What a week!
I’ve attached the podcast of yesterday’s show. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for all the positive comments after last week.
As I said in last week’s post, I went to see Steve Hackett at the Nottingham Royal Centre on Monday. He’s touring Genesis Revisited with a full orchestra. He was talking about doing this back in February and explaining the complexity of getting the orchestral scores written and arranged, so it was great to see the plans come to life. I did hope to interview him and the band backstage after the gig but the meeting with his PR agent on the night didn’t materialise.
The gig itself was great. I must say though, whether it was the acoustics of the room or having to compete with Roger King’s epic keyboard skills, but it was only towards the end of the first set that the orchestra came into its own. The material was a perfect blend of classic Genesis and Hackett’s own songs.
We were treated to classics like Firth of Fifth, Selling England by the Pound, and the highlight of the evening, all twenty-two minutes of Suppers Ready! The orchestra came into its own during the quieter songs, especially Blood on the Rooftops (sung by drummer, Gary O’Toole).
Hackett has surrounded himself with five stellar musicians. Nad Sylvan, whose theatrical vocal performance brings the songs to life as well as Gabriel ever did. Jonas Reingold whose ability to switch between bass and guitar adds real depth to the arrangements. The huge talent of keyboardist Roger King, whilst at times overly competing with the orchestra, provides the huge wash of sound that is the Genesis trademark. The amazing Gary O’Toole on drums (and speaking as a drummer myself I don’t know how he can play in a suit and tie!), and lastly Rob Townsend on Flute, Sax Keys and percussion!
It obvious from the warmth of the audience and HUGE ovation at the end, how much affection there still is for this music. Given Hackett’s significant contribution to the original writing and the ability of his band to reproduce it (probably) better than the original band, it’s as well that he is the Guardian of the Genesis back-catalogue.
Roll on next year when he is touring Selling England By The Pound in its entirety! (Tickets on sale now……)
Have a great week!
The Doorway 