Liverpool Philharmonic – 08/10/22
Seeing Steve Hackett is always a treat, I’ve been to a few of his shows now and every time he amazes me! The Liverpool Philharmonic is a great venue, as it is built to house an orchestra, so is perfectly suited to the kind of progressive rock we all love and are here to soak up tonight!
The first two pieces were very technical and I thought interesting choices to start proceedings with. Opening up with ‘Ace of Wands’, the opening track from Steve’s debut album, Voyage of the Acolyte, Steve instantly shining as his incredible guitar skills were immediately on show. Following Ace of Wands comes ‘The Devils Cathedral, from Steve’s latest solo album Surrender of Silence. This is a really fun track, that made full use of the entire Hackett band, even Nad Sylvan had a few vocal parts to sing, which he popped onto the stage to do, before leaving once more to let the musicians take centre stage.
Nad is an incredible vocalist, who’s starring role comes in part two of the show, the ‘Foxtrot’ album. He only appears from time to time during the first act.
Steve welcomes Amanda Lehmann who joins the band for the next two songs and possibly my two favourite solo Hackett pieces; Every Day and Spectral Mornings. These both sound absolutely incredible in the Philharmonic Hall, like I said, the room
Is built for an orchestra and this is as orchestral as you can get with an electric guitar and a Marshall stack!
Amanda adds another dimension to the show, bringing an added sense of fun. The crowd absolutely love her. She closes the first half taking vocal duties on Shadow of the Hierophant – an epic ten minute piece that builds and swells until you are completely immersed in this epic opus! The piece built to a massive crescendo before coming to a close, signalling the end of act one.
The audience reassemble following the interval and there is a Chinese pagoda style backdrop. The musicians re enter the stage, completely in blackout, apart from a pair of red demonic glasses, that Nad is wearing. The Genesis bit is truly Nad’s time to shine. His vocals perfectly fitting the Peter Gabriel penned melodies!
Nad brings an added element of theatrics to an already theatrical show. They play the album in order and to be honest, it’s not an album I’m overly familiar with. Starting off with the heaviest track ‘Watcher of the Skies’ Nad makes full use of the stage. And let me just say this, what a sound!!!
I have to mention at this point the incredible light show. Lighting designer Chris Curran is incredible, so much thought went into the placement of the lights and each time they moved it added something extra to the show. An incredibly powerful light show! I loved it.
The band are all at the top of their game. Craig Blundell is an incredible drummer, bassist and second guitarist Jonas Reingold was superb, even incorporating a little bit of Hendrix into a Bass solo! The band is completed by Rob Townshend – who can play virtually anything and Roger King on keys.
They continue through the album, until the halfway point, where the whole band leave the stage, leaving Steve alone as the guitar tech hands him an acoustic guitar. Steve then plays Horizons and you could quite literally hear a pin drop in the venue. I was mesmerised, his skill as a guitarist is incredible! He didn’t miss a single harmonic either. Hats off to you Mr. Hackett!
Following Horizons, the 25 minute ‘Suppers Ready’ which again was outstanding. The only song on Foxtrot that I was really familiar with. Steve and the band didn’t disappoint! The crowd were singing and cheering along right the way through until the end. A very impressive fade out is delivered live on stage which really impressed me, in all my years of going to gigs, I’ve never seen a band do that before, especially not live!
The stage goes black and the audience jump to their feet in admiration. Steve and the band shortly return and the lights focus on Roger King who kicks off the piano intro of Firth of Firth, my all time favourite Genesis track. It was great.
As the show drew to a close, Amanda Lehmann rejoins the band for ‘Los Endos’, there was huge applause, Amanda was presented with flowers and the band left the stage. What a night. I have seen hundreds of bands over the years, but Steve Hackett really is the next level. He still remains a cut above the rest. I said the last time I saw him that anyone who hasn’t seen Steve play live, really should do and I’m certainly sticking by that statement. In fact, I might even be inclined to say that Saturday night was one of the musical highlights of the year.
