Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett is playing the band's 1977 live album 'Seconds Out' straight through on a 2020 tour of England. PhotoCredit: Angel Marchini/Shutterstock
Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett is going to perform the band's 1977 live album Seconds Out in its entirety on a 2020 European tour. "I'm thrilled to bring Seconds Out back to life, featuring Genesis material at its most exciting and virtuosic," Hackett said in a statement. "This time with all numbers played in full plus additional surprises!" he added.
Hackett left Genesis in 1977 and has recorded 24 solo albums since then, but in 2012 he began a series of highly successful Genesis Revisited tours during which he plays songs from his tenure in the band with Swedish vocalist Nad Sylvan. The guitarist is the middle of a tour right now in which he plays the 1973 Genesis LP Selling England by the Pound straight through along with selections from his solo career. He's touring that across Europe and bringing to back to North America in March 2020.
The Seconds Out shows begin November 1st, 2020 at Brighton Dome in Brighton, England. and wrap up December 1st at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, Scotland. It's hitting five of the same venues that Genesis played on the 1977 tour where they taped Seconds Out.
There are no American shows booked at the moment, but Hackett's website says that "more dates will be announced" and a 2021 U.S. run seems like a safe bet. Every song on Seconds Out has been played live by Hackett at some point over the the past few years with the sole exception of 1976's "Robbery, Assault and Battery."
Earlier this year, we asked Hackett about the possibility of playing another Genesis album on tour. "I think the album I have attacked most is Foxtrot," he said. "I have played most of those songs live, probably with the exception of maybe one tune. I have never played 'Time Table' live, but at various times I have played the whole of it, though never in its entirety. So I think that's probably the other album that fans think of as a continuum. I think that's probably because of the journey that is 'Supper's Ready' because that takes up most of Side Two."
The most beloved Genesis album from Hackett's time in the band is 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, but he said he wasn't very interested in reviving that one. "Believe me, it's been suggested to me by fans, by musicians, by promoters and they're all prepared to put it on," he said. "But I tend to think that it's very much Peter Gabriel's baby."
Hackett hasn't played with Genesis since a two-song appearance at their 1982 reunion show with Peter Gabriel. He was joined by Mike Rutherford and Gabriel at one of his solo shows the following year, which marked the last time that Gabriel has played a complete Genesis song in public.
Genesis hasn't played in any capacity since the end of their 2007 Turn It on Again reunion tour. At the end of his 2019 Still Not Dead Yet solo tour, Collins hinted that another reunion is possible. "We're still great friends," he told the audience most every night. "So you never know..." If they want Hackett to join them this time, however, he's pretty tied up with Genesis Revisited shows over the next year.
Here are the dates for Steve Hackett's 2020 Seconds Out tour.
November 1st - Brighton @ Brighton Dome November 2nd - Cardiff @ St. David's Hall November 3rd - Stoke @ Victoria Hall November 5th - London @ Palladium November 6th - London @ Palladium November 8th - Edinburgh @ Playhouse November 9th - Dundee @ Caird Hall November 10th - Carlisle @ The Sands Centre November 12th - Newcastle @ 02 City Hall November 14th - Scunthorpe @ The Baths Hall November 15th - Bradford @ St George's Concert Hall November 16th - Southampton @ Mayflower Theatre November 17th - Cambridge @ Corn Exchang November 18th - Oxford @ New Theatre November 20th - Guildford @ G Live November 21st - Bexhill-on-Sea @ De La Warr Pavilion November 23rd - Birmingham @ Symphony Hall November 25th - Manchester @ 02 Apollo November 27th - Leicester @ De Montfort Hall November 28th - Basingstoke @ Anvil November 30th - Liverpool @ Philharmonic, December 1st - Glasgow @ Royal Concert Hall
