Liverpool steeped in artistic history not only in music but in the other arts, whilst many people cite The Beatles, there is always Gerry and The Pacemakers, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Cilla Black among many others. Here Liverpool hosts Steve Hackett at the fabled Liverpool Philharmonic Hall which by the appearance of the audience on the DVD / Blu-Ray had the full capacity of 1700 people.

Steve Hackett – The Total Experience Live In Liverpool, was filmed on Friday 23rd October 2015 and it captures the live experience from the Acolyte To Wolflight tour. Having seen four shows on this tour including the gig that followed this show in Liverpool I can attest to the authenticity of this DVD / Blu-Ray.

Previous Steve Hackett live concert videos filmed in recent history in either Shepherds Bush or The Hammersmith Odeon and of course the concert film that preceded this was filmed in the prestigious Royal Albert Hall.

Whilst I did not think that Steve nor his band or the director Paul Green of this production could surpass the Royal Albert Hall show I am pleasantly surprised that this DVD/Blu-Ray is on a level pegging with the Royal Albert Hall concert film but it’s the extras that mean this complete package pips the Royal Albert Hall concert film to the post.

Steve explains why he chose Liverpool:

When Inside Out told me that I could film a gig on the British leg of the 2015 tour for release, I thought that we should do it away from London [and] I felt doing it in Liverpool had a certain ring to it…

explains Hackett enthusiastically:

This is an extraordinary city and the Philharmonic Hall is an extraordinary venue.

Liverpool was also a recipient of the capital of culture award bestowed to the city for 2008, enabling the city’s creative arts a cash boost.

Steve Hackett has played in Liverpool many times, first whilst as a member of Genesis and then pretty much bringing every one of his solo tours to Liverpool showcasing both his rock and acoustic material. Before this captured performance Steve last performed in Liverpool in 2013.

Now onto the Blu-Ray, I made sure to purchase the Blu Ray having been stunned by the production of the Royal Albert Hall concert film with regard to the stunning picture and sound. Here with some magic Steve and his team have been able to improve upon the previous pinnacle of definition with this Liverpool concert film.

The production is stunning and the Blu-Ray version contains all of the material distributed across the two DVDs (promo copy and DVD versions are issued as such). When you consider that the actual concert film as in the main feature is a full 2 hours and 37 minutes in length a colossal concert in terms of length only surpassed by Bruce Springsteen.

The band enters the stage under the guise of the pre-recorded intro an edited form of the recent Wolflight track Corycian Fire. This is a ruse for the real start of the set begins moments after the band are all in their places, either stood firmly or sat on their respective stools. The stage darkened with red beams piercing the shadows as the house lights lowered further and further until…

Spectral Mornings

… opens the show with a bolt of lightning, like the one that had flashed before us all in the Philharmonic Hall. This seminal song from the album of the same name most certainly would have been an abrupt trip down memory lane for some of the audience but also a pleasant surprise to those of us who are more junior to Steve’s work or who simply were not there the first time around. The lighting cues mimic the Aurora Borealis bringing an ethereal visual reference to the music, an honest depiction of what fans saw on the tour.

The Wheel’s Turning

Beginning with the opening line from the album version, “there is no Schadenfreude here” it is placed in the rear channels of the surround mix, much as it was during the tour. Featuring Amanda Lehmann as a guest on vocals this evening (as well as guitar for some tracks later on).

This is another one of Steve’s fairground/circus themed songs as mentioned in the press blurb for the Wolflight album as “his very own childhood memories (The Wheel’s Turning)”. It is another one of those postcards from the mind where the ghost train becomes an exercise in survival.

Icarus Ascending

Preceded by a poignant roll call of remembrance of those Steve has worked with who have passed onto into the world of Spirit, Richie Havens, Chris Squire and Jim Diamond emotions must have run high. This magnificent song transports the viewer back to 1978’s Please Don’t Touch. The string passage played by Steve and fleshed out by Rob Townsend on keys replicating the angelic glass harp are the elements I find the most moving and it was a moment faithfully reproduced on the four nights I saw live, preserved here on DVD / Blu ray immortally. It’s great to see Steve bringing a song never played on a previous tour despite the fact that live it works wonders and here it adds an extra dimension of value, not only to the tour, but to this concert film in place of all the other concert films Steve has released before. With Icarus and Star Of Sirius Nad helms his take on the Havens and Collins (respectively) vocal licks and he proceeds to make light work of them both fooling the viewer that replicating these night after night is an easy feat.

Shadow Of The Hierophant

This was a fantastic moment in the whole set, a real nostalgia trip back to 1975 with the debut album Voyage Of The Acolyte. On the concert film it is Amanda Lehmann who performs the vocal duties that reminiscences the audience of the feminine touch originally applied by Sally Oldfield, here Amanda owns the track by applying subtle nuances. During most of the other nights of the tour the vocals were undertaken quite proficiently by Nad Sylvan. I was lucky to capture another show (Leicester) on the tour with Amanda’s vocals on this truly classic of tracks from Steve’s repertoire.

On the high definition Blu-Ray Steve’s hair’s on his arms can be seen to be sticking on end during this performance and that is exactly what happened to me when I recollected the range of emotions and feelings I had during all four performances I saw during the 2015 tour.

Cinema Show

Well the audience are taken on a trip back, not by father Tiresias, but by Steve and his band who from the very beginning sound like they have been to the aural Genesis gym and may have given the performance on Seconds Out a listen before they commenced down their own paths with a similar sound with vehemence – although that heavenly choir still calls out via Roger King’s keys and the Novation MIDI controller emulates the Arp pro soloist so well. Steve Hackett looks gallant despite only providing sturdy rhythm guitar during the second half of this piece whilst new boy Roine Stolt provides foundation shaking bass as though he had written the piece. Gary becomes two drummers in one and somehow manages to ape neither of them but still tastefully puts in his own chops to the piece without making it sound alien akin to following the pushes in the right places, again enough for Roine to follow so well he sounds like he had familiarity of the song that was uncanny.

The Musical Box

With the band undertaking a tale of Victorian infanticide and a possessed child’s musical box to its sinister pinnacle in a way that back in the early 1970’s Genesis could only have dreamed of with regard to the clarity of sound and striking aggression. Once the “Now, Now, Now” are angrily vocalised demonstrating Henry’s repressed sexual nature owing to him being trapped in spiritual zone between terra firma and the heavens the band conclude their marathon set and take their well deserved bows.

After a short break (honestly not edited for film) the band return to the hall to perform two encores much as they did across the whole tour.

Clocks (The Angel Of Mon’s)

Clock’s starts with those menacing mechanical noises comprised of clocks that are triggered initially by Gary with his Roland SPD-S triggering an original sample from the studio version of the song for the live show, aided to by Roger’s triggering sinister cuckoo clock sounds from his keys before those bass pedal’s rattle the building and the song that was once considered for use in a Horror movie comes to life. Gary lets off steam whilst stretching his legs and arms in a drum solo that is tasteful, Steve and the band set aside and watch in awe before returning to reprise their roles and play the end of the song.

Firth Of Fifth

Complete with full length piano introduction comes to life as the show closer with everyone getting that hair rising on the back of their neck moment or even goosebumps when Steve performs that guitar solo. Whilst the Genesis classic from Selling England is treated with reverence it is indeed given the Steve Hackett and Band of many talents treatment which ensures it is brought into the 21st Century with clarity and control but with an added energy that belies the age of the guys on stage. With that 2 hours and 37 minutes of the show is over its time to sneak across and have a look of those extra’s.

Live in Liverpool 

A backstage documentary filmed during the run up to the show and after the show on the 23rd October 2015.

Featuring some footage of the meet and greet’s with the fans who paid for this and the merchandiser Paul who managed this part of the live experience. From a panoramic view of the outside of the Liverpool Philharmonic the viewer is taken into the realm of the pre show meet and greets, these were premium packages available to those who purchased them. Interesting to note that some of the fans who took part in the meet and greet on the evening of the filming of the show also get to appear with Steve being just as natural as he is off camera.

Brian Coles – Tour manager explaining his role and working with Steve, with some light-hearted dry humour.

All of the band appear in some form but it would appear as though some had watched Spinal Tap and they played along with it, most amusing is Roger King’s facial expressions during one particular moment, he is after all an arbiter of dry wit.

Nad Sylvan’s appearance is rather amusing as he plays up to the role of superstar (note the ME! that Brian has pinned on his door) for the cameras. Jo Hackett looks bemused and Roger pulls a strange look before shuffling backwards into the bands dressing room.

Rehearsals Doc

The Rehearsals are filmed over two or three different time periods in two different locations – the first one is near East Putney tube station. The first footage from the rehearsal room featuring Nick Beggs seems to be from around October 2014 and the break in the footage is when Nick Beggs is replaced by Roine Stolt with the latter rehearsal footage coming from a venue near Earlsfield Railway station in London. The rehearsal footage is a unique fly on the wall look at how hard the preparations for the forthcoming tour have been.

Old Stalwarts like Ben Fenner, Tigger Matthews and Richard Buckland appear in the documentary along with new crew member John Gaillard explaining their roles and what they bring to each show on the tour. The following examples are not intended as spoiler’s owing to the fact we have not included a verbatim transcript of everything that each individual has discussed.

Ben Fenner – is filmed pre show at Leicester DMH / Birmingham Symphony Hall. (filmed 24th Oct and again 30th Oct) discusses mixing, mixing the surround experience this time around, mixing the for the whole audience and mixing per venue which he admits all have their own unique mixing and acoustic needs.

Tigger Matthews – is filmed pre show at Leicester DMH. (filmed 24th Oct). He explains how one of the lighting cue’s changed from all red to a blue and white light multi movement effect therefore demonstrating the refining process, owing = to a conversation with Steve “I thought this one would be colder” thus giving Tigger the opportunity to make the changes.

Picture

Aside from one or two rare sharp zoom snaps, there is a wealth of visual moments during the Blu-Ray from capturing the right performance moments such as that all important drum roll or keyboard moment to the actual vibrancy of the band during the more high energy moments being captured on film as the demon of a steam locomotive flying down a coordinated track with each member in perfect synchronisation. Thankfully it is not all close up’s there is a wealth of angles which offer the viewer a more realistic view of the show from a variety of seating positions, enabling the viewer of the concert film to see the whole production in terms of lighting and effects from this tour.

Thankfully someone’s creative vision meant that the talents of Roger King and Gary O’Toole were captured from a rather close perspective giving the viewer a rarely seen vantage point that even the ticket holders of the show would not of been able to see at first hand. An interesting note is that it was a multi-camera shoot, with the recording commenced with no prior rehearsals, but Steve seems to of had every confidence in the people he was working with in this case Paul Green, who did the filming and editing.

The audience are captured in equal measure and whilst most progressive rock audiences have a tendency to listen out for each note or chord progression as though they are studying it under a microscope. Steve’s audiences do not sit on their hands at the end of each piece, they clap loudly and show their appreciation for the most part either for being taken down memory lane such as for a nostalgic trip or for being dazzled and bemused at the herculean quality of musical talent of the musicians performance on stage. Thankfully the director captures both the performance and audience in fine form.

Sound

The Sound is a very faithful representation of the live performance and production undertaken during the 2015 tour, with the rear channels also hosting the rear effects that Ben Fenner presented in surround sound during the shows the air of authenticity is raised to a credible level. Whilst Ben does indeed take some tasteful liberties with the actual soundscape to make the concert film more involving for the home audience these moments are few and are not beyond the realm of physics meaning that they are rather believable.

The sound gives a rare opportunity for the viewer to witness some of the brand new immersive experience that the audience felt during the performance owing to the fact that many elements of the show in particular the newer material where presented in a surround sound format. One such song as an example would be The Wheel’s Turning from the most recent album but one of the more classic songs from the repertoire would have been Clock’s both had immersive elements that are reproduced on the concert film to give a 100% accuracy of the live audience’s experience.

Music Videos

Wolflight, Love Song To A Vampire, Corycian Fire.

Whilst mis reported elsewhere it is the first time that these music videos have been officially released and here they add value for money.

These creative visual postcards of each of the three songs from Wolflight the album are a true bonus in the genuine sense of the word, they were absent from the deluxe version of the album but here you can see how Jo’s creativity has merged with Steve’s creativity to bring a visual element to the music that has been missing from Steve’s work since the mid 1980’s. Some of the work that has gone into these artistic films can only be classed as daring and ground breaking, whilst some of the elements used are a little common these days they have not been overly used allowing for the much more ground breaking techniques to have light and shade.

Track listings as follows:

2CD+2DVD Digipak

CD 1:

1. Corycian Fire Intro
2. Spectral Mornings
3. Out of the Body
4. Wolflight
5. Every Day
6. Love Song to a Vampire
7. The Wheel’s Turning
8. Loving Sea
9. Jacuzzi
10. Icarus Ascending
11. Star of Sirius
12. Ace of Wands
13. A Tower Struck Down

CD 2:

1. Shadow of the Hierophant
2. Get ’em Out by Friday
3. Can-Utility and the Coastliners
4. After the Ordeal
5. The Cinema Show
6. Aisle of Plenty
7. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
8. The Musical Box
9. Clocks
10. Firth of Fifth

DVD 1

1. Corycian Fire Intro
2. Spectral Mornings
3. Out of the Body
4. Wolflight
5. Every Day
6. Love Song to a Vampire
7. The Wheel’s Turning
8. Loving Sea
9. Jacuzzi
10. Icarus Ascending
11. Star of Sirius
12. Ace of Wands
13. A Tower Struck Down
14. Shadow of the Hierophant
15. Get ’em Out by Friday
16. Can-Utility and the Coastliners
17. After the Ordeal
18. The Cinema Show
19. Aisle of Plenty
20. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
21. The Musical Box
22. Clocks
23. Firth of Fifth

DVD 2

Live in Liverpool – Behind the Scenes
Somewhere South of the River – Rehearsal Documentary
Videos:
– Corycian Fire
– Wolflight
– Love Song to a Vampire

BluRay

CONCERT

1. Corycian Fire Intro
2. Spectral Mornings
3. Out of the Body
4. Wolflight
5. Every Day
6. Love Song to a Vampire
7. The Wheel’s Turning
8. Loving Sea
9. Jacuzzi
10. Icarus Ascending
11. Star of Sirius
12. Ace of Wands
13. A Tower Struck Down
14. Shadow of the Hierophant
15. Get ’em Out by Friday
16. Can-Utility and the Coastliners
17. After the Ordeal
18. The Cinema Show
19. Aisle of Plenty
20. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
21. The Musical Box
22. Clocks
23. Firth of Fifth

EXTRAS

Live in Liverpool – Behind the Scenes
Somewhere South of the River – Rehearsal Documentary
Videos:
– Corycian Fire
– Wolflight
– Love Song to a Vampire

Line-Up:

Steve Hackett – Guitar, Vocals
Roger King – Keyboards
Nad Sylvan – Vocals, Tambourine
Gary O’Toole – Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Rob Townsend – Saxophone, Woodwind, Percussion, Vocals, Keyboards, Bass Pedals
Roine Stolt – Bass, Variax, Twelve String, Vocals, Guitar

With special guests:

John Hackett
Amanda Lehmann

All important folk:

Brian Coles – Tour Manager
Ben Fenner – Live Sound Engineer
Tigger Matthews – Live Lighting Engineer
Paul – Merchandiser

Thank you as ever to Sharon Chevin, Steve and Jo Hackett.