Steve Hackett at Edinburgh Usher Hall, 25 November 2019

So here we are in the thick, unpenetrable blanket of smoke of Steve Hackett and Spectral Mornings again, all strange stories of undead souls, gradually getting odder and odder throughout the tour.  "I once went to a spiritual chiropractor to get the spirits on the other side to sort out a pain in my foot", Steve announced.  O-kaaay...

Anyway, off we go - here's Every Day, with Nad in his sunglasses.

Steve announces some new songs that we have to sit through, Under the Eye of the Sun , Fallen Walls and Pedestals, and Beasts in our Time.

The very beautiful Red Flower of Tachai Blooms Everywhere.

Clocks - The Angel of Mons.

You can't see much of him, but Craig Blundell does an absolutely blistering virtuoso drum solo, which includes a one-handed drum roll at the end (if you're paying attention).

Then it's on to the second half, with Selling England by the Pound, starting with Dancing with the Moonlit Knight.  

Rob has a bit of trouble with his wooden spoon, and has to get the tech guys in.

Cue Nad in his curry-house wallpaper coat.  This is the part at the very end of the song, where Nad plays the two little elegiac wooden percussion notes, then slowly posts the stick into the end.

I Know What I Like.  

Nad's character in this is like a wind-up tinplate toy, one of those monkeys with the cymbals.  His performance is full of small detail - finger twitches, facial movement, shoulder rolling -  which can surely only be seen by the first couple of rows of the audience.

Here he is, standing still at the back and yet not being still, as Rob launches into the centre stage with his funky sax solo.

And suddenly, he's off, the mechanism is released, and he's manically playing the tambourine.

This is the ever-beautiful Firth of Fifth, and the never-ending bending note towards the end of the song in Steve's guitar solo.

More Fool Me.

The enjoyably camp romp that is The Battle of Epping Forest.

"Picnic!"

This is the part where Rob and Nad burst into Spanish flamenco clapping.

Cinema Show.

Los Endos.

Spoon abuse.

The multi-tasking Mr Townsend.

"Goodnight, Edinburgh!" The only venue where the audience have actually stood up and danced.