On the road with the Steve Hackett eccentric band - November 09
Nick and Steve, Aschaffenburg
Rob turning Nick on, Stuttgart gig
Nick ironing his flute
By Nick Beggs
It's really great seeing this whole thing grow on the road. I only started working with Steve in March (09) after he took a sabbatical from live work and already there is a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation from the audience before each show. Large crowds of people are turning up night after night to get a taste of true prog heritage and I'm honored to be a part of it.
Initially tracks like Mechanical Bride and Firth of Fifth presented themselves as a tour de force but now that we are pressing on with the new material those tracks seem to have become easier to play. Just when I thought I had it all sown up, even more complex pieces materialize. Such is the challenge of being a part of this remarkable quintet.
All the guys are quite amazing in their own right...... if not a little strange. ?
Roger with his engineering and film soundtrack background likes to collect beer mats and insists on indexing and cross-checking them in his hand-bound brochure before each show.
Gary with his martial arts discipline and running his own music school likes to sit under a bamboo pyramid meditating in each of the hotel foyers before leaving for sound check.
Rob the saxophone wizard who is senior lecturer at Middlesex University can be seen wearing tartan slippers and silk smoking jacket on his days off but none of us are ever allowed to enter his hotel suite.
Steve by comparison is quite retiring and is writing a book on the history of custard and its influence on feudal Britain and the landed gentry. I often feel quite ordinary when compared with their eccentricities and talents. But it keeps me on my toes I can tell you. Hope you enjoy the tour as much as I am.
Best, Nick.
Nick Beggs - 5 November 2009
Steve | Gary & Roger | Rob | Nick
