"The Spectral Master visits The Spirit Of 66" - Steve Hackett Live in Verviers 23rd March 2004. Reviewed for TWR by Paul Herlitschka.

But first let’s discover what was going on, last Tuesday.

Here’s the right Setlist from the Verviers Gig:

Valley of Kings
Mechanical Bride (Highlight)
Circus of Becoming (merged into…)
Frozen Statues Instrumental (Highlight)
Slogans
Serpentine Song
Ace of Wands
Hammer in the Sand (Highlight)
Acoustic Medley
Horizons
Second Chance
Blood on the Rooftops
Broadway Melody of 1974 (Highlight)
Please Don’t Touch (merged into…)
Firth of Fifth (Highlight)
A Dark Night in Toy Town
Darktown (Highlight)
Brand New
Air Conditioned Nightmare
Every Day
Clocks

First Encore:
The Knife (Joking on 2 bars)
Spectral Mornings
Los Endos Medley (Myopia – Los Endos – Dancing with the Moonlit Knight)

Second Encore:
In That Quiet Earth (revisited) (Highlight)


“you are the 300 chosen ones to watch Steve Hackett here tonight, we had to refuse about 500 places” said Francis Geron, manager and Bar keeper from the Spirit of 66 before the show began.
Some couldn’t believe to see Steve playing in such a place looking more like “Queen Arms Pub” than “Earls Court”. In the same way, it’s also quiet magic that big stars like Steve Howe, Vanilla Fudge, and Andy Summers will close Spirit 66’s march 04 agenda! Not to mention Mick Taylor, Beverly Jo Scott, Nektar or Jan Akkerman next month, Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) Pat Travers or Iron Butterfly in June.
For those who wants to have a look at Francis’s agenda go to : http://users.skynet.be/sky80229/66/agenda/agenda.htm

Back to the concert:
Steve played the whole setlist in one time without pause beginning at 20:45 exactly.
The setlist above mentions the big highlights of this very evening, where both the band and the fans where in exaltation, due to surprises in the interpretation or due to the power or the magic that came across.
The sound for this small place was exceptionally excellent, both Francis and Bill on the soundboard. Steve’s Gibson sound is like good Bordeaux, finer from year to year!
Even the lights could be enabled like in the bigger live formats.

Valley of Kings is a great opener, more close to The Steppes than any Genesis Revisited song in which he mysteriously figures. Little problems on Roger’s sound volume but quickly recovered.
Mechanical Bride new look was a great surprise to us and the longer middle part wasn’t just a filler, but a real killer of a song, so much emotion and energy, new interactions between Steve, Roger and Rob (synth sax) all changing in a racing spiral that took all fans from the ground. The colour was given, with Steve, no “see what we get”, but you “get what you see”! Directly!
I loved Circus of Becoming also in the lyrics, it described what was happening just a few minutes before: “it all start’s with a spark” and merges with elegance into Frozen Statues which left alone Roger’s frozen piano drops, magic is rising again, all doing some kind of frozen jazz phrases, very spacey, great sustaining suspense, not a sound from the close-to-the-band fans, making us feel the word was turning slower for a moment.
I wasn’t the only one to record the show, some mikes erected here and there, and listening back to this instrumental, there’s magic surrounding Roger, Steve and Rob posing their parts like leaves in the fog, a great moment.
This changed without presentations of Slogans, well played, synchronised, and revealing how excellent Steve’s current band plays.
Steve’s guitar took the elevator down to chain up with Serpentine Song where Rob Townsend did the nicest soprano chorus of the evening.
Followed by Ace of Wands with that new Irish touch but which live version come the closest to the original ever played.
Hammer in the Sand is another jewel polished by the new band’s sound in the same light as previous Serpentine…, Frozen… or the later played Second Chance.
Supported by the ambiance of this bar, that lets sound those Hackett lullabies like late-night versions.
But the Acoustic Set where I first felt Steve wasn’t very well, I first thought that was because of the people in the bar, which talked as loud as Steve’s sound level, such pieces come better across in a place like the Theatre in Trento where no smoke, no bear flagrance nor any word could be heard, and where Steve’s Nylon Guitar had a huge sound.

Then Steve announced Gary O’Toole as the next singing drummer in his career, after Phil.
Blood on the Rooftops was a big present to the Genesis fans, all arrangements close to the album, a bright and clear voice carrying this forgotten song directly in the sunshine of current treasures, one of the best Hackett songs ever, gently accompanied by nylon guitar instead of his traditional Gibson, unfolding a strong live format that this song deserved for so long.
The only detail which disturbed me personally was this misplaced soprano that couldn’t restore the magic of the foggy Arp-Oboe in the bridges and the coda of the song, Rob even missing some parts. On the other hand, Terry did a fantastic Bass line in that song that fitted much better the song melody than Mike’s…imho…
In that present stuck another present: Broadway Melody of 1974 as hypnotic as played almost 30 years ago, so was that melody Steve’s?? All Spirit of 66 suddenly joined the spirit of 74 in singing with great emotion Peter’s end part that already was missing in the “Lamb Casserole”. That was another great moment of the evening.
But the best is right to come:
The (imho) best interpretation of Please Don’t Touch (partly due to the band performance and Steve accurate sound) played almost one to one like the original take. Steve did that in the last tour as well as the segue into Firth of Fifth, as someone said here, Steve’s best interpretation (and that on Tony’s melody!), and I would add with the most mature sound Steve ever had.
Tonight again, I asked myself, was it Tony Banks that gave Steve such a reputation or was it the opposite?
That’s one of the biggest secrets of the Genesis style, which even Darryl Sturmer couldn’t break.

With no pause in the set, Steve carries on with this famous new song, A Dark Day in Toy Town which has in common with the following song only the word play about dark and town - Some reminiscent of “Golden Age of Steam”, dramatic, powerful and short song.
Darktown, second time in the set list since 03, is wonderfully played there, new-looked with the same emotions as Mechanical Bride, a ghosty late-night trouble - an absolute highlight.
Brand New was the moment where Steve’s voice continued to sing while Steve wasn’t on the mike. He laughed somewhat embarrassed, as if he had lost his denture, moved to the side close to Gary, and was jumping like a heavy metallic during the solo.
The funniest moment of the evening!
Air Conditioned Nightmare, Every Day and Clocks followed quickly one behind the other in the same “brand-new“ power and like other Hackett live standarts, have that new polish given by Steve’s current band.
For the first encore series, Steve asked us for any requests. Someone shouted The Knife. Steve: “The Knife? You really want it?” He began a kind of boogie riff and suddenly stopped saying: “Crap! We play something much better!”
Spectral Mornings shone suddenly to us like a spectral end of evening and was certainly the best song to play as a first encore, followed by the “energic” Medley comprising Myopia, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight and Los Endos inclusive Squonk finale and mellotron.
Lights went up, Francis started some promo music to the next Andy Summers concert, but we all shouted for a last encore.
To the surprise for all, Steve and his band came back and gave us a revisited version of In that Quiet Earth, with a slightly different intro than the 2003 archive, very magic and close to the intro of “The Silk Road”, “Please Don’t Touch’s” sister, herself sister to “Unquiet Slumber” so all the family was represented, a little from all Genesis albums where Hackett was in (except one!)
After such a big cloud in that small pub, we all dare hoping seeing Steve signing our Hackett CD’s, but after a few minutes Francis announced:
“Bad news for you: Steve is becoming ill and hasn’t the strength to come for signings” I was so surprised after that gig that I asked myself does he speak about the same Steve? Well deserved rest if so, it was fantastic, Steve!!!!! And all your band mates too!!!

Here a little story about something that happened to me at the Limburg gig in November 03.
I had a very special experience during the Please Don’t Touch / Firth of Fifth song. As PdT began, I had a funny feeling in my stomach and head, not uncomfortable, but some kind of “inner tickling”. This sensation lasted and grew to the point where Steve waved around the main melody, I looked at my girlfriend and she was quiet surprised, then, when bass pedals raised with Steve’s sustained note, my body lift up without effort! I swear that isn’t a joke! I was frightened but it was pleasant too. Only a bit too short… Had any of you such an experience too?
In such a situation you cannot really understand nor master yourself, out of any logic, during the rest of the night.
So I was near Steve after the concert with all fans asking for autographs, laughing and chatting, and as Steve looked at me, words came out of my mouth in that way: “Steve, I was kind of levitating really during your solo on Firth of Fifth” but he doesn’t seem to care much about…understandable in the end, lol! So I changed the matter asking him if he will one day play Entangled, Blood or Hoping Love will Last. Steve’s answer was: “For ‘Hoping’ you have to ask Randy Crawford if she’s ok, I wrote the song for her! But yes, I love this song!” For the rest, I had an enjoyable answer tonight.

Paul Herlitschka