“Acoustic Delight” - Steve Hackett and Acoustic Trio in concert at Trading Boundaries on Sunday 12th December 2021. Photographs by Trading Boundaries, Tim Hale And Kenny Brown.

It has been a long time, hasn't it? Indeed it HAS been a VERY long time since I had the pleasure of seeing an Acoustic Trio gig - sixteen years in fact which is far too long! Anyway, I managed to finally put that right this year with a long overdue visit to the excellent Trading Boundaries venue in Essex. A long trip but definitely worth it not only for the gig, but also for the company too.

Steve and the trio have turned these gigs into an almost annual event at this time of year and they are always sell out events. The entire experience with dining thrown in makes them just a little bit more special than your average gig and tonight was no exception.

The set for these gigs contained most of the usual favourites you may have seen of you have been lucky enough to see Steve and the trio before and hearing such classics as Shadow Of The Hierophant, Hands Of The Priestess and Hammer In The Sand in their acoustic setting again was truly delightful. The added presence of Rob Townsend brought a restrained sprinkling of jazz to some of the performances but tastefully understated this time round.

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There was only one "new" track performed although I gather that this already a staple at these gigs; House Of The Faun based on Steve and Jo's experiences of a visit to Pompeii and finally committed to album on Under A Mediterranean Sky, this one was a little slice of Italy brought to a wintry Southern England and it was a joy to hear.

It was interesting to hear a fair amount of improvisation going on throughout the evening. Steve got things under way with a few snippets including Sapphires, Mexico City whilst later John and Rob went to town on the ubiquitous Whole Tone Jam and even Roger got in on the act with some sepulchral organ phrasings and there was plenty of light hearted banter between Messrs Hackett and King too.

Of course, with Steve still engaged in revisiting his Genesis days, that band also featured prominently in the show with Hairless Heart, the guitar solo from Firth Of Fifth; the Apocalypse in 9/8 section of Suppers Ready which sounds amazing in an acoustic setting and of course, Horizons! I was hoping for at least a snippet of Blood On The Rooftops and thankfully we got more than that...cue me blubbing like a baby as usual! That song means so much to me!

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Speaking of blubbing like a baby, the trio were also joined by Amanda Lehmann for a trio of songs, two of which were from her recently released album: Innocence & Illusion. Of these, Memory Lane blew me away again - this song has a deep personal significance to me and it is a masterpiece. Only Happy When It Rains was quite appropriate and the new song; An Old Christmas Day was suitably festive and gives an inkling that Amanda is already stockpiling more material for another album - can't wait!

Several other acoustic classics got an outing tonight including Satie's Gnossienne #1 and Second Chance were both enjoyable and the interplay between the musicians was a joy to behold. Here were a group of friends enjoying themselves as much as we were enjoying watching them. It makes all the difference to how well a performance gels with an audience, but to be honest the musicians were playing to the converted here but even so, they didn't take that for granted!

The wait to see another acoustic show was well worth it. Steve and the band had the audience and spellbound from start to finish. And in a setting such as Trading Boundaries, gigs are always something more than just "gigs" and this one was exceptional.

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As usual, I would like to extend a few thank you's. To Steve, Roger, John, Amanda and Rob for putting on such a remarkable show. To Michael and all the staff at Trading Boundaries for making us so welcome and for taking such excellent care of us. To Jo and June for...just being Jo and June! And to my partners in crime: Kenny and Linda Brown and Sara Bridgeman whose company made this the perfect end to my gigging year!

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