Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited Seconds Out and More - Leicester De Montfort Hall

Calm before the storm

 

The stage is set

It has been some a small matter of 669 days since the last indoor concert. So it is with no lack of eager anticipation that we travelled the short distance up the A508 to Leicester.

This show itself was originally scheduled for November 27th  2020. All because of the Covid pandemic of course. Speaking  of which I wasn't  sure how the new 'checking in' procedure would work out? I suspected that there might be quite a delay getting in to the venue. 

It actually went very smoothly and was well organised. It took literally a couple of minutes to show the Covid Passport on the phone. This was followed by a quick temperature check, I clocked up 36.5 which was perfectly acceptable. Then we were in safely ahead of schedule! Plenty of time to visit the bar and a pint of Guinness.

Centre stage Row 'F' 6 rows back so no problems at all with the seating. It was announced  that his 2021 world tour will feature the whole of the 1977 Genesis live album Seconds Out in full. Seconds Out was the hugely successful double album recorded on Genesis’ 1977 concert tour together with The Cinema Show, from their 1976 tour, and featured Steve Hackett on guitar alongside Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Phil Collins who had taken on the role of vocalist following the departure of Peter Gabriel.

Steve Hackett

This tour will visit some of the venues Genesis played on that 1977 tour. There will also be material from the latest solo album 'Surrender of Silence', as well as some other surprises. 

Tonight is the first night of the 31 date tour that finishes in Dundee on 23rd October 2021.

Right on schedule at 7:45 the house lights dim and the musicians gather on stage. This must have been incredibly emotional after such an absence, in front of the best part of 7,000 expectant fans. 

We start off with the 'tick tock' of the  instrumental  'Clocks' (The angel of Mons) from his 1979 album "Spectral Mornings".

Nad Sylvan

The next track is from the new album mentioned earlier ' held in the Shadows' What a beauty it is too,and goes down very well indeed with the packed crowd.

The vocals are provided by the flamboyant,charismatic and supremely talented 'Nad Sylvan'. A successful solo artist and seasoned performer he can really belt it out. I can already sense tonight is going to be a bit special. 

Again from 'Spectral Mornings' we have 'Every Day' followed by another new one 'The Devil's Cathedral'. This one might take a bit more getting used to though. An opening demonic church organ sound in this gothic jazz piece'. I half expected 'Screaming Lord Sutch to take the stage! It settled down though once the vocals started and will be a 'grower' I'm sure.  

Rob Townsend

The final song of this sort first set is 'Shadow of the 'Hierophant'. Taken from 1975 and 'Voyage of the Acolyte'. Rob Townsend is on 'Flute duty', a multi-instrumentalist he also plays Saxophone, percussion,Penny Whistle and all sorts of other woodwind too. . He's been in the band since 2001 and is some performer!

We get a glimpse of the famous 'finger tapping' style of play too. One that the late 'Eddie Van Halen' was so influenced by and took it to shredding level. Talking of influences, the great Alex Lifeson  (RUSH)and Steve Rothery (Marillion) are also massive admirers. Off to the interval we go and it was great to catch up with Lighting maestro and Director 'Chris Curran'. Chris lives in the same village and I know has been desperate to get out doing what he does best. The Pandemic has had a massive adverse effect on the music industry and those involved with it. I'm sure I saw a tear of emotion in his eye behind the protective mask?

Jonas Reingold

The half hour interval over and we are back in place ready for 'Seconds Out' in its entirety. Seconds Out was the second live album released by Genesis in 1977. It was of course the last to feature guitarist Steve Hackett. Genesis then becoming the trio of Tony Banks(Keyboards) Mike Rutherford (Guitar/Bass) and Phil Collins (Drums/Vocals). Founding member and lead singer Peter Gabriel having already left the band in 1975.

We kick off with the opening track 'Squonk' from the album 'Trick of the Tail' (1976). This is followed by 'The Carpet Crawlers'  from  'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' the last album with Peter Gabriel. Already the similarity with both singers that Nad Sylvan portrays is quite amazing. A lovely song and we are off to a flyer!

The whole band are superb, unfortunately it is hard to get decent photos of Roger King on Keyboards, and Drummer Craig Blundell.  They are towards the back of the stage, I don't want to upset anyone behind me either.

Jonas Reingold has been involved in over 130 CD recordings! An absolute master of the guitar, moving effortlessly between Bass and 12 string. 

We continue with 'Robbery, Assault and Battery from TOTT.  'Afterglow' is the only song from 'Wind and Wuthering'(1976). The last studio album to feature Hackett.

 

Four of the songs come from the 1973 album 'Selling England by the Pound'. Back to back we have 'Firth of Fifth' and the crowd pleasing favourite 'I Know what I like' (In your Wardrobe). Said to be a favourite album of Hackett's. It is certainly an epic guitar solo and gets rapturous applause. There is a real energy building from the stage. Even a power outage during 'The Musical Box' (Nursery Cryme 1971) can't derail the performance.  The epic 'Suppers Ready' (Foxtrot 1972) follows and no doubt will be the highlight for many, me included. 

I think the next song 'Cinema Show' is a real beauty and slightly underrated. Unlike the first part of the gig there has been no talking to the audience. I suppose the songs don't really need such an introduction as the new ones.

There is no charade of disappearing off stage either, and then coming back for an encore or two. They just get on with it, which I suppose is better in a way. Two more songs follow, but like all good things the show has to end. 'Dance on a Volcano' gives Craig Blundell the chance to show his talents with some power drumming.

What better way to end than with 'Los Endos' from TOTT.

It has been an extraordinary night, a night that will mean so much to so many people. The lighting has been spectacular, the musicianship unbelievable and the whole evening has been something to treasure. 

The benchmark for future concerts has been set very high. Lets hope the next one comes around more quickly and that things can get back to something we are used to whilst keeping everyone safe. 

Thanks to Chris Curran for the set list and the first photo of an empty De-Montfort Hall Leicester. Thanks also to my wife Marina for most of the photographs as they were far better than mine. Although I can take credit for the first Steve Hackett one. I'm actually rather pleased with that one!

Bozeat, Wollaston, Strixton and Grendon Walk

On paper this looked a very straightforward circular walk starting at Bozeat. As you can can see from the completed Strava Map on the left this was far from the case. 

The planned walk starts in Bozeat, which lies some 6 miles south of  Wellingborough. From there it heads towards Wollaston & then across to Strixton. 

The weather was good as we set off from St Mary's Church in Bozeat  mid morning looking to an early afternoon finish. 

The walk starts proper at the junction of Allen's Hill & Harold Road. It is Walk 168 on the Northamptonshire walks site.

 

 

Crossing a stile into the site of an old quarry, not much to see now though. We move into another field which is a riot of colour and wildflowers. 

So far so good and all is fairly straightforward. We are walking very close to the border with Bedfordshire. We do though get de-railed by a footpath to the right and a footbridge. It looked so tempting that we followed it.....Unfortunately it was in the wrong direction. A lady with horses soon pointed us back in the right direction and we were off again. 

We needed to be headed towards Poplar Farm which with relief we could see in the distance. Passing the farmhouse we emerged into a large field that was clearly marked for walking.

 

 

 

 

Three fields safely negotiated, and following the edge of a stream we arrive in Wollaston. Probably not the most scenic part in all truth as it is an Industrial Estate. Leaving the IE we walk along the Hardwick Road  and pass some nicely kept allotments.  

A lot of the  houses in Wollaston are decorated with bunting and banners. This is in honour of local Paralympian Maisie Summmers-Newton who is from the area and has been competing in Tokyo.

 

She is due to return home very shortly after a hugely successful Olympics winning two swimming gold medals and breaking records too. Great to see that she is getting a very warm welcome back to the County.

 

 

Moving down to the playing fields a cricket match is in progress. Wollaston first team are batting first and piling on the runs 160 -0 against Old Northamptonians seconds. A smashing day for cricket, just the sort I loved playing in, with the sun on my back. 

We walked past the right of the cricket nets, crossing a busy A509 into the field opposite. We take the second path across to the spinney. We are now on the way to Strixton.

We have a little wander around the small hamlet of Strixton.The name Strixton dates back to the 12th century & is thought to mean ‘Farmstead or village of a man called Strikr’. There are less than 20 properties.

St Romwold’s Church dates back to the 13th century & in the 19th century attempts were unsuccessfully made to rededicate it to St John the Baptist. St Rumwold (different spelling), after whom it was named, was a medieval infant saint said to have lived for three days in 662. 

Our path is opposite the Church and we head off in search of the plantation. There were some lovely Sloe bushes so I took the opportunity of picking a bagful for future use.It is around this point that things start to get confusing. There are several paths that disapear in different directions. We stayed on the track which turned out to be our biggest mistake. 

The path finally brought us out in the village of Grendon..... Making our way uphill past the church to find a footpath to take us back in the direction of Bozeat. 

Once again the directions are far from obvious. My companion suggests getting a taxi... a last resort. We continue onwards crossing a recently harvested field. What I thought was a footpath sign turned out to be a white flower. But at least we were able to find a gap in the corner of the field and make some progress. 

In the distance is a Church spire, I'm really not sure if it is Easton Maudit or Bozeat? Time is pressing and we can't afford another wild goose chase. Thankfully a dog walker confirms that it is indeed Easton Maudit Church.  

Continuing on the footpath at least we knew we were in the right direction. A young Fox is stalking a hedgerow, at least until it sees  us and hastily disappears. 

It is with some relief that we reach our destination of Bozeat a little later than scheduled.

 In total we have covered over over 11 miles, stressful at times but always enjoyable!