You are allowed to enjoy this…

Firstly, I am a big fan of Steve Hackett and of all the big progressive rock guitarists, I think it is his influence (by osmosis rather than obsession) that has affected my own guitar playing. While I know his electric stuff really well, I am not as familiar with his acoustic work, despite owning the albums. My problem is that I have a mental block when it comes to pleasant instrumental music – I never remember the titles. The same goes for the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. I know all the albums, but if you ask me to name their songs by rote, I would fail. Strange innit?
Anyway, we were running a little late, but it was a lovely Spring evening, with the rays of the setting sun illuminating the South Bank as we walked briskly to the gig. We literally arrived with seconds to spare before Steve Hackett took the stage to applause. He talked about the evening and how he was going to be his own opening act, playing solo before being accompanied by his brother John on flute and Roger King on keyboard.
I recognised some of the tracks: Bay of Kings, Calvacanti, etc and there were a sprinkling of songs by other people: an interpretation of Classical Gas and Tales from the Riverbank and a piece as a tribute to Segovia. There was also an obligatory outing of “Horizons”, which was rearranged for this performance. There were a few issues with tuning and Steve explained how the heat from the audience caused the strings to have a mind of their own, but I didn’t hear any major problems. Again, he fluffed a few bits, but I wasn’t complaining. I was held spellbound for 50 minutes as his fingers worked the fretboard. This was the first time I had witnessed this kind of music being played this close-up. It made me feel very inadequate as a musician and I realise that I am just a chancer compared to someone of this calibre. I felt like going home and selling my guitars after that session.
When the first half finished, I turned to the Missus to ask for her opinion and I noticed the man sitting next to her was wearing a very peculiar hat. It was a standard baseball cap, but on the top was a stereo microphone…yes, we were sitting next to a bootlegger. So when SH finished his opening and left, this man took his hat off and hid his minidisc recorder. Oppositely, I put my hat on to hide my bald head and headed out to buy some goodies from the merchandise stall. As usual, it was a bit of a scrum but I picked up the new Hackett album “Metamorpheus”, John Hackett’s “Checking Out of London” album and a DVD “Once Above a Time”. Then we returned to the concert.
For the second half, he was joined by his brother John and Roger King. The first track their played together was “Jacuzzi” one of my personal faves from the Defector album. In a stripped down form, it was bright and bubbly and very summery for this Spring evening. They even wheeled out some old Genesis tunes – “After the Ordeal” was performed live, which was a big thrill because I don’t think this was ever performed by Genesis in a live context. The highlight for me and the Missus was a sublime performance of “Hands of the Priestess” from the “Voyage of the Acolyte” album. The flute playing was amazing and Roger King’s keyboards really complimented the song, and this was sequed into a section of “Hairless Heart” from “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”, which kind of caught me by surprise. The trio also played some Eric Satie numbers including Gnossienne #1, but I felt the energy began to ebb through some of the weirder Satie stuff.
I really enjoyed this concert and it was quite different for me as I am used to rock gigs where the music drives you along. In this context, I think the energy and concentration of the audience drives the music. It was nice to hear some old stuff, some new stuff and some stuff I had never heard before. It was a real challenge and I enjoyed it very much.
But thing is that the man in seat D11 didn’t enjoy the gig that much. No he sat for the entire evening with his hat recorder on his head with his face pointed exactly at the PA system, whereas we had to turn 30 degrees to watch the stage. Imagine paying for a ticket and not actually watching the performance…? I couldn’t do that!