'Why no Blu-ray?' many fans wondered, when it was announced that the spring 2013 Hammersmith Apollo show would only be released on DVD. Well, everything happened pretty quickly back then. The tour was supposed to take place only during the first half of the year, and just as the details on the film crews became clear, the fall part of the tour was announced - including the show at the Royal Albert Hall, for which additionally a HD-recording was arranged. It surely would have been stupid not to have the biggest Hackett-concert since who-knows-when captured in HD.
In contrast to the convincing, but simple 2DVD/3CD of the Hammersmith gig, the release of the Royal Albert Hall has some surprises in store.
The formats
Those who prefer it simple should get the 2CD/DVD-Digipak of the show. The packaging comes similar in style to the Hammersmith-release. It contains the complete concert on 2CD and DVD, yet again without a booklet.
The strictly limited artbook appears to be highly interesting, it has roughly LP-size and compares well to Peter Gabriel's artbook releases of New Blood: Live in London and Back To Front: Live in London. It's a beautifully designed book with accompanying notes and plenty of photos, provided not just by photographers close to Hackett, but also from club member Volker Warncke. The 2 CDs are located in a kind of mini-tray on the inside of the front cover, both the DVDs and the Blu-ray can be found on the inside of the back cover. The additional DVD contains a backstage feature with statements from the band members and the special guests as well as an one hour interview with Steve Hackett, in which he shares background information on his solo albums since 1975. Both these bonus features can also be found on the Blu-ray, which is not available separately, but exclusively in this artbook package.
The concert
Not much more needs to be said about this concert, as there is already an extensive review on this website. Still, the concert is experienced quite differently in moving pictures, compared to an audio recording or a written article. The Royal Albert Hall (RAH) is simply breathtaking, and this film captures its beauty very well. Steve Hackett and his band don't simply play their standard set, which is owed to the special guests. Ray Wilson sings Carpet Crawlers (which in fact is only performed when Wilson is available as a guest) and I Know What I Like, John Wetton this time sings Firth Of Fifth instead of Afterglow and Amanda Lehman takes the spotlight for Ripples. Flower Kings guitarist Royne Stolt (who plays in the band Angels of Mercy alongside Nad Sylvan) adds some powerful guitar to The Return of the Giant Hogweed.
The setlist, as known from the spring shows and mostly present on the preceding DVD Genesis Revisited: Live at Hammersmith, has been shuffled around a bit. Watcher Of The Skies has been moved to the encore, while Dance On A Volcano now functions as opener. The Musical Box is played earlier while Horizons and especially The Fountain Of Salmacis are interesting additions to the setlist, which is a bit more compact (a bit shorter) than the spring version, but just as effective. The setlist for DVD and Blu-Ray:
Dance on a Volcano
Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
Fly on a Windshield
Broadway Melody of 1974 (Vocals: Gary O'Toole)
The Carpet Crawlers (with Ray Wilson)
The Return of the Giant Hogweed (with Roine Stolt)
The Musical Box
Horizons
Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers...
...In That Quiet Earth
Afterglow
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (with Ray Wilson)
Firth of Fifth (with John Wetton)
Ripples (with Amanda Lehmann)
The Fountain of Salmacis
Supper's Ready
Watcher of the Skies
Los Endos
Another interesting aspect: With this concert movie Ray Wilson's guest spots are well documented. Ray looks fresh, and does very well on both songs. Only the chorus part on Carpet Crawlers appears to be strangely mixed, concerning the shared vocals between nad Sylvan and Ray. Nad's vocals should have been a bit less prominent in the mix here.
The RAH concert was show #62 of the tour - and in June 2014 there still is no end in sight. More tourdates for 2014 can be found at this link.
Bonus material
In contrast to Peter Gabriel's artbook, plenty of bonus material is included. There are two documentaries, one being a entertaining backstage feature, the other an extensive album-by-abum reflection. Hackett talks about all his albums and presents some interesting details - Steven Wilson for example has expressed great interest in releasing a 5.1-version of Hackett's second album Please Don't Touch, apparently preparations have already commenced. He also names Spectral Mornings as a candidate for a 5.1 mix.
The backstage feature is similar to the one on the Hammersmith DVD, the band members share their views, as well as guest artists.
Picture and sound
Picture quality is decent, especially on the Blu-ray. One gets the impression, it still might have been a bit better, but that is only a minor complaint. The camera angles offer great insight into the action on stage as well as the historical Hall. The sound is good and comes across as authentic. The 4.1 option in the Blu Ray's menu is sligthly confusing, apparently it is rather 5.1, according to the reviewer's receiver.
Conclusion
While the necessity of another release of this tour is certainly debatable, no one will dispute the special significance of the RAH. Everybody involved shows this in the backstage documentary, Steve Hackett says so as well and and for Inside Out it was clear early on that this concert had to be released. For collectors and fans of luxurious editions there's no alternative to the artbook. The book, designed with a lot of passion, is not only Steve Hacketts first ever Blu Ray release, it also proves highly appropriate considering the concert venue. Fans, who are content with music and video in standard definition, can choose the standard set. There is nothing left to be desired, the concert movie sums up the feelings of many fans once again. There have been a lot of concerts by members of the Genesis family over the past 10 years, but hardly anyone captured the spirit of Genesis as congenially as Steve Hackett on his Genesis Revisited Tour 2013 and the Genesis Extended Tour 2014. His success proves him right - about 5000 people saw the concert at the RAH, making this the best attended Hackett-concert in years.
The artbook is one of the most beautiful releases by Steve in recent years and deserves to be in the fans' collections. It is strictly limited - so you'd better hurry.
Author: Christian Gerhardts
English by Andreas Uffelmann
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