Holding the physical pressing of *Foxtrot at Fifty + Hackett Highlights: Live in Brighton*, you feel the weight of a legacy that refuses to settle into a comfortable retirement. The gatefold sleeve isn't just a piece of cardboard; it’s a manifesto from Steve Hackett, the man who arguably holds the keys to the Genesis kingdom more securely than any of his former bandmates.
While the others have drifted into pop superstardom or quiet seclusion, Hackett remains the obsessive curator of the prog-rock flame. This latest live package recently clawed its way to the number two spot on the British rock charts. It’s a staggering achievement for a set recorded in a coastal city like Brighton, proving that the appetite for 1972-era complexity hasn't been dulled by the short-attention-span theatre of the streaming age.
The album captures a night where the past and present don't just collide; they shake hands and get to work. We get the heavy hitters like ‘Watcher Of The Skies’ and the 23-minute labyrinth of ‘Supper’s Ready’ alongside Hackett’s solo ventures. But the real story is how this music travels.
“The interest in this is worldwide, and it’s kept me busy for a year or so,” Hackett says, leaning into the reality of his relentless touring schedule. “Now we’re bringing it to the States for the first time and Canada. So, it’ll be very interesting. We haven’t taken this set to them here.”
There is a definitive authority in the way Hackett approaches his solo work, particularly ‘The Devil’s Cathedral’ and ‘Ace of Wands.’ He isn't just playing the hits to keep the lights on. He is curating an entire oeuvre, ensuring the transition from his 1975 debut to his 2021 output feels like a single, cohesive thought.
And then there is the ghost of John Lennon. It’s a piece of rock lore that Hackett carries with justifiable pride. During the height of the band's experimental phase, the man who helped invent the modern pop song was listening closely.
“John Lennon gave an interview and said that he considered Genesis to be true sons of The Beatles. He got every album from ‘Nursery Cryme’ sent over to him in New York, and I’m glad it filled a hole for him, plugged something,” Hackett says.
That endorsement matters. It anchors Genesis not as a fringe prog act, but as the legitimate heirs to the melodic innovation of the 1960s. But who is actually in the seats at these shows? It isn't just a collection of grey-haired men in vintage tour shirts.
“The most you’ll get is 50% who might be sons and daughters and partners and what have you,” Hackett explains. “It’s difficult to know if there’s a new audience for something that’s vintage. But music can survive. This is classic or traditional stuff.”
If there is a critique to be made of this live release, it’s in the polish. Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge and mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, the recording is almost too clean. It lacks the grit of the original 1970s bootlegs, but what it loses in dirt, it gains in forensic detail. You can hear every finger tap and every nuanced swell of the Mellotron.
Hackett remembers when these sounds were just desperate experiments. The band was young, broke and throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck.
“We were all throwing everything we had at the band,” Hackett says. “By the time we were doing ‘Foxtrot’, it all started with just two chords. Tony Banks had two chords on the Mellotron, and the whole thing seemed to broaden out from there. It had a science fiction feel from the word go.”
John Lennon gave an interview and said that he considered Genesis to be true sons of The Beatles. He got every album from ‘Nursery Cryme’ sent over to him in New York, and I’m glad it filled a hole for him, plugged something.
That science fiction element remains the backbone of the set. But Hackett is also a collaborator at heart, often bringing in younger talent or seasoned pros like Roger King and Rob Townsend to keep the arrangements from fossilizing.
“There have been a lot of bands that have been starting out and I’ll do that,” Hackett says. “I always think people sound better if you pay them compliments and if you can collaborate, that’s often the making of a future great.”
The setlist is a calculated move. He doesn't bury the audience in obscure b-sides immediately. He leads them in, using his solo work as a bridge between the familiar and the new.
“I do the stuff that I think is perhaps the most accessible. I kick off with ‘Ace of Wands.’ The important thing about ‘Ace of Wands’ was it had the import of the Genesis guys. And then I quickly go into ‘Devil’s Cathedral,’ which is from ‘Surrender of Silence,’ the most recent rock album. But I think of that sort of in a Genesis style, but it’s got some fast and furious ensemble playing,” Hackett says.
The musicianship on display is terrifying. This isn't a group of guys going through the motions. They are playing with a technicality that requires total focus.
“Rob and Roger do a completely different improvised introduction when they kick off together, and all they’re agreeing is that they’re playing octatonics. So, in terms of sound, it’s completely different,” Hackett says.
The use of "octatonics" — a scale that alternates whole and half steps — gives the performance a jagged, modern edge. It’s a niche technical detail that separates Hackett from the blues-based rockers of his generation. He is looking for the "winning combo" of sounds that shouldn't work together but do.
“The idea of pipe organ and soprano sax, I’ve never heard that combination anywhere else. It’s a winning combo...that piece takes off like a rocket,” Hackett says.
The pacing of the Brighton show is deliberate. He hits the fan favourites early to establish trust before moving into the more improvisational stretches.
“I’ve gone for things that have been favorites. ‘Spectral Mornings’ is a fan favorite...and a ‘Camino Royale,’ which also gives us room to stretch out and improvise. And finally, the ‘Coder,’ the end of ‘Shadow of the Hierophant,’ which is a long crescendo which shakes the building,” Hackett says.
There is a cinematic quality to his newer writing as well. ‘The Devil’s Cathedral’ isn't just a song; it’s a short film in audio form, borrowing from the masters of suspense.
“It’s a lyric that probably borrows from some of those Alfred Hitchcock TV shows...The idea of a guy who he’s the understudy for somebody and ends up killing the star...It gives me a chance to rev up throughout the whole thing and get more and more intense,” Hackett says.
To pull this off, he needs a vocalist who can handle the theatrical weight. Enter Nad Sylvan. Sylvan has the unenviable task of stepping into the shoes of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, yet he manages to find a third way.
“Nad sings it, he acts it...for Nad it’s a bit of a metaphor for Nad’s position within my band because he does such a great version of Impressions of Peter Gabriel meets Phil Collins...he holds those final notes forever, in an operatic kind of way,” Hackett says.
The energy required for a two-hour set of this calibre is immense. Hackett, now in his 70s, isn't slowing down. If anything, the tempo has increased.
“I found that I could hardly keep up with the pace of it, even though I’d written it...So there’ll be another level of energy coming at these live shows that are already very energetic. I think I’ve got the best band out there at the moment,” Hackett says.
Despite the high-end production of the release, Hackett insists on a level of honesty. There are no studio overdubs to fix the human elements of the performance.
“Usually, no. If there’s an obvious car crash, there’ll be something to rescue it, but basically I leave it untouched...I try to keep it real because that’s what live is all about,” Hackett says.
Brighton itself plays a character in the recording. The city’s "alternative culture" provided the perfect backdrop for a genre that was once the ultimate alternative to the mainstream.
“Brighton is a lively city and they are an extraordinary audience...It’s where my wife has spent time...It’s got the pavilion, it’s got the pier...It’s Britain today at its most alternative culture,” Hackett says.
As the current tour wraps this month, the cycle begins again in March 2024. Hackett is the Energizer Bunny of the prog world. He just keeps going, and going, and going, and going, and going.
For upcoming tour dates go to [www.hackettsongs.com](https://hackettsongs.com/tour.
