Steve Hackett:
Sono molto contento di essere in Italia
Steve Hackett live at the Teatro Sociale, Trento – Italy, 28th April 2002
Words by Roger Salem | Pictures by Bruno Zampaglione & Roger Salem
This year's formula was also a novelty for Steve: A trio consisting of John on flute and Roger King on keyboards who has accompanied Steve on the last electric and acoustic tours. Italy was to be the third place for this acoustic trio, preceded by a few dates earlier on in the year and more recently one concert in Budapest, last January, the latter having been filmed for a future DVD release.
So who’s of the trip this time? None other then Italy's No. 1 Steve Hackett fan, Paolo Leoni of Lomazo (Anyone heard of that town? You can eat great Pizzas there!). Also with us are Sonia, Paolo’s companion, pregnant with child (one week to go…oh, no, hope she doesn’t give birth in the middle of ‘Ace of Wands’!) and my good buddy from Monza, Paolo Siconolfi, Italy’s No. 1 sound engineer and self-proclaimed music buff as deranged as myself, in need of serious therapy for acute music addiction. And this year we are driving in style, in Mr Leoni’s newly acquired Mercedes Benz with bucket seats, large enough to allow me to comfortably stretch out and fall into slumber. The 3-hours highway journey up north towards the Austrian border was uneventful apart from Mr. Siconolfi’s occasional snoring in my ear in the backseat.
Other then one coffee stop (and I mean real coffee, the best Italy has to offer), I spent most of the trip dreaming about sheep surrounded by shepards playing harp. Must have been a premonition of what was to unveil itself in Trento, or possibly the effect of unmetabolised intoxicating substances of the night before! When I woke up we were in the outskirts of Trento and I remember driving through this beautiful alpine valley endowed with incomparable gifts of nature. Not to mention the beautiful Trentino castles dotting the hills. Trento is a small territory that pushes its way into the Alps almost as a bridge between the Mediterranean (Latin) world and the Nordic (Germanic) one. We parked the car in the city centre and headed on foot towards the old town following the ancient ramparts of the citadel. Che bello! I mean, if it weren’t for Steve I would probably never have ventured to this neck of the woods. Thank you, Mr Hackett, for promoting tourism in Italy! After a nice cup of tea and Trentino pastries we headed out to locate the Teatro Sociale. The front door was closed so we went around the building to enter from the back door.
Once inside, I could not believe the sight in front of me. The venue had a magical atmosphere. A few words about this wonderful Italian edifice: the seating capacity is 642 (the gig was sold out by the way); built in 1819 it was recently renovated in June 2000. It looks very much like the Scala di Milano but in a smaller scale with its numerous little balconies suspended on four floors and a spectacular ceiling painted with multicoloured frescos of angels playing trumpets! And below, Ladies and Gentlemen, Maestro Stephano Hacketto was about to bestow his magic from this very stage, which has seen the likes of famous men such as Giacomo Puccini, Arturo Toscanini and Enrico Caruso. You should have seen the size of this stage: huge, almost over-dimensioned in relation to the two lonely guitars (one in regular tuning, the other in lower E-string tuned down to D) and a Yamaha keyboard shining in the stage lights. In the backdrop were these pieces of white curtain suspended on thin ropes, looking like hexagonal kites on which were projected multicoloured lights. The road team were busily setting up the gear and Hackett's legendary sound man, advisor, accountant, sales and marketing man, promoter, webmaster, roadie, bass and bagpipe player, Maestro Guillermo (Billy) Budis was crouched on his knees, ears glued to the PA: Mr. perfectionist! He then headed for the mix board and started a routine sound check with Roger King, proudly playing away some Eric Satie. The sound was great and I grew excited in anticipation of seeing the rest of the lads arrive. ‘Roger’, called out Billy, his voice filling the empty hall. Cool I thought, he’s acknowledging my presence. But no, it was for the other Roger. ‘For today’s intents and purposes you will be called 'Salem', pointed out Billy to avoid further confusions. It was a pleasure to chat with Billy and catch up on some good times as well as with his friendly assistant, John Wood, who only had eyes for the beautiful uniformed female contingent employed by the Teatro Sociale. We looked at each other in silent conspiracy: 'It’s been like this all week' admitted John,' ah, these Italian women!'
A little late in the afternoon arrived a visibly tired John Hackett followed by Steve in the best of spirits. Then John began to play his flute. Sweet memories of years gone by began to surface with such a strong sense of nostalgia and déjà-vu. It was like a time warp: the sounds that filled the air brought me back to the very first time I saw John and Steve back in 1979 in Lyon - France, i.e. 23 years ago when I was in my final year of high school in Geneva, pimply faced, greasy haired (hair…where did it all go?) and attired in ill-fitting Levis bell bottom jeans and a pink polka dot shirt with dagger pointed collars (Saturday Night Fever days!). The trip to Lyon and Bourse du Travail show was unforgettable especially the part about my dad’s car breaking down and having to sleep in a park after the show. But it was worth the 200 KM drive, the pouring rain the next day trying to hitch a ride back and the outrageously expensive towing fee to repatriate the ‘derelict’ Fiat across the border to Switzerland. And Steve was majestic, still wearing those long boots of Genesis days and 'zuitting' away (for those of you who are un- familiar with the term, this denotes these exquisite sounds that Steve does when he slides this ‘ring’ across the chords of his instrument to produce this chilling ‘zuit’ sound very commonly produced on his epic guitar solos during his Genesis days and apparently inspired by Ritchie Blackmore). John sounded as powerful as he did during that night in Lyon where such pieces as The Red Flower of Tachai Blooms Everywhere were performed. Steve’s playing was as intense as always and Roger’s keyboard added an extra dimension to the sound. It made me forget the disappointment that Steve was not going to be playing ‘electric’ that night. Steve looked up in to the hall for a moment between two chords and recognised me instantly and said: ‘tonight will be ringless, it will be zuitless’ almost apologetic and as if he was reading my mind. I wanted to say, 'it is not Rock'n'Roll but I still like it!'
The sound check over, fans in the hall began to gather around Steve for autographs who politely obliged as usual. I don’t know if his wearing of dark sunglasses indoors or his notorious myopia had anything to do with it, but I found it rather amusing when a fan, or actually this could not have possibly been a fan, presented him with a fading cover of the Genesis LP, And Then There Were Three, to sign. No comment! But I was further astounded when I noticed that Steve was actually signing the copy, not having picked up the anomaly. Maybe Steve secretly wished he had been on that recording. I seriously doubt it though. Back in college days I remember fellow Genesis fans re-titling this album: ‘And Then They Were Shit’ Perhaps a way of marking the end of a golden era and by the same token acknowledging Steve's judicious decision to leave the band as well as honouring his important role in the band. Sounds a little mean for the remaining members but to me that album really did mark the beginning of a new direction in Genesis, taking them to the heart of mainstream pop/schlock and to juvenile and less intellectually orientated crowds definitely not the type to dream of hogweeds, play croquet, drive ‘cosmic lawnmowers’ and ‘wuther’ in the wind.
As the sun beat down and as I was lying on a bench, fans gathered outside and I could only hear them talk. I was one of the privileged few who had just seen a good solid hour of Hackettscapes and was lucky enough to be able to capture some of these fine moments on my XM-1 Canon digital camera. Thank you Billy for not objecting to my filming. At one point I was almost worried for my neck. At the Vigevano concert two years back I witnessed a scene where Billy caught this guy filming from the audience and almost broke his neck... or was it his camera?
Time was running out and my friends and I thought we would grab a bite before the show. But this was not Milan; no fast foods in site not even a good ol’ Scottish restaurant (McDonald's). We ended up empty stomached and hurried back to the venue to 'fasten our seat belts' in preparation for the ‘journey’ into Hackett land. What can I say other then my usual flattery about my hero? It was a delight, one ‘musical orgasm’ after another!
The set-list was as follows:
Horizons
Gnossienne #1
Bourée / Bacchus
Bay Of Kings
Syrinx
Imagining / Second Chance
Jacuzzi / Overnight Sleeper
The Barren Land / Black Light
Kim
Time Lapse at Milton Keynes
The Chinese Jam
Hairless Heart
Mustard Seed
Cinema Paradiso
Gymnopedie #1
Jazz On A Summer's Night
Cavalcanti
Walking Away From Rainbows
Tales of the Riverbank
Munich
The Journey
Skye Boat/Paved Fountain/Carcassi/Blood On The Rooftops
Hands of the Priestess/Many Sides To The Night outro
Ace Of Wands
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Idyll
Aubade
Meditation
The highlights for me were Hairless heart, Cavalcanti, Hands of the priestess and Jacuzzi / Overnight Sleeper. In the latter, the crowd went ecstatic, especially as the piece started to sound like salsa! And, I loved the Satie pieces, beautifully re-arranged to accommodate the keyboard. The trio formula allowed to cover a wider range of material then just the acoustic guitar and flute. Here, you had the dynamics of something which sounded close to a chamber orchestra. And, the great thing about Steve’s playing was his legendary ability to transform the sound of the guitar into a 'little orchestra'. In his own words:
"What people remember is memorable 'phrases'... I often think that I am trying to make the guitar sound like a violin or a saxophone. Sometimes there are other instruments that are in mind and just very occasionally you get a really brilliant sound." (Source: Interview with Mario Giammetti, April 25th.)
The few dates preceding the Trento date were marked by incredible stories about Steve, some of which have been reported to me by Mario Giammetti from the Italian Genesis Fanzine, Dusk. Here are excerpts from Mario’s E-mail dated April 30th:
Do you know what he did during his day off in Ancona? He went to visit an unfortunate fan that was immobilised in a bed. He stood there 70 minutes, played Horizons for him and chatted a lot. There are pictures of the event. And the same day, he even played in a pub with Roger and John after the invitation of a friend of that ‘unlucky’ fan...
And the same evening Mrs Hackett (John and Steve’s mother) arrived at the Falconara airport to attend her children’s show in Ancona. What a wonderful man!
As the show reached its end, I was checking out the delighted faces above me in the balconies. I felt in love. In love with Italy, in love with its people who are one of the few who can recognise the true beauty and genius of our main man’s tunes. At this precise moment in time I finally understood the true meaning of Steve’s classic opening phrase to his Italian audiences over the years: 'Sono molto contento di essere in Italia'. Me too me too...!
Roger Salem
Lugano, 6th May 2002
- The Path's review of Hackett's "Live Archive - 70, 80, 90's"
- Visit Camino Records
- Visit Steve Hackett's official website - for more information on past, current and future activities.
- Back to The Path...
