Twelve months ago I was due to see Steve Hackett play the Leadmill in Sheffield but due to poor ticket sales for this show the gig was cancelled. I wrote to Steve's management via Steve's website www.stevehackett.com explaining my disappointment and to their credit they sent me a complimentary CD. Since then I have watched the Hackett website for news of his next tour which finally came to Rotherham's Oakwood Centre of March 26th 2005.

Steve's current tour is not the same as last years, gone are the strobe lights and bass pedals as his acoustic trio takes to the road for some 'unplugged' shows, beautifully crafted pieces for acoustic guitar, flute and keyboards. His brother, John, on flute and keyboardist Roger King, accompanies the former Genesis guitarist for a tour that has dates in the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Steve Hackett joined Genesis in 1971 following the departure of Anthony Philips and he probably did some of his best writing with the band for the '73 album 'Selling England By The Pound'. By 1975 Peter Gabriel left the band to concentrate on his solo career while Steve's first solo album, 'Voyage of The Acolyte', was completed that same year whilst still as a member of Genesis. The band made two more studio albums 'Trick of The Tail' and 'Wind and Wuthering' but Steve left Genesis during the mixing of the band's live album 'Seconds Out' in 1977.

His solo career went from strength to strength with his next two albums 'Please Don't Touch' and 'Spectral Mornings' and over the last twenty five years or more he has continued touring and recording while being supported by ageing Genesis fans like myself who believe that the best era for Genesis was during the Gabriel and Hackett years.

The show in a school assembly hall like venue in front of a hundred or so fans was more like a classic recital than a tradition gig. The first half an hour or so Steve plays by himself playing a selection of new material mixed with some familiar favourites. Hackett also tells a story or two about his early influences, Hank Marvin for one and explains how as a youngster he suffered for his art, learning to play on a wire string guitar with a high action that would sometimes make his finger ends bleed. When a friend introduced him to nylon strings he tells how it was like going from strings made of barbed wire to strings made from silk.

As the show continues his brother John joins Hackett on stage along with Roger King and the trio play more from Hackett's back catalogue including 'Jacuzzi', 'Ace of Wands' and 'Kim'. Two encores end the show one with the trio and the final encore with Steve on his own playing the classic 'Horizons'.

The show wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea but is worth seeing particularly for diehard Genesis fans and fanatical Hacketteers.