Following last year’s sell-out Genesis Revisited tour, Prog icon and former Genesis guitarist, Steve Hackett, announces a 6-date U.K. tour in October. Treating fans to many favourite Genesis and Hackett numbers, this time Steve and his band will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra.
The decision to undertake this tour was cemented following the critical success of last year’s one-off U.S. performance of the Genesis Revisited music with his band and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the charismatic Bradley Thachuk.
It went down a storm with the audience and sounded amazing, with the orchestra adding even more texture and colour to these classic tracks, prompting Steve to want to perform more shows in this way. Such was the gusto and verve brought to the performance by conductor, Bradley Thachuk that he will fly over to the U.K. to conduct the October shows. This show promises to be a transcendent experience!
Steve explains, “I always hoped that the Genesis music would one day involve an orchestra and I’m proud to say I’ll now be able to make that dream a reality on my next British tour, involving my own extraordinary rock band alongside a full-sized orchestra.”
The show will feature some of Genesis’ best-loved songs, including Supper’s Ready, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, Firth of Fifth and more. Steve will not be neglecting his remarkable solo repertoire and there will be tracks included such as Shadow of the Hierophant, El Nino and The Steppes.
Joining Steve on the tour are his regular musicians Roger King (keyboards), Gary O’ Toole (drums/percussion), Rob Townsend (saxes/flutes) with Nad Sylvan on vocals. They will be joined on this tour by Jonas Reingold from The Flower Kings on bass.
Since the 1970’s Steve has had a remarkable musical career renowned as both an immensely talented and innovative rock musician and a virtuoso classical guitarist and composer. He has released more than 30 solo albums, seven Genesis albums and worked alongside Steve Howe of YES with supergroup GTR.
Recognised as one of the most innovative rock musicians of our time, in 2010 he was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame.
Hackett was lead guitarist with Genesis as part of their classic line up with Gabriel, Collins, Banks and Rutherford, who produced several of the band’s most acclaimed albums including Selling England by the Pound (a favourite of John Lennon) and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
With Steve’s extraordinary versatility in both his electric guitar playing and his composing, he is influenced by many genres, including Jazz, World Music and Blues. He is equally adept in his classical albums that include renditions of pieces by composers from Bach to Satie, his own acoustic guitar compositions that have gained the admiration of many, including Yehudi Menuhin, and ambitious guitar/orchestra albums such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic.
Steve’s music is as popular as ever – his last two album releases Wolflight in 2015 and last year’s The Night Siren both went straight into the Top 40 of the U.K. album charts – proving that Steve’s amazing compositions and virtuoso playing continue to delight.
Fans in the North West can see Steve Hackett at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on October 3rd.
Tickets for all venues are on sale from Friday 26th January.