STEVE HACKETT

The Tokyo Tapes ESOTERIC

BThe guitarist’s starry 1996 show in Japan, remastered and expanded.

ack in the mid-90s prog was still considered a four-letter word by the wider world, and Steve Hackett was yet to fully assume his mantle as official flame keeper for Genesis’ ‘golden era’. Still, he was doing okay, and in December 1996 he played Koseinenkin Hall in Tokyo, with a band comprising drum legend Chester Thompson, ex-King Crimson wind/keys/guitar player Ian McDonald, veteran keyboardist Julian Colbeck and, on vocals and bass, his old mucker John Wetton.

That’s some serious prog pedigree, and the music captured on The Tokyo Tapes – originally released in 1997 – was to match. Over two nights the band mined a rich seam, playing Genesis must-haves Watcher Of The Skies, Firth Of Fifth, Los Endos, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe). Hackett’s gentle classical guitar showcase Horizons nestled in among his solo works – the brilliant Shadow Of The Hierophant,

The Steppes – and with McDonald and Wetton present some Crimson moments were in order, The Court Of The Crimson

King and I Talk To The Wind getting a full workout. A lovely acoustic take on Asia’s smash hit Heat Of The Moment silenced the Japanese crowd in what was, on this evidence, a huge, echoey hall.

Nearly 30 years later, this remains a thrillingly performed, atmospheric and often dazzling show, with those big tunes expertly rendered. As highend as it may be though, the concert feels ever so slightly of its time now – Hackett’s Genesis Revisited shows and subsequent tours have seen him elevate the sound quality of his trips back to the musical source.

This neatly packaged remaster includes two CDs and a DVD of the show, along with bonus rehearsal footage and a nice enough booklet with essay. Two of the studio tracks bundled in – Firewall and Dealer – featured on the first issue, but newly added is Hackett and Wetton’s take on Dylan’s

All Along The Watchtower. The stars manage to breathe more than a little proggy life into one of rock’s most cover-worn tunes.