Steve Hackett – Live In Gatineau, Quebec – 13th February 2018

Following his appearance on 2018’s Cruise To The Edge, Steve and band are spending February and March in North and South America, on a tour billed as ‘Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited, Solo Gems & GTR 2018 Tour de Force!’ I caught the show at the Theatre du Casino in Gatineau, Quebec. Words and photos by Tim Darbyshire.

Steve Hackett is a regular visitor to Canada and it’s always a pleasure to see him and his band play here. Despite being a frequent visitor, this year’s set list was noticeably different to last year’s, such is the quality of Steve’s solo back catalogue as well as the depth of his work with Genesis.

Gatineau’s Theatre du Casino was the venue for the fourth and final Canadian concert on this tour and first hour or so of the concert contained the solo material, with the focus  being on Steve’s second solo album – 1978’s ‘Please Don’t Touch’ – which is 40 years old.  Two instrumentals – ‘Please Don’t Touch’ and the bombastic ‘Shadow Of The Hierophant’ – book-ended the solo portion of the set which also focused on Steve’s 2017 eclectic ‘The Night Siren’ release. Three songs are played from the latest album – ‘Beneath The Smoke’, ‘El Nino’, and ‘In The Skeleton Gallery’. The new material sat comfortably alongside the older material, with the beautiful ‘Icarus Ascending’ from ‘Please Don’t Touch’ being a personal highlight of the solo music.  ‘When The Heart Rules The Mind’ is being given a rare outing on this tour – Steve has recently re-recorded this song from the GTR project (with Steve Howe) from the mid-1980s.

The Genesis section of the show was predictably packed with classic songs, all delivered by Steve and his talented band in customary faultless fashion. There’s one change to the touring band this year, with Jonas Reingold replacing Nick Beggs on bass and 12-string guitar. Jonas is quickly able to show us his talents during ‘Dancing With The Moonlit Knight’ which opens the Genesis section and a welcome return of ‘One For The Vine’ and ‘Inside And Out’ (from the ‘Wind And Wuthering’ sessions) follows.   ‘Fountain of Salmacis’ from 1971’s ‘Nursery Cryme’ leads us into crowd favourite ‘Firth Of Fifth’ which of course means we get to hear Steve’s iconic solo, and Roger King’s piano introduction. The pace is maintained with a powerful rendition of  ‘The Musical Box’ before ‘Supper’s Ready’, for many people still THE Genesis song, closes the main set.

After 2 hours and 40 minutes, the encore ‘Los Endos’ brings proceedings to a close and leaves the crowd cheering for more.  Hopefully Steve and band will be back next year, maybe with another new album to promote.

Set List – Steve Hackett, Theatre du Casino, Gatineau – 13th February 2018

Please Don’t Touch
Every Day
Behind The Smoke
El Nino
In The Skeleton Gallery
When The Heart Rules The Mind
Icarus Ascending
Shadow Of The Hierophant (closing section)
Dancing With The Moonlit Knight
One For The Vine
Inside And Out
The Fountain Of Salmacis
Firth of Fifth
The Musical Box
Supper’s Ready
(Encore)
Los Endos

Steve Hackett: Guitars, Vocals
Nad Sylvan: Vocals
Jonas Reingold: Bass
Roger King: Keyboards
Gary O’Toole: Drums
Rob Townsend: Wind Instruments

 

Steve Hackett – Live in Quebec/Montreal/Gatineau 2016

Just four months after last visiting Ontario, Steve Hackett made a welcome return to Canada last weekend with three shows as part of the 2016 leg of his ‘Acolyte To Wolflight’ tour – Quebec Grand Theatre 8th April, Theatre Maisonneuve Place Des Arts, Montreal 9th April, and Theatre du Casino, Gatineau 10th April.

Review and photos by Tim Darbyshire

Three nights in a row with Steve Hackett and his band, three blistering shows and three wildly enthusiastic audiences – there is absolutely no doubt, French Canada loves its prog bands!

As with the first leg of the ‘Acolyte To Wolflight’ tour in 2015,  the show was divided into two halves, the first was the solo material with Steve and band showcasing tracks from the 2015 album ‘Wolflight’ as well as his first album ‘Voyage of the Acolyte’ (released in 1975). Favourites from 1978’s ‘Please Don’t Touch’ and 1979’s ‘Spectral Mornings’ complimented the set. From the opening sounds of ‘Spectral Mornings’ through to the closing bars of a rousing ‘Shadow Of The Heirophant’ Steve had the crowd totally under his spell.

The second set was primarily Genesis numbers, crowd-pleasers ‘Firth of Fifth’,  ‘The Musical Box’  and ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ alongside a welcome addition of ‘The Cinema Show’ and deeper cuts like ‘Can-utility and the Coastliners’ and ‘After The Ordeal’.  The highlight for me was ‘The Cinema Show’, with Roger King outdoing Tony Banks during the instrumental workout.

By the time the band left the stage after the encores of ‘Clocks’ and ‘Firth Of Fifth’ nearly three hours had passed, and I struggle to recall an audience as enthusiastic for the material as those in Quebec and Montreal especially.

Steve will be continuing work on a new studio album (among  other projects) after this tour, and we have the ‘Live In Liverpool’ DVD from the ‘Acolyte To Wolflight’ tour to look forward to around June of this year.

Let’s hope we see Steve back in Canada before too long……

 

Friday 8th April – Grand Theatre Quebec

Saturday 9th April – Theatre Maisonneuve, Place Des Arts,  Montreal

Sunday 10th – Casino du Lac Leamy, Gatineau

Band Line up and Setlist (all 3 nights)

Steve Hackett – Guitar, Vocals
Roger King – Keyboards
Nad Sylvan – Vocals
Roine Stolt – Bass, Guitar
Rob Townsend – Flute, sax, keyboards
Gary O’Toole – Drums, Vocals

Setlist:
Set 1
Intro/Spectral Mornings
Out of the Body
Wolflight
Every Day
Love Song to a Vampire
The Wheel’s Turning
Loving Sea
Icarus Ascending
Star of Sirius
Ace of Wands
A Tower Struck Down
Shadow of the Heirophant

Set 2
Get ’em Out by Friday
Can-Utility and the Coastliners
After the Ordeal
The Cinema Show/Aisle of Plenty
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
The Musical Box

Encores:
Clocks – The Angel Of Mons
Firth of Fifth