In Concert: Steve Hackett

by Jerry Watson
— Guest Photojournalist —

April 3rd, 2024 at The Uptown Theater in Kansas City, MO

Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited 2024 North America Tour | FOXTROT at FIFTY + HACKETT HIGHLIGHTS

Steve Hackett and his band hit the Uptown Theater stage in Kansas City, Mo., April 3rd, 2024. Unlike most bands on tour these days, instead of a hits package. Hackett proved Prog Rock is still alive performing new music. Kicking off the “Hackett Highlights” of the 2024 Foxtrot At Fifty & Hackett Highlights Tour with a trio of new songs from his latest album The Circus And The Nightwhale.

The appreciative audience was then regaled with several more songs from Hackett’s solo career of over 30 albums. The band, Nad Sylvan (vocals), Roger King (keyboards), Rob Townsend (multi-instrumentalist), Jonas Reingold (bass) and Craig Blundell (drums), expertly wove their way through fan-favorites and deep cuts like “Everyday,” and “The Devil’s Cathedral” before ending the first set with “Shadow of the Hierophant”.

Hackett joined Genesis in late 1970 and through 1977 and his guitar sound was prominently featured through solos on “The Musical Box”, “The Return of the Giant Hogweed” and “The Fountain of Salmacis”. He became an early proponent of the guitar tapping technique normally attributed to Eddie Van Halen. Hackett claimed that Van Halen had told him that he learned the technique after attending a Genesis concert in the mid-1970s.

After a brief intermission, Genesis’ 2nd album Foxtrot was played in its entirety, including the 23-minute opus “Supper’s Ready”, leaving the audience breathless and a standing ovation. The two hour show ending with early Genesis faves “First Of Fifth” and “Los Endos.”

Safe to say, Progressive Rock is in good hands, as long as Steve Hackett continues to record new music and tour featuring early Genesis albums.

Steve Hackett – guitar, harmonica, vocals
Roger King – keyboards
Rob Townsend – saxophone, flute, keyboards, percussion, bass pedals, vocals
Nad Sylvan – vocals, tambourine
Jonas Reingold – bass, 12-string guitar, bass pedals, vocals
Craig Blundell – drums, percussion, vocals

Concert Photo Gallery

Set List:

1. People of the Smoke
2. Circo Inferno
3. These Passing Clouds
4. The Devil’s Cathedral
5. Every Day
6. A Tower Struck Down
7. Basic Instincts
8. Camino Royale
9. Shadow of the Hierophant

Foxtrot

10. Watcher of the Skies (Genesis song)
11. Time Table (Genesis song)
12. Get ’em Out by Friday (Genesis song)
13. Can-Utility and the Coastliners (Genesis song)
14. Horizons (Genesis song)
15. Supper’s Ready (Genesis song)

Encore

16. Firth of Fifth(Genesis song)
17. Drum Solo
18. Los Endos

Web: https://www.hackettsongs.com/