Steve and the gang every year, and it’s always an early entry to the gig calendar that’s highlighted and has red arrows pointing towards it.. but it feels a very long time from the last one, a solo trip (for me) to the unfamiliar environs of Southend for the Foxtrot celebration.

Same format tonight with a Steve set followed by a Genesis set, this time celebrating the 50th anniversary of 1974s ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ …hailed by many as the summit, the pinnacle not only of Genesis’ work but of the Prog genre (it’s one of three Genesis albums in the top 10 of Prog magazine’s “Best Ever Albums” readers poll). For me personally I have to confess there’s a couple of albums I’d probably put above it, but that’s like ranking Lindors or something… you still love all of them. And at the end of the day, it’s subjective… would be totally wrong if we all liked the same thing… we might end up with a load of Swifties at our gigs.

Anyway, to the always enjoyable splendour of the magnificent Royal Albert Hall. Tonight, we found ourselves in the even more salubrious surroundings of a Grand Tier box, a total surprise for two of us who only found out as we were politely escorted in. Too long a story to recount and I don’t want to embarrass anyone, but it involves our esteemed editor, an unfortunate ticket-based happenstance, and a level of generosity that neither of us were sure we deserved and for which will be forever grateful.

Same personnel as the previous couple of tours too, with Craig Blundell (drums) and Jonas Reingold (bass, pedals, vocals) now as established as long-timers Roger King (keyboards), Rob Townsend (sax, percussion, vocals) and Nad Sylvan (vocals) who must surely be approaching ‘length of service’ gold watch anniversaries or something. Also guesting tonight on selected tracks were the always welcome Amanda Lehman (guitar, vocals) and Steve’s brother John Hackett (flute).

As referenced above, Steve’s latest offering, ‘The Circus and Nightwhale’ arrived in February this year. I thought (immediately preceding albums) ‘At the Edge of Light’ and ‘Surrender of Silence’ were pretty darned good, but I think Circus edges them… probably contains tracks/bits that represent (by turns) Steve’s proggiest/heaviest offerings for a while.

And we were served up three tracks from this latest opus back to back for starters… album opener ‘People of the Smoke’ with it’s excellent tapping solo and (now trademark) four-part vocal (Steve, Rob, Jonas, and Amanda), ‘Circo Inferno’ (a working example of what you get if you ask (predominantly) Rock musicians to play something that sound middle-eastern) and the delicate and haunting ‘These Passing Clouds’, which featured not only a great lead from Steve but also an impressive solo from Rob on soprano sax.

Sticking with the relatively recent, the gloomy tale of the ‘The Devil's Cathedral’, once again gave Roger the opportunity to display his dark and ominous organ (yeah…I know I’ve used that before but couldn’t resist) but cheap double entendres aside, this is becoming a welcome set regular since its appearance on 2021’s ‘Surrender of Silence’ featuring the whole band (including Nad) and a great faster middle section.

And from a favourite newer track to a very firm favourite oldie in the form of ‘Every Day’, the sole offering tonight from 1979s ‘Spectral Mornings’. Always a joy; I could listen to this… well, every day. And pretty much do, truth be told. Wonderful four-part vocals, Amanda just adding that tiny bit more depth to the guitar parts allowing Steve to break out. Just sublime.

This was followed with a turn to the more gentle side of Steve’s compositions in the form of the first of three tracks from his first solo outing (1975’s 'Voyage of the Acolyte'), the beautiful and evocative 'Hands of the Priestess' ……it’s sometimes easy to overlook this quiet piece on an album run-through given the company in which it sits, but seeing the brothers Hackett play it together, live, to an enthralled audience feels really special.

With no Supper on the menu tonight, we got our rare time signature fix in the form of another 'Acolyte' track, 'A Tower Struck Down'. The closing section of this enabled the band to take a breather as it seamlessly segued into a solo spot for Jonas. A decent bass solo is like catnip for me, and whilst I recall commending Jonas’ spot last time, this felt like a notch up again. My increasingly random and misspelt notes from the night say the start was ‘baroque feeling’ (which is pretty weird as I haven’t a clue what that means), but it did build after a slow, harmonic-led start until Jonas gave Craig the nod to join in and things took a turn towards the funkaaay. I think it’s fair to say that these two are bedded down now. ☺

The upbeat feel was maintained with ‘Camino Royale’ from 1976s ‘Highly Strung’ album, another track that ‘Only The Fool’ could deny, and with Amanda in the hall, it would have been a Fool indeed who would not have closed this first set with anything other than the full version of arguably the crowning glory of ‘Acolyte’, the magnificent ‘Shadow of the Hierophant’. For me, this is up there with anything that Genesis ever produced (and yes, I include the big hitters in that statement). Amanda’s vocal was as entrancing as usual, and the build of the end section just wonderful, ending with a building-rattling intensity… fully deserving of the ovation it garnered.

After a recovery-period interval, some of which was spent talking to a certain Mr. Al Murray who was seated nearby and kind enough to tolerate our wittering, the foundations of the old hall were declared safe after their Hierophant-based battering and the band returned for the second set, focussing on selected pieces from The Lamb.

Nine pieces played in order, with all four sides of the original represented (although a little weighted towards the first two), starting and ending as per the recording with the title track and ‘It’ respectively.

The seven pieces in between flung up a couple of surprises too… after the opening track, Steve Rothery from Marillion strolled on to the stage to join the band for ‘Fly on a Windshield’ with the ending featuring the two Steve’s sharing and exchanging lines which, whilst extended, could have gone on a bit longer afaic. Maybe by an hour. Or possibly two.

And then, after ‘Broadway Melody of 1974’ and ‘Hairless Heart’, erstwhile Genesis vocalist Ray Wilson took Nad’s place at the mic for a wonderful rendition of ‘Carpet Crawlers’.

With the closing strains of ‘It’, the portion of the show celebrating Lamb was concluded. As ever, faithfully represented by consummately skilled musicians, one of whom shares the music’s history and the others having as much emotional investment in it, I am sure, as most of the audience for whom it has been a big part of their lives.

Even the slightly hubristic realisation of the worth of my opinion with two of my favourite pieces (‘In the Cage’, ‘Back in NYC’) not included was very easy to forgive… it would have been unreasonable to expect all if it… and we did get Fly and 32 Doors, so I’m happy ☺

And there were still a couple of bonus treats to present in the form of some of Selling England’s finest.

The pastoral strains of the intro to ‘Dancing With the Moonlit Knight’ were greeted enthusiastically and, once the ‘Knights of the Green Shield’ were done stamping and shouting, we had ‘The Cinema Show’, an absolute favourite for me… although I do yearn for the ‘Seconds Out’ style ‘‘absolute ending” rather than the slow fade and transition into ‘Aisle of Plenty’: it’s such a climatic conclusion that it deserves an ovation… I’m on the edge of my seat wanting to cheer and it just kinda… dissipates.

Returning after a brief exit for a well-deserved and noisily demanded encore, I think everyone in the Hall was thrilled to hear Roger play the opening lines of ‘Firth of Fifth’, surely another stonewall classic for all Steve-era Genesis fans.

Having just had one quick breather with the encore break, the band once again had a sit down as Craig launched into his solo spot. I am not particularly qualified to dissect or critique a drum solo but to this uneducated reviewer it appeared well constructed, nuanced, complex… and absolutely bloody thrilling. And given it came at the end of what, for Craig, was a long days work, all the more impressive… pretty sure that if I was a drummer I’d be campaigning to get my solo spot no later than the first third of the show ☺

And just to round things off, what better way to finally close an evening that features a perfect blend of classic Genesis and Hackett than a combined ‘Los Endos/Slogans’ (although no ‘Myopia’ lead-off this time).

There’s a line in the film Still Crazy with the band manager trying to explain why she puts herself through the torture and she say she wants to be in that room with the band playing with a load of people who feel the same way about the music as she does… I think of this as the closing delicate piano lines of ‘Firth of Fifth’ play out and I’m there with everyone else, feeling totally uplifted and a little emotional, waiting silently for that last note to fade before cheering. And I know everyone feels the same way.

Despite having a very high, self-set bar that others couldn’t reach with a run up and a long, bendy pole, I have never left a Steve gig feeling anything other than elated and tonight was no exception. Truth be told, I think they keep getting better and better.

I was still mulling on this as the courteous RAH staff eventually managed to lever us out of opulent surroundings where we were trying to soak up every last drop of ambience from an exceptional evening.

With 50 (and 25) year anniversaries currently coming thick and fast, I can’t wait to see what Steve presents next. Just don’t leave it two bloody years …. ☺

Mark C


Setlist:


Set 1
People of the Smoke
Circo Inferno
These Passing Clouds
The Devil's Cathedral
Every Day
Hands of the Priestess
A Tower Struck Down
Bass Solo
Camino Royale
Shadow of the Hierophant


Set 2
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Fly on a Windshield
Broadway Melody of 1974
Hairless Heart
Carpet Crawlers
The Chamber of 32 Doors
Lilywhite Lilith
The Lamia
It
Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
The Cinema Show
Aisle of Plenty

Encore:
Firth of Fifth
Drum Solo
Los Endos/Slogans