Given that former Genesis members have been somewhat forgotten or relegated to little more than a footnote and the band often referred to in terms of either the Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins eras, it's unlikely anyone would have predicted Steve Hackett to be the current flag bearer of Genesis.
Acknowledging the importance and need for tribute acts, Steve has disputed that he can be a tribute to himself and has described his performances as carrying on the tradition of early Genesis, going so far as to say that while performing these songs the band becomes Genesis.On this current Australian tour, he has eschewed material from his solo career in preference to that of Genesis, specifically the live 1977 career retrospective 'Seconds Out' and 'Selling England By The Pound' from 1973.
During the 'Genesis – A History' documentary, founder member Tony Banks jokes that Steve was mixed out of 'Seconds Out' as a result of his decision to leave the band at this time.
The current tour, performing that double LP in entirety, could be considered as Steve's reclamation of his time in Genesis.
During a long and varied solo career he has explored his Genesis back catalogue live and on record with the release of 'Genesis Revisited' in 1996 and then as an ongoing concern since 2012 with 'Genesis Revisited II', featuring touring vocalist Nad Sylvan, and he has been working with keyboardist Roger King since that first tribute album.
Over a mammoth set (24 June) of nearly three hours, including an interval, Steve takes us on a journey back in time when he "joined a boy band called Genesis" via the niche and often maligned genre of progressive rock.
If you don't overanalyse the bombast and self-indulgence that progressive rock is often criticised for, you can enjoy the musical inventiveness across the genres of classical, jazz, rock and folk as more than the sum of the parts.
It is undeniable that there can be some at times questionable choices made in song construction and structure, but let's just sit back and enjoy the show.
The first set follows the track listing of 'Seconds Out' with some alterations in order to accommodate the 'Selling England By The Pound' set.
The set commences with the heavy immediacy of 'Squonk' and displays the variability of early Genesis via the show tune theatricality of 'Robbery, Assault And Battery', the fast paced folk of 'The Musical Box' excerpt and the epic, full-length 'Supper's Ready' with folk flute to the fore and the audience occasionally singing along like a pub choir.
Steve contributes a fantastic extended guitar solo during which his guitar actually seems to sing before the set ends with a standing ovation.
Onstage, Steve comes across as modest, listening intently to his fellow performers while not playing, clearly enjoying what he is hearing. It is not surprising when he later announces: "This might be controversial but this is the best band I've ever worked with."
Nad Sylvan has a naturalistic vocal style and isn't copying Peter Gabriel but is a more than adequate substitute, Nad's singing having more in common with that of Phil Collins.
Long term collaborating keyboardist Roger King is somewhat inconspicuous at the back of the stage behind both the imposing figure of the statuesque Nad and multi-instrumentalist Rob Townsend on saxophones, flute and percussion.
The band is completed by Jonas Reingold at times wielding a double-necked bass and twelve-string guitar and Craig Blundell on drums.
The second set commences with the heavy folk rock of 'Dancing With The Moonlit Knight'. During 'I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)', the versatile Rob performs a saxophone and bass duet along with Jonas, taking the song into the realm of jazz-funk before Steve leads a blues band jam.
'More Fool Me' stands out as almost a regular love song among the weirdness and orchestration of the other performances. A marching band interlude opens 'The Battle Of Epping Forest' while Rob's saxophone twins Steve's guitar part on 'After The Ordeal'.
The melancholy of 'The Cinema Show' is highlighted with mirror ball lighting effects and there is a mid-song barrage of sound as though someone has suddenly turned up the volume, which acts to signify a segue into 'Aisle Of Plenty' to close the set.
The encore consists of the remaining songs from 'Seconds Out' not performed earlier, beginning with 'Dance On A Volcano' after which the rest of the band leaves the stage for Craig's drum solo.
Steve remains, intently watching the demonstrative performance before the band returns, the drum solo segueing into 'Los Endos', and the song builds into freeform chaos before coalescing into a near halt then briefly recommencing again, completing the evening to another standing ovation from a more than grateful audience.
