On Thursday, August 4, in St Julian’s Hilton Grandmaster Suite, Malta was treated to a performance from rock legend extraordinaire Steve Hackett, former guitar player of the legendary progressive rock band Genesis and consummate composer in his own right for the Genesis Revisited: Seconds Out + More world tour.

For over two hours, Hackett and his band thrilled an arena filled with enraptured fans, many of whom knew every lyric to every song. With a playlist primarily comprised of songs from Genesis’s 1970’s catalogue, the audience was captivated as the band belted out classics such as The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Afterglow, I Know What I Like (in your Wardrobe), The Carpet Crawlers, and Supper’s Ready.

With styles ranging from mild acoustic to wild symphonic rock, Hackett and his company of virtuoso musicians brought the house down.

Hackett was kind enough to sit down and talk about topics ranging from his old days with Genesis to his independent career to his private life.

The first item on the agenda was Malta itself. Hackett is extremely fond of the island, even having composed a song entitled Mdina (The Walled City) for his album entitled Under a Mediterranean Sky, released in January 2021. Hackett and his wife Jo had visited Malta in 2019 and loved it, especially Mdina, when his Maltese promotions manager, Nigel Camilleri brought him to visit.

Hackett and band performing in St Julian’s. Photo: Dawn Adrienne Saliba

There, he had been especially taken with the exhibition of historical musical instruments curated by Anna Borg Cardona at the Cathedral Museum.

He particularly recommended this beautiful video rendition of Mdina (Walled City) created by artist Frank Grabowski, who uses watercolour to portray Malta’s beautiful ancient city – a fitting complement to the sweeping dramatic scope of the composition.

When asked what had been the impetus of the song, Hackett mentioned that it was the pandemic. When COVID first hit and the entire world went into lockdown, Mdina came to mind because, as the guitarist phrased it, it had been historically a “city of lockdown” – a city within a city designed to protect those within from the assailants attacking beyond its walls.

For Hackett, music is a lifelong journey

The song, much like Mdina and Malta itself, seems a mosaic of different cultures and times. Classical guitar sections in the piece reference baroque or pre-Knight periods, but thumping, orchestral bass strides evoke the many sieges the city withstood, from the Ottoman 1565 invasion to World War II.

These are personal references embedded within the music too. Jo’s grandfather was with the British navy during the last war and had been involved with breaking the Axis blockade. Hackett also connected the song with his own grandfather’s difficult wartime experiences in Bari, Italy, when he, like the citizens of Malta, faced starvation and deprivation.

Thus, the composition forms a musical bridge between Malta’s (and their grandparents’) existential battle for survival to what the entire world was facing in the early days of the pandemic.

Perhaps with this in mind, Hackett mused upon the spiritual elements of music.

Hackett emphasises that music is a powerful force. It brings people together like nothing else and unites them in ways not otherwise possible. He referenced musical ceremonial healings that he himself had participated in, the results of which erased his initial scepticism.

As he wrote in a blog (about the Metamorpheus album), he believes that such musical rites have been utilised since the earliest civilisations: “There’s a sense of a shaman, combining music, healing and visiting the underworld. Even beyond that is the idea of the power of love.”

Hackett in Ħaġar Qim.

For Hackett, music is a lifelong journey. He, along with his wife and friends, constantly travel the world in search of new rhythms, new sounds, new instruments and new adventures that result in new compositions. Expanding his musical palette also enables him to transcend any limiting categorisation others may wish to place upon him: he is as equally comfortable playing Bach as he is performing King Crimson.

This is really notable in his latest album, Surrender of Silence, where he incorporates eclectic influences from Asia (Shanghai to Smarkand) to Africa (Wingbeats) in sweeping, epic tracks.

The sense of music as a powerful unifying force was certainly present in St Julian’s on Thursday night. After the show, the crowd was euphoric, thundering for more encores (which were gladly provided).

Later this year, the band plans to tour again, this time performing the Genesis classic Foxtrot in its entirety, along with more thrilling original material. Hopefully, Hackett will return to us in Malta then to share with us more ecstatic music and enlightening wisdom.