Steve Hackett - Calprog

**AncientChord** · 04-02-2013

Just got home from the gig. As expected, a spectacular set, with an over 2 1/2 hour show. All musicians sounded great, but the stand-outs were drummer/vocalist Gary O'Toole and Hackett himself who played superbly. Nad Sylvan pulled off Gabriel and Collins fairly well but couldn't reach the high notes of either. The sold-out crowd was very enthusiastic and loved every moment, with many standing ovations after songs. I can't remember every set list song, or exact order, but what was presented was IMO the cream of the crop of essential songs from the prog-Genesis catalog. They included Eleventh Earl Of Mar, Chamber of 32 Doors, Broadway Melody of 1974, Entangled, Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, Firth of Fifth, I Know What I Like, Dance On A Volcano, Musical Box, A Medley that included segments from three Hackett solo songs, which merged into Los Endos, In that Quiet Earth.../Afterglow, Blood On The Rooftops, Supper's Ready, Watcher Of The Skies. Is there any I missed? Anyway a 'frick'n' great experience seeing those timeless songs come alive once more. Thanks Papa J for bringing Steve and his fantastic tour to Southern California.

**AncientChord** · 04-02-2013

I just looked at the set list from CTTE, and Calprog's show was the same set list, but in slightly in different order. I'm still reeling

...don't miss this tour if you love the old Genesis!

**Innerviews** · 04-02-2013

Very good gig. First real total run-through for the tour. It will be a fine-tuned monster of a show soon enough.

**Dan Marsh** · 04-02-2013

Looking forward to this in the fall!

**Squids** · 04-02-2013

WOW! So cool. What a great show to see in 2013.

**Zonefish** · 04-02-2013

It was a bucket list setlist for those of us not old enough to go to concerts before 1978! No Invisible Touch, No Misunderstanding! No Illegal Alien!!!! It was the first time I have ever listened to Supper's Ready live (in its entirety---I think the '82 Abacab tour had a small portion hidden in a medley) and it made me feel like the 17-year old fanboy I was back in the early 80s. I also realize it is probably the last time I will ever get to see any of those classics played live by members of the actual group. That made it extraordinarily bittersweet. As for the concert experience itself, I think it felt like a slowburn that really picked up steam in the last third of the show. Not a big fan of Nad Sylvan, but I think his vocals fit better when he sang the Collins-led material. Gary O'Toole was phenomenal--kinda of wish he took lead vocal more often.

Thank you Steve Hackett, you made the 3.5 hour round trip from San Diego well worth driving on a Monday night.

oh yeah... and thank you Papa J!!!

**elliottnow** · 04-02-2013

I had front row balcony which was a great perspective. An overwhelming, epic evening. Dance On A Volcano was my personal highlight of an unreal set-list. Supper's Ready went by in a flash. Great crowd and cool light show.

**Garion81** · 04-02-2013

By the way Nad was suffering from a cold yesterday. Hopefully he gets his voice worked out soon. He did a great job considering his limitation. It was truly and epic set list.

**Stickleback** · 04-02-2013

Tick this one off the bucket list for sure. My first time seeing Steve Hackett and the first time hearing a majoity of the songs performed live. A few surprises including Cuckoo Cocoon and Hairless Heart. I thought for sure they would go into Counting Out Time after Hairless Heart.

Hackett was in fine form acting as Captain on this journey through mythical lands and timeless tunes. His playing and trademark ghostly guitar tones were something to behold. Not sure why he rushed the intro to Blood On The Rooftops though.

I was sitting second row from the back of the theater behind a big bald head so I felt a little detached from the action, plus I felt the sound could have been a little ballsier. Nad was decent, but as mentioned had a tough time hitting some notes. Gary O'Toole did a workman-like job on the drums, but his approach is a bit stiff. He's replacing one of the greatest rock drummers in history afterall. I think Hackett's former drummer Hugo Degenhardt would have had the skills and fluidity to pull it off better.

Anyway, those are minor critiques since Genesis themselves set the bar so high, but overall the show was very enjoyable. Bravo Senor Hackett!

**AncientChord** · 04-02-2013

This reply is on the GR II Tour post from PE member PotatoSolution. His perspective of the show should be here too, and he's spot-on IMO. :

Hackett in La Mirada:

- The crowd ate him up like M&Ms. There were a half-dozen standing ovations before they even got to the encore.

- A few technical flubs, the most blatant being that Steve's guitar made no noise at the beginning of one of the songs. The mix was a bit keyboard-heavy at the beginning, but they got it all evened out after the first few songs.

- Nad Sylvan did a decent job with the vocals. He forgot a few lyrics (including the intro to "I Know What I Like"). He seemed to be much more comfortable with the Gabriel-era songs, those were more within his range. He struggled hitting the higher notes of the Collins-era songs like "Afterglow" and "Entangled".

- Gary O'Toole did a terrific job on drums, and even sang lead on a few songs (like "Blood on the Rooftops", which was probably nowhere in the ballpark of Sylvan's vocal range).

- Hackett himself was, of course, incredible. Other than the intro where his guitar didn't work, he didn't miss a single note, and even seemed to improvise some diversions during "Los Endos" and "...In That Quiet Earth". He appeared to be genuinely surprised by the love and enthusiasm he was getting from the CalProg crowd.

- I was hoping for a taste of some solo Hackett ... but nope.

- Highlights? "The Musical Box", this song is SO much better when played live than on the studio version. No wonder it was always such a live staple of the original band. Same with "Fly on a Windshield". And, of course, this is the first (and probably only) time I will ever see an original member of Genesis play "Supper's Ready" in its entirety (Genesis had stopped playing it by the time I started seeing them live).

**gilawi** · 04-02-2013

No Cinema show and no Can Utility and the Coastliners? Two of my all time Genesis favorites.

**Garion81** · 04-02-2013

Originally Posted by gilawi

No Cinema show and no Can Utility and the Coastliners? Two of my all time Genesis favorites.

Geeze man? That was a bucket list set. Steve didn't have a big part in the Cinema Show and I didn't miss Can Utility in light of all the other material that was played:

From Nursery Chryme: The Musical Box
From Foxtrot: Watcher and Suppers Ready
From SEBtP: Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, I Know What I Like, Firth of Fifth
From the Lamb: Fly on the Windshield/Broadway medley, Chamber of 32 Doors, The Hairless Heart instrumental part
From Trick: Dance on a Volcano, Entangled, Los Endos/Don't Look Back
From W&W: 11th Earl of Mar, Blood on the Rooftops, Unquiet Slumbers/Quiet Earth/Afterglow

**Sturgeon's Lawyer** · 04-03-2013

Wow, a beautiful setlist. I would wish for "Hogweed," but that's nitpickery. I wish to God he'd come to the Bay area.

**Dan Marsh** · 04-03-2013

Yeah, love the list!

**Chuck AzEee!** · 04-03-2013

Originally Posted by Garion81

Geeze man? That was a bucket list set. Steve didn't have a big part in the Cinema Show and I didn't miss Can Utility in light of all the other material that was played:

From Nursery Chryme: The Musical Box
From Foxtrot: Watcher and Suppers Ready
From SEBtP: Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, I Know What I Like, Firth of Fifth
From the Lamb: Fly on the Windshield/Broadway medley, Chamber of 32 Doors, The Hairless Heart instrumental part
From Trick: Dance on a Volcano, Entangled, Los Endos/Don't Look Back
From W&W: 11th Earl of Mar, Blood on the Rooftops, Unquiet Slumbers/Quiet Earth/Afterglow

great list Brian including the two mentioned, this might be a stretch but Stagnation, Twilight Alehouse and The Knife were songs that took on a different light with Steve when he was part of Genesis. So i would personally add those songs as well.

**AncientChord** · 04-03-2013

First press release review I've seen of this show, linked from Steve's web site.

http://www.examiner.com/review/steve...visted-ii-tour

**firth5th** · 04-03-2013

Originally Posted by Zonefish

As for the concert experience itself, I think it felt like a slowburn that really picked up steam in the last third of the show.

He did some Gabriel tunes? Cool.

**Smatt** · 04-03-2013

Originally Posted by Garion81

By the way Nad was suffering from a cold yesterday. Hopefully he gets his voice worked out soon. He did a great job considering his limitation. It was truly and epic set list.

Yes, Nad picked up the same cold a good number of us did on the Cruise to the Edge.... Thankfully, I didn't feel the full effects until a couple days after we returned to Florida on Saturday morning. Considering how I feel, I'm suprised Nad could sing at all to be honest.

After Hackett and band's stunning performances on the cruise, I'm really bummed I couldn't make this show

. There was just no way I was going to make it since I flew back from Florida on the day of hte show. Their performances on the cruise were the best of the cruise IMO, Yes did a fine job... UK left me flat... Palmer and band left me flat... All great musos of course.. But just cold... Hackett and band were accross the board amazing... This band has legs.... I hope Steve keeps this line-up going for a while... I certainyl won't miss it, if he comes around the west coast again.