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Genesis

I friend 'joined a rather homogenous crowd', as he put it, to watch Steve Hackett and his band recreate the Seconds Out tour in London this week. He described it as 'wonderful nostalgia'.

Is this a coincidence?
 
I don’t think so. Steve tours very regularly, pretty much every year.
FYI, His singer is Nad Sylvan who has an amazing voice and does an occasional Gabriel homage according to the tracks being played
 
The amusing thing is for me the two self-indulgent double albums that pretty much broke both bands (TLLDOB & TFTO) are arguably their best work IMO.
 
Tony L said:
The amusing thing is for me the two self-indulgent double albums that pretty much broke both bands (TLLDOB & TFTO) are arguably their best work IMO.
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I remember rather liking TFTO back when I was at school, but I haven't listened to it for years. I loved TLLDOB, I guess at the same time, and I still think that there are some brilliant songs in there, though in a recent audition I realsied that there are vast tracts of the album(s) that I don't recognise at all. As a randy yet romantically inclined and dreamy 6th former I found my prefect match in 'The Lamia', and I think illustrated it as part of my art A level.

I always found, and certainly do now, that both bands were flawed by an inclination towards shrill, noisy, repetitive and often discordantly mixed-time set pieces that utterly destroyed some beautiful melodies. 'Heart of the Sunrise' would vie for position as one of the most beautiful pieces of melody were it not for Wakeman's brash and repetitive 'recapitulation' arrangement, and even now I sometimes pull out the sublime 'Soon' and 'To be Over' from the ear-jarringly brash, trebly soundstage of Relayer, just for the brief glimpse of the sublime which they offer. Genesis did the same thing with, for example, 'Dancing with the Moonlit Knight', 'Cinema Show' etc... I suspect this would also account for my unfamiliarity with tracts of TLLDOB.

I've watched recordings of various Steve Hackett concerts (with the very good if somehow slightly weird Nad Sylvan) and the excellent Anderson Rubin Wakefield 2018 show at the Apollo, where Louis Molino 111 completely destroyed Alan White on Bill Bruford, and thoroughly enjoyed them.
 
^ the need to toughen up 'beautiful melodies' were a feature of prog rock. King Crimson did the same. Perhaps a premonition of the risks of straying too far from blues/rock'n'roll. Proved correct as punk arrived.
 
Could not fault Steve Hackett at Mcr Apollo last night, every musicians playing was superb along with the SQ. I really enjoyed drummer Craig Blundell performance, a very talented musician.
 
About 2 years ago my neighbour persuaded me to go with him to see Steve Hackett... finally tonight its on at Edinburgh Playhouse after Covid delays. I'd completely forgotten about it. I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

I haven't listened to any Genesis for a good long while. I liked it when I was about 10 'cos my older brothers played it a lot. Same with Yes - and I now think of Yes as generally much better musically than Genesis. Close to the Edge was their best IMO.
As for Genesis, I quite dislike a lot of the Gabriel-era stuff apart from Selling England by the Pound - too much whimsy. I cannot listen to The Lamb Lies Down for more than 10 mins without switching it off. My favourite stuff is from Trick of the Tail to Duke. After that...Meh.
 
droodzilla said:
Shouldn't this thread be in the music forum? ;)
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The OP, by placing it in the OT section, has a point. Back in 1997 I attended this concert in Montreux, and even though it was deemed good enough to be published on DVD, I remember that at least half the audience fled the venue before the end, usually led by the wives - I had never seen this happen before, anywhere. Sound in this hall is usually excellent but this was shrill, I tell you. I went there because ELP reminded me my teenie days, looking at the scene has shattered my life for days afterwards.

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00066KX3W/?tag=pinkfishmed08-21

I do own TLLDOB and TFTO and I used to listen to them regularly, after all I was told it was 'great music'. Today I struggle to call it music in the first place. Rhythmic structures are so complicated - if there are any at all - that I defy anyone to find me any music of any genre that swings less than prog. Lusting after a girl you can't have ? Play some prog, things will calm down immediately. Rock it can be, roll no.
 
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gary said:
I went to Brum. I was in two minds whether to go or not, i saw them in78 at Knebworth which was and still is the best gig i have seen and 2007 at OT. The 2007 show was a pleasant surprise, better than i expected.
Last night was a very sad decline. Sorry but PC wouldn't have been out of place if they had pushed him on in a wheelchair. Visuals were seriously good but the setlist ???? Nothing from Trick of the Tail at all, snippets of older material but not full songs and the majority was their 80's output, which is not why i want to see and hear them. It was like a rerun of 2007 only weaker and without the older songs to make it worthwhile. I knew in my heart it might well be a mistake to go and i really wish i hadn't, not something i ever thought i would say about Genesis. They should have let sleeping dogs lie, smacks of one final go at cashing in. Live DVDs and box sets will no doubt follow.
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Knebworth 78 was my first Genesis gig as well Gary, quite an experience for a relatively naive 17 year old:D.
I’m with you, best wishes to the band but I’ll stick with the memories thank you. I posted elsewhere, when I saw the additional backing singers I knew there were likely to be issues with Phil. Pretty obvious from the clips appearing online these guys not only back up the vocals but actually duplicate extended notes and phrases that Phil can no longer achieve!
Got to say though the light show looked amazing but I’ll get my fix with Steve Hackett tonight, funnily enough not seen him since 78!
 
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W&F .....i was only 16 - finished my o levels on the friday and hitched to Knebworth Sat morning. Was a magical gig. I think i will probably go to a Steve H gig too , exorcise the Brum memories.
 
Yes, i remember Devo getting allsorts of crap thrown at them. My daytime highlight was Tom Petty - soooo cool in that purple top hat and mirror shades and coming after Devo couldn't really fail.
 
Just returned home from the Hackett Seconds Out concert tonight, absolutely excellent as expected. Played that album to death back in the day and I could remember every lyric some 43 years later.
I could say I remember it like it was yesterday but to be honest I don’t remember yesterday:D:D:D:D!
 
wow&flutter said:
Just returned home from the Hackett Seconds Out concert tonight, absolutely excellent as expected. Played that album to death back in the day and I could remember every lyric some 43 years later.
I could say I remember it like it was yesterday but to be honest I don’t remember yesterday:D:D:D:D!
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Me too. Hackett's own stuff in the first part of the show did almost nothing for me, never heard any of it before and I won't again... vacant MOR dad-rock, like Porcupine Tree lite. I half expected a spinal-tap moment with a small model of a gothic cathedral to be lowered from the rafters during that awful cathedral organ parody. :mad:

The second part - much longer - made me glad I went. Especially Squonk, Firth of Fifth, Afterglow, I Know What I Like (with the totally non genesis-like bluesy jazzy sax solo).
But... Supper's ready. I'd say that was about 20 minutes too long and supper had gone cold for me by the end. The Cinema Show got a lot better after the singing stopped.
The vocalist was kinda weird. But the rest of it more than compensated.
 
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