“We know what we like,” said
RC of the May 2013 concert
in London that showcased
Steve Hackett’s Genesis
Revisited II album (RC 403).
And here is that triumphant
show in all its DVD and CD
5.1 glory, demonstrating again
just how advanced and
otherworldly the music
Genesis were making so early
in their 20s.
If someone had said in
1984 that Nik Kershaw would
one day sing The Lamia with
Hackett, it may have come as
some surprise, while,
elsewhere, Marillion’s Steve
Rotheray performs on stage
what he’d no doubt played in
his bedroom for years. Also
impressive is the powerful
version of Entangled, with
vocalists Nad Sylvan, Amanda
Lehman and Jakko Jaszyk
singing in harmony, as is
Sylvan’s showmanship on
Eleventh Earl Of Mar. But it is
all about Hackett, underlining
just how invaluable the guitarist
was to Genesis in the mid-70s,
swapping between 12-string
and Les Paul with incredible
élan. He also has a nice line in
self-deprecation: “I figure you
guys know this stuff at least as
well as we do, so we’re all in
the same band. So if you want
to sing along with it, you are
most welcome.”
One of the best sights,
however, is of the two
greying bespectacled men
making their sedate charge
for the stage, dancing in
the aisles (of plenty?) to
I Know What I Like (In Your
Wardrobe). While unlikely to
pick up any stray travellers,
Genesis Revisited: Live At
Hammersmith is a superbly
packaged, enthralling
diversion for the long-term
Genesis fan.
