CULTUURPODIUM DE BOERDERIJ, Zoetermeer

Better late than never... After the glorious performance of Steve Hackett at the Loreley Festival in Germany and a forthcoming album called Out Of The Tunnels Mouth, not released at the time of the show, every progfan must have been waiting for Steve Hackett to perform on Dutch soil again. Arie Verstegen van CP De Boerderij managed to book him for the 28th of October, but the concert was sold out so fast, that he persuaded Steve to play in Zoetermeer for the following night too! As said, the venue was packed and the atmosphere was great and everyone eagerly awaited the former guitarist of Genesis, one of the undisputed legends in progressive rock!

After the instrumental opening, Steve got rid of his glasses but most of the time he kept his eyes shut, in trance and concentrating on his music. Right after an old song, the first new song was presented, namely Fire On The Moon. Immediately it became clear that the audience appreciated this new song, but as could be expected, the audience went wild with songs like Every Day and Spectral Mornings.

What a great band Steve had with him! Drummer Gary O'Toole did the lead vocals on some of the songs as well, Roger King played concentrated, keeping a 'low profile' in contrast of bass and stick player Nick Beggs, the former bass player of Kajagoogoo. He is nicknamed Heidi by the audience because of his leather robe and hair braids. His performance was outstanding and very extrovert, a real eyecatcher. A more modest role had flutist and saxophonist Rob Townsend, while Steve himself didn't feel like showcasing as a lead guitar player at all.

A varied collection of songs followed and in the second half of the show there was a nice acoustic guitar solo by Steve, consisting of some classical pieces as well as the famous Horizons (from Supper's Ready). Absolute highlight must have been the rendition of Firth Of Fifth from Genesis. Many people in the venue were having a lot of moving emotions hearing that song. Of course Gary O'Toole isn't Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel or Pete Hicks, but based on the fact - or is it the assumption? - that there will be no Genesis reunion, this line-up comes close to the original performances by that legendary band in my opinion.

Hackett must have been convinced that his new album would appeal to the audience, because the band played no less than four songs from Out Of The Tunnels Mouth and each song got a great response. When the encores came, the audience would want Steve to continue playing forever, but with this long set of about two and a half hours and an awesome performance of Los Endos, it was time to go home and I think every single one in the venue was satisfied with the show, the band and the setlist. There were some rumours about the vocal harmonies having been play backed. I really don't know, but it seems so unworthy for an artist like Steve Hackett. I can't imagine this could be true, however, I must admit all vocal harmonies were extremely good and all in tune. Anyway, this was a spectacular concert with a superb sound quality and fortunately Hackett will play at CP De Boerderij again in May this year!

Line-up:

Steve Hackett: sologitaar, leadzang, Nick Beggs: - basgitaar, stick, achtergrondzang, Roger King: toetsen, Rob Townsend: saxofoon, fluit, Gary O'Toole: drums, leadzang

Setlist:

Intro, Mechanical Bride, Fire On The Moon, Every Day, Emerald And Ash, Ghost In The Glass, Ace Of Wands, Pollution B, The Steppes, Slogans, Serpentine Song, Tubehead, Spectral Mornings, Firth Of Fifth, Walking Away From Rainbows, Acoustic solo incl. Horizons, Blood On The Rooftops, Fly On A Windshield, Sleepers, Still Waters, Los Endos.