Steve Hackett at Durham's Carolina Theater

Supper's Ready

An awesome show last night by Steve Hackett at the Carolina Theater in Durham. A 2.5-hour performance, with a brief intermission, followed by every cut from Genesis's Foxtrot album. For me, the absolute highlight was the first encore — "Firth of Fifth" from Selling England by the Pound. And "Every Day" from Spectral Mornings was so perfect I hollered real loud. The instrumentation sounded great, although the vocals were a bit muddy, alas. I'd seen Steve back in 1980 at the Agora Ballroom in Atlanta, leaning up against the stage, literally at Steve's feet. Here, we were a bit farther back, in the first balcony, but the view and sound turned out to be fantastic.

 

Running into friend and fellow author Richard Dansky was a treat. Rich narrowly escaped being bombed by a full cup of beer falling from the balcony above. Yesterday was his birthday — thankfully, he survived it, hopefully to see many more. Next time, I hope we run into each other long enough to share drinks and stories (minus plummeting cups).

 

An altogether fine evening for Brugger and me.

Can-Utility and the Coastliners

Encore!

Pre-concert wine with Ms. B. at West End Wine Bar

The Lamia

Back in the late 70s, I was a monster fan of the band Genesis, especially the early albums that featured Peter Gabriel. I actually discovered Genesis via the album And Then There Were Three, after both Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett had parted ways with Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford. It was a fine album in its own right, but once I started working my way backward, I discovered what an incredible progressive band they had been. One of their best works was the concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, which chronicled a surreal journey into a mysterious netherworld by a New York City Latino youth named Rael. My favorite cut was... is... the song The Lamia, in which Rael enters one of the many chambers of the weird world into which he has stumbled and discovers its lovely yet horrifying inhabitants. Steve Hackett has released some exceptional work in his time, and on his tours, he and his band play many of his compositions from his Genesis days. I saw one of Steve's solo shows in Atlanta back in 1980 or 81, at the Agora Ballroom, where I got to lean up against the stage and watch him play from ten feet away. It was a staggering experience for me — in the best way possible. Here is a decent video of The Lamia from a relatively recent show, featuring Nad Sylvan on vocals. He captures Gabriel's style and range without merely aping it. I'm quite keen on the extended instrumental at the end with Rob Townsend on woodwinds.

Enjoy.