New Steve Hackett live set: 'Wuthering Nights: Live in Birmingham' !!

HackettSongs - Steve Hackett's Official Music Website



RELEASE DATE: 26 January 2018

On 26th January 2018, Inside Out Music release Wuthering Nights: Live in Birmingham, the new live release from guitar legend Steve Hackett. Wuthering Nights was filmed at the Birmingham Symphony Hall during Hackett's recent, critically-acclaimed Genesis Revisited & Classic Hackett tour. Available as Special Edition 2DVD + 2CD Digipak, Blu-Ray, Digital album and Blu-Ray in stereo & surround sound, this is a must-have for any prog fan.

This tour marked the 40th anniversary of Wind & Wuthering, Hackett's last album with Genesis which reached number 7 in the UK album chart. To celebrate Steve and his band played 5 of the best-loved tracks from this iconic album: Eleventh Earl Of Mar, One For The Vine, Blood On The Rooftops, In That Quiet Earth and Afterglow.

Other fan favourites from Hackett's Genesis days were 'revisited': Dance On A Volcano, Inside & Out, Firth Of Fifth, The Musical Box and the classic Los Endos. This mesmerising show marks the first ever live performance by Hackett & his band of the tracks One for the Vine and Inside & Out, and also includes many of Hackett's solo fan-favourites as well as material from his latest studio album The Night Siren.

Steve recalls the Birmingham performance... "I'm excited about imminent release of 'Wuthering Nights'. It felt special to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Wind & Wuthering, the Genesis album I had the most songwriting involvement with and a favourite among many fans. Songs like One for the Vine, Eleventh Earl of Mar and Blood on the Rooftops come across powerfully on this release, which also features other Genesis and solo Hackett favourites along with songs from my latest album The Night Siren... Sit back and enjoy!"

The band are: Roger King (keyboards), Gary O'Toole (drums/percussion), Rob Townsend (saxes/flutes), Nick Beggs (bass, stick & twelve string) and Nad Sylvan on vocals plus special guests John Hackett and Amanda Lehmann.

The DVD / Blu-Ray also includes fascinating behind the scenes footage, most of which was filmed on the day in Birmingham. There are also three videos for tracks from The Night Siren: Behind the Smoke, Fifty Miles from the North Pole and West to East.

 

If the audio quality is as bad as the last 2 live concerts I would stay far away from this! Especially the 5.1 mixes.

 

That bad?

Honestly, his albums sound decent enough that it didn't even occur to me that the live releases would suffer from sub-par sonics. They just seemed incredibly superfluous to me. I mean, do we really need a live album from every tour Steve puts on?

 

$teve Hackett

 

No, we probably don't, but it's nice to have the option, if one desires to purchase one. I might buy this just to hear his rendition of "One For The Vine". I bought the last three, even though I'm not much of a "live album" person in general. Yes, dangling the Genesis carrot helps.

Some acts put out CDs of every single show so I don't mind what Steve does. Let him make some money before he retires. He deserves it.

 

Every time I see Steve it is a great show, but I stopped buying the live releases. This one, because of some of the included tunes, I will pick up.

 

....Are those the words of a conflicted Steve Hackett fan/listener?

A hard-core fan is elated to hear of this release, perhaps as an audio document of the concert or tour that he may or may not have attended.
Instant purchase, or at least added to a want list.

A non-fan wouldn't care, and may not even read this thread.

A fan caught in between the two is undecided... and seeks confirmation...

 

I wouldn't advise anyone to "stay far away." True, the surround mixes sound like someone hit the "ambient hall" processor button and haven't been given much attention beyond that. The stereo program and the visuals are fine by me. Love both the Royal Albert Hall CD/DVD and the Liverpool blu-ray.

 

Sorry but I couldn't disagree more

The man himself is so humble, nice and always give what the fans want. He performs PHENOMENAL, UNFORGETTABLE concerts full of all those Genesis classics that Peter, Phil, Tony and Mike have refused to play for decades.
And he has put an impressive solo career. Especially in the last years, while all the other Genesis members have done virtually NOTHING, he keeps playing, touring and releasing new material

He's by far the coolest and most down to earth Genesis member.

Kudos to Steve, the only one who carries the Genesis torch

 

Considering nobody is forced to buy the live release, I don't agree with this harsh comment

I for one missed Steve's last tour and I'm very glad there's a film of it available.

 

I'm only conflicted in that Steve seems to stick close to the original versions of tracks - including his own solo material - when playing them live. I'm sure that's great in a room, but how many note-perfect versions on CD do you need of "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)?" Love the song, but one or two will do the job for me.

I think of it like this: Pink Floyd only put out two live albums post-Roger Waters. Had they kept putting out live material from those tours (or kept touring the material), it would have gotten old very quickly. I suppose, to Steve's credit, he's not too far off from David Gilmour's current strategy, which is live releases that lean heavily enough on the new material that the expected "greatest hits" don't grate too badly on record. And, to be fair, I'm not whinging about playing the "hits" as much as I'm saying what works at a live gig isn't so great once you've added it to an already buckling shelf of releases by one artist - half of which include very similar versions of the same.

This is very much a "your mileage may vary" scenario. Though, I have to defend against accusations that Hackett does this out of greed. His releases are always robust, well packaged, and carry a wealth of material for a modest price point. I highly doubt that he's making bank on each of these releases!

 

Simply not true. Gabriel was doing "The Lamb" and "Back in NYC" on his first tour. By the time his solo repertoire was built up, there was no reason to cover Genesis, save for a one off live appearance and "Carpet Crawlers '99." He did "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" on the tour with Sting. Ditto, Genesis performed tracks like "I Know What I Like," "Firth of Fidth" and "Los Endos," so don't know what you're talking about here.

 

Very well said!

You're quite right - it would be very interesting if Hackett was occasionally inspired while playing the older material to improvise and "explore other avenues".
(I don't quite know if he has an aversion to this, or just leans towards the fans who prefer to hear the Genesis songs unadorned.)

It not too far afield to imagine that proceeds from sales of the Live shows are cycled into funding his new releases - which are always welcome.

 

Releasing lots of live concerts as separate releases isn't cashing in. Anyone who doesn't want that concert simply doesn't buy it .

What upsets me is when something I want is included in a large package that has stuff that I don't want or already have. Rush's Hemisphere is a recent example where anyone who just wants the blu ray can only get this with a deluxe package that includes vinyl.

 

Cool but, I'd pass - I saw him this tour and the band was really good, stuff like One For The Vine or The Musical Box didn't feel right without Tony. If he did more of his classic stuff and picked the Genesis tracks suited to his playing (only Blood on the Rooftops really worked, and that was partly due to the drummer being a good singer) I'd recommend this but you're better off listening to the 76/77 boots. The lack of an acoustic set really bummed me too, it's his strongest musical talent.

 

I haven't found the sound of his live albums to be horrible. But ymmv. I've seen Steve every time he's toured for the last bunch of years or so. Every show has been excellent and was beyond my expectations. There have been times when I've felt, 'ho hum going to see Steve again'. Then going to the show, even times when I've been feeling there is no way I can fit it into the crazy home schedule, I've always been amazed and reinvigorated for the music. I respect Steve as a musician and feel he approaches the old Genesis material with a certain reverence. I'm sure I'll grab this album. I'd really like to hear a performance where Steve and band were accompanied by an orchestra.

 

I almost wonder if he got a bit of flak in response to the first Genesis Revisited album. I mean, he made "Your Own Special Way" sound like one of Phil's solo tracks (granted, I'll admit to it being a guilty pleasure even if it adds nothing really to the original). I remember seeing some scathing reviews to that album when it came out and some of those tracks really went off the beaten path. At this point, he may just assume people want it played straight. While I'm ok with that and I'm sure it's an easier sell to a live crowd, I'd be totally in favor of watching him stretch out ala King Crimson to see what can be done with the tracks.

As to your point about the live albums funding the studio albums... Yeah, you're probably on to something there. And, if that's the case, bring them on. I'm always up for more studio Hackett.

 

Sound is better, isn't it?

 

I'll add the bluray to my wishlist. He releases way too many live albums, but I really like the setlist of this one.

 

After having had a closer listen via Spotify my first interest is gone. Sound is a bit better as the last live recordings especially at the low end but still to washy to be enjoyable. - What a pity!

 

Doing the Genesis rounds with an orchestra in the UK in October. Booked fir the Manchester show.

 

Not sure this is the right thread, but for SH fans, he has released today a re-recorded version of GTR's song When The Heart Rules The Mind with SH on vocals and some guitar work from Steve Rothery.

Probably available for all usual download sites. Amazon UK download link below.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Heart...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8RN8PCZMMX464DQ5C96C

 

This pretty much reminds me of the approach Renaissance is taking from now on. Annie Haslam once stated that having a stable orchestra for their tours is an old dream come true. It seems to be a trend amongst most seventies artists and bands that remain still active. I'm all up for that, I'll really love to listen to a performance by Steve and his band accompanied by an orchestra, especially if focusing on his acoustic stuff in the moulds of that majestic '02 live shown 'Hungarian Horizons' he did in Budapest.

 

I'm in. I haven't made it to one of his shows or bought any of his live releases yet (in spite of being a long-time Genesis and Hackett fan) so this looks like a good one to jump on.

 

HDTracks has it in for under $16, which is less than what Amazon wants for the CD. But since I really want the video too I opted for the Bluray from Amazon UK for $26.51 delivered. I went to the 2015 Acolyte/Wolflight show in B'ham, but I had to leave in the middle of the Genesis Revisited set to catch the last train back to Oxford. So, I'll finally get to see the rest of it, sort of.