Steve Hackett at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. October 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10

The sound of the call to Prayers, the resonance afforded by the subtle backdrop of the mysticism of a far off land and strangely enticing colourful culture fills the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool to the point where is such things were possible, you would swear that the smells and sounds of the welcoming East were about to land in the middle of the stage where graduates have smiled and guitars have been played and would dominate the night.

This though was not some far off land, some bazaar that was going to capture the senses, this was but the prelude to a night in which Steve Hackett, a man of such rare outstanding talent would once more take his fans through their paces and allow the stillness of the air to reverberate to the hum of a fertile creative mind and once more stamp his undeniable authority over his guitar to flow over each and every single person in the large auditorium.

In the last couple of years, Steve Hackett has come to Liverpool and delivered a show so powerful that it truly lives in the realm of the colossus, its strides the stage not only in complete command but with the deftness of the regal, the upstanding and the swish of the contented heart are to be found beating softly and in time to the pulse of a man who done more in his life than many fit into several lifetimes. As 2015 draws to a close, memories of those previous gigs are strengthened. This was a night in which the collective thought of the audience was not to be entertained but to have musical adoration thrust deep into their psyche; entertainment would come as it always does on such occasions, this though was a night in which completeness, a unity between artiste and conscious inspiration were sought and Steve Hackett didn’t let the crowd down one bit.

An evening of two halves, an evening in which but a small but perfectly formed narrative from the most prolific of the members of the Genesis story was to be played. To perform the vast majority of his works would have eaten, with great satisfaction, into the middle of the following week after all, however in a first set that comprised some of the great moments from his prestigious solo career, including Wolfflight, Every Day, the beautiful Loving Sea, the expanse of Star of Sirius and the grandeur afforded by the Shadow of the Hierophant, and the mind blowing rummage of a second set of his time with one of the giants of the Progressive era, which included the immensity of Get ‘Em Out by Friday, Can-Utility and the Coastliners, the delving into the realms of Greek mythology, the character of Tiresias striding into the thoughts of all present and the beauty of a love song involved in The Cinema Show and the urban surrealism exploding out of the stage in The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway; all were greeted like heroes returning home from an ordeal of illustrious magnitude.

With Rob Townsend, Roger King, the gracious Roine Stolt Gary O’ Toole, John Hackett, Amanda Lehmann and the ever charismatic Nad Sylvan all performing to their usual high standards, Steve Hackett’s foray and return to Liverpool was yet again another milestone in the annals of uplifting and impressive gigs held by the keeper of the Genesis flame and a man to whom music is always held with great and abiding reverence.

There are times when music really dominates everything around it, for Steve Hackett’s welcome return to Liverpool, the luxury and truth of poetry stood no chance of competing.

Ian D. Hall