New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Hall of Famer: Genesis’ Steve Hackett returns to Ridgefield
Steve Hackett served as lead guitarist for Genesis from 1971 to 1977, arguably the band’s most glorious rock ’n’ roll years. In his time with Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and company, Hackett contributed to six studio albums, three live albums, seven singles and one EP before he left to pursue a solo career.
He’s been quite successful as a solo artist, with dozens of hit records and charting singles, including fan favorites such as “Fifty Miles from the North Pole,” “Waters of the Wild” and “Twice Around the Sun.”
Still, his contributions to the band are long remembered, and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis and returned to the group for several special reunion tours.
On April 4, Hackett will be heading to Ridgefield Playhouse, where he will perform the Genesis live album “Seconds Out,” which was recorded from the band’s concert at the Palais de Sport in Paris, France, in June 1977.
“It’s a double album and we’re going to do the whole thing, which is about three hours long,” Hackett said. “I’ve been touring this set since last year. This is one of my personal favorites from the Genesis cannon.”
Hackett last played the Playhouse in 2019, performing the entirety of “Spectral Mornings” and “Selling England by the Pound,” as well as some gems from his other work as both a solo artist and with Genesis.
“I wouldn’t do every album from my past, as I don’t consider every album to be an absolute classic, although there are great tracks on all of them, but I feel ‘Seconds Out’ is so strong because it contains some favorite tracks from various albums, all of which prove to be live favorites,” Hackett said, singling out tunes like “Dance on a Volcano,” “The Carpet Crawl” and “Los Endos.”
“It was a summation in 1977 of all the best of that era of Genesis, and I am very happy to be playing them all,” he said.
Contemplating why these songs have stood the test of time and are still so beloved today, Hackett noted that they were well written and Genesis was harmonically superior to a lot of other music at the time.
“These are songs that were designed to be played live in a preMTV era,” he said. “It feels great to be back in the saddle with such a great audience response to these songs and fronting a fantastic band.”
That band consists of Roger King (keyboards), Jonas Reingold (bass),
Rob Townsend (sax/flute), Nad Sylvan (vocals) and Craig Blundell (drums and percussion).
Although Hackett had to stop touring when the pandemic hit, the guitarist stayed plenty busy with his music.
He mixed a live album, recorded two albums — “Under a Mediterranean Sky” and “Surrender of Silence” — and found time to write his autobiography, “A Genesis in My Bed.”
“Although I couldn’t play in front of people, I did a ton of lockdown videos with people’s favorite songs from the past and also some other upcoming work,” Hackett said. “We tried to stay in touch with people the best we could.”
By the time he was able to get in front of a live crowd, which happened in August 2021, he knew that he never wanted to leave the stage again.
“From the moment we came on, something special happened, and we’ve had some great, great shows and audiences,” Hackett said.
“We’re seeing people of different ages, children too, and it’s fantastic to see so many coming out.”