Steve Hackett Event - Remscheid 2009
What brings together environmental scientists, pilots and postal workers? Could it be the love of all things Genesis-related?
We arrived late in Remscheid due to heavy traffic, greeted by slate–clad walls (does it really rain there so much?) Someone claimed Roentgen, the inventor of the X-Ray machine had been born locally but we saw through that one straightaway (turned out to be true). A Steve Hackett event of a different nature had started for our mother, June, on 12 th February 1950. Now, a few years later, here we were to celebrate Steve’s contribution to the world of music, courtesy of the German Genesis Fan Club
Winding our way through the cobbled alleyways of Remscheid with Johannes’ satnav patiently guiding us through every turn (why isn’t it all as calm as that when my wife Katrin is map-reading for me?), we arrived at the Klosterkirche just in time for Nick Magnus and myself to do a sound-check.
I was feeling pretty stressed by this point - although Nick and I had 'gone out to play’ together many times since our first Steve Hackett gig in Oslo in 1978, this was our first time as a duo. Thankfully Hauke, the sound mixer, could not have been more helpful - the ancient art of door-holding was thankfully not dead in this part of the world! Richard Buckland had kindly done a de-coke and rebore (or whatever guitar technicians do) on my electro-acoustic, so when Nick’s preferred keyboard arrived, we were able to give of our best. (if that was your best…ed )
One of the highlights of the week-end for me was being invited by the Watch to join them on-stage to play the flute part to ‘the Shepherd ’. I’m ashamed to say it wasn’t a song I knew but it has been quite a discovery for me; a lovely song with some very characteristic Anthony Phillips 12-string work. I then had the pleasure of seeing the Watch play some other early Genesis material like Twilight Ale-house. I thought they were terrific as well as being a really nice bunch of guys!
Steve had done a substantial on-stage interview that first night and it had been a long day for everyone so perhaps no surprise that at 8am next morning, Katrin and I found ourselves alone in the breakfast room.
“I have 45 guests here in this hotel”, said the lady manager in her clipped English, “and no-one is down for breakfast!”
Later Saturday morning Bernd gave us a guided tour of the magnificent exhibition which he and others had put together. It was a breathtaking array of Steve Hackett memorabilia from Japanese ticket stubs to obscure single releases, sent in specially by fans around the world, all displayed in a large upstairs room , separate from the main concert hall. It really was the perfect venue for such an event. Down the centre of the room was a long table with individual books of press clippings and promo material that charted Steve’s career from it’s beginning to the present day-the amount of work that must have gone into all this was phenomenal. And Ralph showed us a small part of his amazing Genesis vinyl collection. If only I’d hung on to that strawberry jacket of Steve’s which hung for many years in the old wardrobe of our flat in Pimlico, long after he had left home to roam the world…
And so at 6pm, before the Trio concert we had the opportunity of meeting the many friends who had come from all over Germany and Europe. Some had even come over from Manchester, Leeds and Colchester specially for this event. It really did feel as if we were part of one big family.
So a huge, huge thank you to Helmut Janisch, Bernd, Christian, Peter, Stefan and all the other people involved in the tremendous amount of work necessary to make this such a memorable occasion for everyone.
Thank you all.
