Although the iconic guitar player Steve Hackett is 76 years old/young, he is still roaming the earth, performing his excellent solo material, and of course keeping the musical legacy of Genesis alive. Tonight, Steve

Steve Hackett

Hackett and his partly new band, now consisting of: Jonas Reingold (bass), Rob Townsend (clarinet, saxophone, percussion), Nad Sylvan (vocals) and newcomers Lalle Larsson (keyboards) and Felix Lehrman (drums), "enchanted" the fans in Aachen with their Best of Genesis and solo gems tour.

This 2026 Tour is divided into two parts: part 1 consisting of Steve Hackett solo songs and part 2 consisting of Genesis gems. The first set kicks off with the bombastic, symphonic The Devil's Cathedral from Hackett's wonderful solo album Surrender Of Silence ( 2021, see review), followed by my favourite Hackett song Every Day from his third solo album Spectral Mornings (1979). Every Day is a gorgeous track featuring a crystal-clear melody, an addictive chorus and brilliant guitar melodies and solos in the second part of this song, which give me goosebumps every time I hear them!

Nad Sylvan

Then it is time for a new song, called The Sea Inside and it is a wonderful, almost cinematic love song which will be a live staple song for Hackett in the years to come. Another surprise in the setlist is the marvellous song The Steppes from the Defector-album (1980), followed by Camino Royale and of course Shadow Of The Hierophant, the instrumental second part only, from Hackett's debut solo album Voyage Of The Acolyte (1975).

Rob Townsend

After a short break the enthusiastic crowd is then treated to a couple of Genesis classics, starting with Dancing With The Moonlit Knight - one of my favourite Genesis songs ever - from the Selling England By The Pound-album (1973), followed by other Genesis gems like The Cinema Show, Firth Of Fifth (with Hacketts iconic guitar solo of course) and the prog rock epic of all epics Supper's Ready from Genesis's fourth studio album Foxtrot (1972).
Could it get any better than this? Probably not, but Hackett came back to do two encores, which of course were the wonderful Dance On A Volcano, the opening track from the Trick Of The Tail-album (1976) and finally, very appropriate Los Endos from the same album.

Hackett played a superb show, and the band was also top notch, so, it was a magical, musical evening, which showed once again that the repertoire of Hackett and Genesis is, even in 2026, still truly relevant and worthwhile indeed.

Text & Pictures Martien Koolen (edited by Dave Smith)