"Saw It On TV..." - A round-up of some new DVDs that have arrived at TWR HW. Reviews by Alan Hewitt.

Here we are, back again with another round up of some of the more interesting TV and other appearances by the band and solo members which have recently emerged from the archives.

There certainly seems to be no end of archival footage by Genesis as is evidenced by the various compilations and other material that has arrived at TWR HQ recently starting with two compilations of TV footage under the titles of "Live Archive - Ten From TV" and "Live Archive - No News Is Good News". The latter starts the band's story with a selection of TV clips from British and foreign broadcasts from 1981 through to 1991 including some interesting (and amusing) TV appearances which I am sure the band would rather forget. Quality varies as you would expect with some of the footage being far removed from the original broadcast versions but to collectors it will be of more than passing interest.

Ten From TV continues the story taking up the story in 1991 but with a slight detour to bring us the band's rather shambolic appearance at the Atlantic At Forty birthday celebrations from 1988 before fast forwarding to the Calling All Stations era with a variety of footage from that period including the widely available Berlin album launch performance. Of more interest to me personally was the VH1 clip of the Bray warm-up gig which I was fortunate enough to attend. All in all, another interesting compilation.

An interesting example of how to make a documentary about the band without having them actually take part in it is next. "Bio - Genesis" (sounds like a Sci Fi.horror film doesn't it?) is the work of the US Biography Channel. Containing a mix of of interview snippets with the likes of Chris Welch and asociates of the band such as Hugh Padgham and Richard MacPhail there is little actual visual footage of the band here and certainly nothing that hasn't been seen before. A prime example of a TV company cashing in on the band's high profile at the time of the 2007 tour, this "biography" has little to recommend it to fans and does nothing to expand the band's story.

Another archival live film has also emerged recently from the Invisible Touch tour. This is the third night at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena on 20th September 1986. By the late 1980's the archive of privately filmed footage of the band was beginning to increase as the recording technology became easier to acquire (and cheaper!) and by the time of the band's massive Invisible Touch tour, several fans chanced their arms to make private films of the gigs they attended. Being one of the first gigs on the tour, this recording is of historical importance mainly due to the presence in the set of the Apocalypse In 9/8 section of Supper's Ready as part of the In The Cage medley. The footage available here is surprisingly enjoyable and certainly does manage to capture some of the excitement of the gig itself and is well worth a look if you can get hold of a copy.

Peter Gabriel too has some more interesting live footage emerging from the archives, beginning with a sadly incomplete film of one of Peter's gigs at Earls Court back in the summer of 1987. Strangely enough, this appears to be taken from a pro-shot version of the film. Sadly it is neither complete or of very good quality being many generations removed from the original. A real pity this, because Peter's performances on this tour rate among the best he has ever done in my opinion.

Much more interesting, and also of much better quality, is the more recent film of another of Peter's gigs from the 2007 "Warm Up Tour". This one is taken from the gig at Arezzo on 5th July 2007. Mixing footage from several different cameras, this is another highly enjoyable recording which does manage to capture the excitement and humour of these gigs. Sadly, once again as seems to be the usual trend with films from Italy there are several cuts to some of the songs which do spoil the overall flow of the performance but with no official footage available from this tour, anything of this quality will prove of interest to collectors and what there is makes very enjoyable viewing.

A nice little addition arrived to Steve’s archive recently in the shape of another one of his performances during the Borders Bookstore tour back in 2003. This one captures the performance at the Chicago branch of the store. Once again, the performance was extremely low key featuring just Steve and a "pair of nylons" (nylon strung guitars in case any of you were wondering!). Nonetheless, displaying the unique Hackett sense of humour he even threw in a snippet of Smoke On The Water among the several medleys of material which comprised the musical side of the performance. Steve looks relaxed and seems to be enjoying himself and I am sure the fans who were present knew they were witnessing something special.

Finally, bringing up the rear are the most recent additions to the Hackett archive in the shape of the TV/Radio broadcast from the Estival Jazz Festival in Lugano Switzerland and the audience recordings of both the Pordenone show and Steve’s appearance at this year’s “Night Of The Prog” festival in St Goarshausen. It is amazing how quickly these things get into circulation these days - I had my copy of both the TV and radio broadcasts from Lugano a mere TWO days after the event! What is even more surprising is the quality of the recordings. Both the TV and radio broadcast from Lugano are, as you would expect of such things, excellent although edited for broadcast purposes. The real surprise here is the Pordenone recording. Now, as you know, I was at that gig and this is an audience recording, but one the likes of which I have seldom heard - it really is THAT good. Crystal clear sound throughout and good enough for consideration for “Live Archive” status in my opinion. The Loreley recording isn’t too shabby either and all are nice additions to any Hacketteer’s collection.