Steve Hackett/MA,USA 2020

While Steve Hackett is expanding his show in preparation for his visit to Japan, a somewhat disturbing atmosphere has begun to hang in the air. His latest and finest live album is now available. This work includes “March 11, 2020 Northampton Performance”. This is a super-excellent audience recording that records the whole story. What’s “unsettling” is the suspension of the tour. Due to the new coronavirus that is currently raging around the world, the North American tour that was in progress has been postponed one after another. In order to understand the circumstances around this, let’s check the position of this work from the schedule announced so far. ・February 26th – March 12th: North America (9 performances) ←★Here★ × March 13th – 24th: North America (postponed) x March 27th – April 1st: CRUISE TO THE EDGE (postponed) ) × April 17th + 18th: ROCK MEETS CLASSIC (postponed) ・May 15th-17th: Japan (3 performances) ・May 24th-June 2nd: Oceania (6 performances) ・August 2nd -7th: DJABE co-starring (6 performances), August 14th: CROPREDY FESTIVAL performance, September 15th – October 19th: Europe (21 performances), November 1st – December 1st: UK (22 performances) ) *Note: Shows marked with an “x” have been postponed. Here’s the latest on Hackett. The “North American” tour started at the end of February, but was interrupted after the 9th performance (March 12th). In addition to the remaining dates and the cruise performance “CRUISE TO THE EDGE,” it has also been announced that the orchestral concert “ROCK MEETS CLASSIC” scheduled for Germany will be postponed. We cannot predict whether the Japan tour will take place in mid-May, but even if it does take place, all the shows before that will be postponed. In other words, there are no more shows until Japan. And, the Northampton performance of this work is the 8th performance of the “North American” tour that was conducted. It is a live album that allows you to experience the best show that happened just before the performance in Japan. This work recorded at such a show is the best audience recording that wants to line up the “super” in a row. Modern audiences are the best and it has become commonplace, but this work is a little bit different. Anyway, it’s super close up and super detailed with zero sense of distance. If you listen closely with headphones, you can hear the snare sound sounding a bit like a guest record, but you start to think that’s just my imagination. While everything is clear, it’s the bass that stands out. No matter how modern the recording is, it is difficult to find the key tones, and the sound tends to be either sparse or buzzy. However, the bass of this work has a loud and sharp attack, and the groove is mellow. Even though it is featured to that extent, the balance with other instruments is not lost at all, and it is extremely beautiful from the rise of each note to the moment of silence. If you’ll forgive the stupid onomatopoeia, it’s a deep bass sound that’s crunchy, crunchy, and sparkling with beauty. Of course, it’s not just the base. The synths are falling down one by one, glittering like white snow, and the guitar is so loud that you can feel the vibrations of the strings…I’ll stop now because it’s too stupid, but I’m not kidding. It is so real, vivid, beautiful, and yet so powerful that it would be empty to list adjectives of praise. What’s more, the silence that hangs between those notes is pitch-black. Amidst this, each performance stands out, creating a three-dimensional ensemble. Between songs, close applause erupts, so it must be an audience recording, but I wonder how I can record such a sound through the space… Very rarely, you will come across a transcendental sound that makes the distinction between a sound board and an audience meaningless, but this work is a shocking sound that is a perfect example of that. The latest full show, which was further expanded just before coming to Japan, is depicted with such a transcendental sound. At our store, we reported the masterpiece recording “WINNIPEG 2020 (Amity 596)” as the first report of 2020, but the set has been increased since then. Let’s organize it here by comparing it with “WINNIPEG 2020”. Part 1: Solo Section ・SPECTRAL MORNINGS: Every Day / The Virgin and the Gypsy / Spectral Mornings / Clocks – The Angel of Mons ・DEFECTOR: The Steppes (★) / Jacuzzi / Slogans (★) ・AT THE EDGE OF LIGHT : Under the Eye of the Sun/Beasts in Our Time Part 2: “Knight of the Moonlight” section・SELLING ENGLAND: All songs・Deja Vu “GENESIS REVISITED”/The Musical Box “NURSERY CRYME” Encore・Watcher of the Skies “FOXTROT” ” *Note: Songs marked with “★” were not available on “WINNIPEG 2020”. …and it looks like this. The basics are based on “WINNIPEG 2020”, but two songs “The Steppes” and “Slogans” have been added. This is probably a selection intended for the 40th anniversary of “DEFECTOR”. In the 2019 edition, they not only recreated “Knight of the Moonlight,” but also celebrated the 40th anniversary of “SPECTRAL MORNINGS,” but with the new year, they seem to have (slightly) given more weight to “DEFECTOR.” Were you planning to increase the number of “DEFECTOR” even more on subsequent tours? After this, there will be no shows until the Japan performance in May, so I don’t know now. Now that shocking news continues to shake the world every day, we can only hope that the concert in Japan will come true, but what kind of show will it be when it does happen? This work is the latest preparation board that predicts that, and it is one that lets you experience the ultimate quality of modern audience recording. Live at Academy Of Music, Northampton, MA, USA 11th March 2020 ULTIMATE SOUND Disc 1(75:29) 1. Intro 2. Every Day 3. Under The Eye Of The Sun 4. Beasts In Our Time 5. The Steppes 6. The Virgin And The Gypsy 7. Jacuzzi 8. Spectral Mornings 9. Slogans 10. Clocks / The Angel Of Mons 11. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 12. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) Disc 2(78:55) 1 . Firth Of Fifth 2. More Fool Me 3. The Battle Of Epping Forest 4. After The Ordeal 5. The Cinema Show 6. Aisle Of Plenty 7. Deja Vu 8. The Musical Box 9. Watcher Of The Skies Steve Hackett – guitar , vocals Jonas Reingold – bass, 12-string guitar, vocals Roger King – keyboards Rob Townsend – windwinds, percussion, keyboards, vocals Criag Blundell – drums, vocals Nad Sylvan – vocals, percussion