SPECTRAL LIVE

40 years old next year, Steve Hackett’s Spectral Mornings gets a live celebration.

Steve hackett enjoys the thrill of visiting different eras of his catalogue for his now-annual tours. this time, as well as playing selling england… he’s looking at 1979’s spectral Mornings.

“spectral Mornings rides high in my affections and those of fans. it was the time when i was first touring under my own name, with a great band. something special happened. every time you make an album you do the same thing: change the strings, plug in, play: even though all the ingredients might be the same, you don’t really know whether the album’s going to have legs or sprout wings. i was very lucky to work with a great team.”

are there any particular challenges ahead with selling england? “it stands extension and expansion well. deleted scenes are now included. Peter brought a tune to the band in the early days; although it was a band reject, decades later, i told Peter that i’d like to finish it. nad [sylvan] said that he’d really like to sing it, because Paul carrack had sung it [déjà vu] on Genesis revisited in 1996; we’ll have that! so, the entire selling england… will be part of it; most of spectral, and some new stuff.”

Finally, a thought that many have – would he contemplate undertaking the lamb lies down on broadway as a piece live? hackett thinks for a moment: “Possibly, but i see it as more appropriate for Peter in its entirety.”