On This Day 30/10/2014 Steve Hackett

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On this day, 30 October 2014, former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on his Genesis Extended 2014 World Tour.

Hackett released his first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, while still a member of Genesis in 1975. After a series of further solo albums beginning in 1978, Hackett co-founded the supergroup GTR with Steve Howe in 1986. The group released the self-titled album GTR, which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and spawned the Top 20 single "When the Heart Rules the Mind".

When Hackett left GTR in 1987, the group disbanded. Hackett then resumed his solo career. He has released albums and toured worldwide on a regular basis since.

Hackett's body of work encompasses many styles; in addition to his work in progressive rock, he has explored pop, blues, world music and classical music on his solo recordings. According to Guitar World: "Hackett's early explorations of two-handed tapping and sweep picking were far ahead of their time, and influenced Eddie Van Halen and Brian May."

Setlist

Dance on a Volcano

(Genesis song)

Squonk

(Genesis song)

Dancing With the Moonlit Knight

(Genesis song)

The Return of the Giant Hogweed

(Genesis song)

Fly on a Windshield

(Genesis song)

Broadway Melody of 1974

(Genesis song)

The Fountain of Salmacis

(Genesis song)

The Musical Box

(Genesis song)

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

(Genesis song)

Horizons

(Genesis song)

Firth of Fifth

(Genesis song)

Lilywhite Lilith

(Genesis song)

The Knife

(Genesis song)

Supper's Ready

(Genesis song)

Encore:

Watcher of the Skies

(Genesis song)

Myopia / Slogans / Los Endos

On This Day 29/06/1980 Steve Hackett

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On this day, 29 June 1980, former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett played Cardiff’s Top Rank on his Defector tour.

Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) came to prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970. Hackett remained with the band for eight albums before leaving in 1977 to pursue a solo career.

Hackett's first post-Genesis album was Please Don't Touch, released in 1978. As with Voyage of the Acolyte, much of the material on the album was in the style of progressive rock. It did contain, however, much more vocal work. Hackett, who had never sung lead on a Genesis song, turned over most of the vocals to a number of singers, including folk singer Richie Havens, R&B singer Randy Crawford, and Steve Walsh of Kansas.

A pair of progressive rock albums followed—1979's Spectral Mornings and 1980's Defector. They were both Top 40 albums in the UK, while they charted #138 and #144 in the United States, respectively. Hackett toured Europe for the first time as a solo act in 1979, and in August performed at the Reading Festival. The Defector tour brought him to the United States for the first time since his last tour with Genesis.

Tour Setlist

Slogans

Every Day

The Red Flower of Tachai Blooms Everywhere

Tigermoth

Kim

Time to Get Out

The Steppes

The Toast

Narnia

Black Light / Blood on the Rooftops / Horizons

Sentimental Institution

Jacuzzi

Spectral Mornings

A Tower Struck Down

Clocks - The Angel of Mons

Please Don't Touch

The Show

It's Now or Never

(Elvis Presley cover)

Hercules Unchained

On This Day 15/03/1971 Genesis

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On this day, 15 March 1971, prog rock giants Genesis played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens on their Trespass tour.

Formed, in 1967. The band's longest-existing and most commercially successful line-up consisted of keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer/singer Phil Collins. In the 1970s, during which the band also included singer Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett, Genesis were among the pioneers of progressive rock.

The group were formed by five Charterhouse pupils, including Banks, Rutherford, Gabriel and guitarist Anthony Phillips, and named by former Charterhouse pupil and pop impresario Jonathan King, who arranged for them to record several singles and their debut album From Genesis to Revelation in 1969.

After splitting from King, the band began touring, signed with Charisma Records and became a progressive rock band on Trespass (1970). Phillips departed after the album's recording, with Banks, Rutherford and Gabriel recruiting Collins and Hackett before recording Nursery Cryme (1971).

Their live shows began to feature Gabriel's theatrical costumes and performances. Foxtrot (1972) was their first charting album in the UK and Selling England by the Pound (1973) reached number three there, featuring their first UK hit "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)". The concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974) was promoted with a transatlantic tour and an elaborate stage show, before Gabriel left the group.

Setlist

Happy The Man

Fountain Of Salmacis

Seven Stones

Twilight Alehouse

The Light

White Mountain

The Musical Box

Harlequin

The Knife

Going Out To Get You

The Return Of The Giant Hogweed

On This Day 26/10/1972 Genesis

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On this day, 26 October 1972, prog rock legends Genesis played Cardiff’s Top Rank on their Foxtrot tour. Also featured were Lindisfarne and Rab Noakes.

Foxtrot is the fourth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis, released on 15 September 1972 on Charisma Records. It features their longest recorded song, the 23-minute track "Supper's Ready".

The album was recorded following the tour in support of their previous album, Nursery Cryme (1971), which saw them gain popularity, including a well-received slot at the Great Western Express Festival, Lincolnshire in May 1972.

The album was written over the summer of 1972 and combined songs that had already been performed live with new material worked out in jam sessions. Recording began in August with John Anthony, but sessions were prone to tension and disagreements. After a short Italian tour, sessions resumed with Dave Hitchcock as producer.

The cover was the final Genesis work to be designed by Paul Whitehead, featuring a fox wearing a red dress. Frontman Peter Gabriel wore the dress and a fox's head on stage for the following tour, which gathered press attention and raised the group's profile.

Foxtrot was the first Genesis album to chart in the UK, reaching No. 12, and received largely positive reviews. It went to number one in Italy. A non-album single "Happy the Man" was released at the same time. The album has continued to attract critical praise and was reissued with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix as part of their 2008 Genesis 1970–1975 box set.

Tour

At the end of September 1972, Genesis played a warm-up gig at the National Stadium, Dublin. During the last song, "The Musical Box", Gabriel disappeared during the instrumental section, and re-appeared wearing his wife's red dress and a fox's head, mimicking Foxtrot's front cover. He had not told his bandmates he would do this, but he appeared in this getup on the front cover of Melody Maker, raising the band's profile. His interests and family issues led him to leave the band in August 1975.

The tour covered Europe and North America between September 1972 and August 1973. It opened with a UK leg with Lindisfarne as co-headliners. The group played their first US shows during the tour, including a warm up show at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts followed by a gig at Philharmonic Hall in New York City with String Driven Thing in December 1972. The latter was in benefit for the United Cerebral Palsy Fund. Despite the band's critical opinion of the concert due to a lack of rehearsal time, technical problems, and a perceived unenthusiastic audience, it went down well with the crowd that requested more Genesis songs be played on local radio stations, thus increasing their exposure.

Band

Tony Banks - Keyboards

Phil Collins - Percussion

Peter Gabriel - Vocals

Steve Hackett - Lead Guitar

Mike Rutherford - Bass Guitar

On This Day 09/04/1980 Genesis

On this day, 9 April 1980, rock giants Genesis played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens on the band’s Duke tour.

The tour followed the release of their 1980 album, Duke, which was well received by both critics and fans alike.

The tour began in March of 1980 in Paignton, England and ended on June 30th the same year in Saratoga, New York.

It was the band's fourth tour since the departure of singer Peter Gabriel, the second tour since the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett.

Band

Tony Banks – Keyboards/Piano
Phil Collins – Vocals/Drums/Percussion
Mike Rutherford – Bass Guitar/Lead Guitar
Chester Thompson – Drums/Percussion
Daryl Steurmer – Lead Guitar/Bass Guitar

The Tour set list was mainly comprised of :

 Deep in the Motherlode, Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (intro)/Carpet Crawlers, Squonk, One for the Vine, Behind the Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal, Turn it On Again, Duke’s Travels/Duke’s End, Say It’s Alright Joe, Ripples, The Lady Lies, Misunderstanding, In The Cage/Slippermen/Afterglow, Follow You Follow Me, Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos, I Know What I Like, The Knife, Back in NYC/The Musical Box (ending)

On this day 01/10/1977 Peter Gabriel

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On this day, 1 October 1977, former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

Gabriel was promoting his debut solo studio album and the first of four with the same eponymous title.

Released on 25 February 1977, it was produced by Bob Ezrin. Gabriel and Ezrin assembled musicians, including guitarist Robert Fripp, and his future King Crimson bandmate Tony Levin on bass. On the album's release, Gabriel began touring with a seven-piece band under his own name. The album went to No. 7 in UK and No. 38 in the US.

The album is often called either Peter Gabriel I or Car, referring to the album cover by London artist Peter Christopherson.

Music streaming services currently refer to it as Peter Gabriel 1: Car. Gabriel's first solo success came with the album's lead single "Solsbury Hill", which Gabriel has said is about "being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get ... It's about letting go."

Setlist

Here Comes the Flood

On the Air

Moribund the Burgermeister

Waiting for the Big One

Indigo

("A Little Song for Little People" working title)

Excuse Me

Ain't That Peculiar

(Marvin Gaye cover)

Solsbury Hill

Humdrum

Slowburn

All Day and All of the Night

(The Kinks cover)

Here Comes the Flood

Modern Love

Down the Dolce Vita

Back in N.Y.C.

(Genesis song)