Steve Hackett and his band managed to once again ‘bring it,’ this time at The Victoria Theatre, in Newark, N.J. on February 17th. The ex-Genesis guitarist and his band; Roger King-keys, Gary O’Toole (drums/percussion and lead and backing vocals), Rob Townsend (flutes/keys/percussion/backing vocals/tenor sax), Nick Beggs (bass/stick/twelve string guitar), Nad Sylvan (lead vocal), were celebrating the 40th anniversary of Genesis’s Wind & Wuthering album, so they played lots from it and Hackett’s solo stuff as well.
The 2 and ½ hours began with new Hackett material (his The Night Siren album will be released this month) like “El Nino,†“In The Skeleton Gallery†and beautiful (and sad lyric at times) “Behind the Smoke.†There was also classic Hackett solo stuff like “The Steepes†and the usual crowd-pleasuring, O’Toole stand-out, “Shadow of the Hierophant.â€Â This tune ended the first half of the set, then Mr. Hackett introduced singer Sylvan and the Genesis stuff began.
From Wind and Wuthering we got “Eleventh Earl Of Mar,†“One for the Vine,†“Blood on the Rooftops†with other Genesis favorites, “Afterglow,†Dance on a Volcano,†“Firth of a Fifth†(another show highlight) and “The Musical Box.â€Â As an encore, the band jammed around Genesis’ “Los Endos.â€
Steve Hackett and this spectacular band have been performing these half-and-half “Genesis Revisited” shows for a few years. They have the songs down (no easy feat to be sure), the right mix of old and new…and of course, Steve Hackett is one of the very best rock guitarists ever. You owe it to yourself to catch this show, or at the very least, grab Hackett’s new album when it is released this month.
