Mike about Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited tours

    • Official Post

    In a recent interview with the Rolling Stone, there was this question


    How do you feel about Steve Hackett’s show where he goes out and does Genesis songs?
    Mike: It’s what he chooses to do, really. It wouldn’t work for me, if you know what I mean. He was in Genesis. He wanted a solo career. And now he’s playing Genesis. It’s his choice."


    What do you think about this?

    The full interview:

    https://www.rollingstone.com/m…esis-phil-collins-821825/

  • Back in late 1977 SH had a major emotional burn out with members of Genesis in particular TB and MR. Subsequent tours by Hackett reduced Genesis songs in the set so by 1981 there were none. But since mid 1995 SH has slowly built up a strong Genesis presence in the setlist with the marketing dream of Genesis Revisited happening about 8 years ago. SH has lived the dream and toured the world on the Genesis ticket.


    MR is wrong. People don't really want Follow You Follow Me or I Can't Dance. I want Can Utility and the Coastlines or Eleventh Earl of Mar. Those were the songs I grew up with.


    MR is correct when he talks about wanting to play some more of the classics but they would be an odd choice in the middle of a Mechanics concert.


    MR needs to back off and let SH decide to do what he wants with songs that he moulded.


    TB MR very quick to pour scorn and persist with petty public school issues.

  • Eh?!


    You're really overreacting there. MR isn't trying to stop Hackett doing anything. His comments were mild and he clearly accepts what Hackett's doing, it's just not for him. I've got no idea what these "petty public school issues" are and it's a bit melodramatic to say SH suffered a major emotional burnout. I've never heard him say anything that suggests that.


    By the way, there are plenty of people who absolutely do want to hear FYFM and ICD.

    Abandon all reason

  • I think Mike is spot on. Steve left because he wanted a solo career but now he makes more money from coasting on past, shared glories rather then by playing his own stuff. Ever since he left Genesis, his publicity machine has exploited the fact that he was once in Genesis. Has Phil Collins ever done that? Or Peter Gabriel? No. I think that's quite telling.


    And bromleybruce, I'm sorry but you'll find that Steve didn't mould those Genesis songs at all. He was part of a collective; he was a contributor, and not ever a main one at that.

  • I absolutely loved, was thrilled and at moments had tears of joy when I saw Steve during his first North American tour for GR six years ago.


    But I suspect for a lot of fans who’ve been following him since Spectral Mornings or Defector, some of the novelty has worn off, and they’d welcome a moderate shift to a 70/30 split in favour of Steve playing more of his solo stuff. I imagine privately Steve would express the same preference.


    These GR tours have evidently been more lucrative for him and, in the words of one great band, “who can escape what he desires?”

    He’s probably reluctant to do anything that would see him step back into a lower income bracket.

  • I've seen Steve Hackett twice live and each time I was absolutely blown away.


    I could clearly see why Genesis who contained so many talented and gifted members had to thin out and end up with just three in the band.


    I don't think one band could eternally contain all the songwriting and playing talent that Genesis possessed.


    Even Ant Phillips, who has achieved only relatively modest commercial success is an outstanding artist whose complete catalogue repays in spades any time and effort spent collecting and listening to.


    I would love to see Mike and Ant work together again, if only on a small project or song, but I think Mike has explained he doesn't write that type of music anymore.

    "She looks at me and gently smiles, as if she knew I'd ask her all the time..."

  • I've seen Steve Hackett twice live and each time I was absolutely blown away.

    I saw him once - someone else bought the tickets or else, I have to say, I wouldn't have bothered. It was a small theatre and he walked through the crowd to get to the stage (this was during the time when he was sporting his dark glasses and, given that he's quite a low-key character, when he walked passed me I thought 'Who's this knob wearing dark glasses in a dimly lit theatre?').


    He played some stuff from his current album - Walking Away From Rainbows (I remember nothing of the tune, only the introduction where he mentioned leaving a situation that looks to everyone else like it might be perfect - could be a relationship, could be a band, cue a couple of knowing laughs from the crowd) and a tune about a vampire - and the obligatory Genesis tunes.


    Unlike you, I was far from 'absolutely blown away'.

  • Really? Why?

    It was thrill for me seeing his band perform some of my favourite songs of all time, among them Salmacis, Musical Box and Giant Hogweed, and being seated in the second row right in front of him and watching him perform the solos from songs I love - ones that, up until then I had only seen performed on archival video.

    I was also hoping they'd play Blood On The Rooftops and of course they did.

    It was just a very satisfying evening from beginning to end.

  • During the 80s I enjoyed several shows on different SH tours. At that point he was playing no Genesis except for the occasional appearance of the BOTR intro as part of acoustic sets.


    I then didn't see any until 15 years ago when it was 90% solo stuff. Since then I've been to 3 that were substantially Genesis based and I quickly lost interest. The insipid vocals and presence of Sylvan were a big part of that but even then its not entirely his fault. The seal was put on it by a terrible rendition of Inside & Out, ironically a track SH championed but which he destroyed on stage.


    I'll only consider going to another SH gig if he returns to solo material. Which is still an issue as his most recent albums hold very little interest for me.


    I do understand his financial reasons and the desire many fans have to see him do the Genesis stuff.

    Abandon all reason

  • Can I just say that I love Follow you follow me and I can't dance too!!

    If there were to be a setlist from the Gods with any song from any tour but everything stuffed into 2 and a half hours then fyfm and icd would be there.

  • I hadn't seen him & I had never seen any Genesis songs played live, unlike my husband, who saw Genesis themselves & Steve solo before he met me. I wasn't going to miss it & I had a wonderful time. I read the opinions of people like yourself with interest, but I suppose I had to be satsified with what I was able to get. And I would go & see him again.

  • Don't think Mike is unfair here. He's got his view on things but in the end it all proves there's still a demand for the old Genesis classics.

    Well, Steve is really preaching to the converted isn't he? I mean, the only people who are going to see him are his fans and, without his solo albums having any significant impact on the mainstream charts (which is probably harder now than it ever was, given the how the market has changed so much in recent years) I can't imagine he's picked up many new fans during his career. So those fans are already well aware of his past with Genesis. I just think it's a sad indictment of his solo material that the old Genesis tunes now form such a major part of his performances.


    That said, I watched the video promo for Wolf Light the other day and if that song is indicative of his current solo material then it's small wonder he's not selling many records!


    If I want to hear old Genesis stuff, then I want to hear it being played by Genesis. In which case, I turn to my library of bootlegs or official live product from the band. Although I like what Phil has done with the Genesis material in concert - his Hot Night In Paris album being the best example of a reinterpretation of the material and Invisible Touch with the horn segment arranged by Harry Kim is brilliant - there's really only one way to listen to Genesis stuff...and it doesn't feature Danny La Rue on vocals!

  • Well, Steve is really preaching to the converted isn't he? I mean, the only people who are going to see him are his fans and, without his solo albums having any significant impact on the mainstream charts (which is probably harder now than it ever was, given the how the market has changed so much in recent years) I can't imagine he's picked up many new fans during his career. So those fans are already well aware of his past with Genesis. I just think it's a sad indictment of his solo material that the old Genesis tunes now form such a major part of his performances.

    ...

    It stands to reason if he’s playing to larger audiences in bigger venues, the people showing up aren’t just those who have been closely following his solo career for decades but are ones who have been enticed by the promise of a Genesis setlist.

    How effective has that been in attracting new fans to delve into his back catalogue? Your guess is as good as mine.


    But as someone who has seen him perform several times since 1980 and enjoyed the one GR show I attended, I'd like to see him return to predominately performing the songs that made many of us fans of his solo work in the first place.

  • It stands to reason if he’s playing to larger audiences in bigger venues, the people showing up aren’t just those who have been closely following his solo career for decades but are ones who have been enticed by the promise of a Genesis setlist.

    How effective has that been in attracting new fans to delve into his back catalogue? Your guess is as good as mine.


    But as someone who has seen him perform several times since 1980 and enjoyed the one GR show I attended, I'd like to see him return to predominately performing the songs that made many of us fans of his solo work in the first place.

    I would concede that if he had done more earlier solo work at the show I saw, not just the songs I already knew, I may have bought more of it by now. He has an extensive catalogue.

  • On this current tour, Steve and the band are playing about half Hackett solo material and half Genesis material which seems like a very good mix. And Steve does more than simply play Genesis songs ... he breaths life into them. Mike does play some Genesis songs in his shows but they're clearly covers and mediocre covers at best. When Steve plays them, they come to life and sound as good as if not better than the original lineup could play them if they reunited in 2019. Bottom line is that Mike prefers to play mostly his Mechanics songs while Steve prefers to play a Genesis/solo mix. Each can do what they like and then the fans can decide which they prefer to spend money to attend.