The Musical Box

Last Saturday Andy J and I made our way 'over the border' to Cardiff to see the legendary Genesis guitarist and song writer Steve Hackett.
We left Tatworth at 1pm and after a two hour drive arrived at the Premier Inn in Barry. We dumped our bags and headed straight out again stopping at the Sir Samuel Romilly a large Wetherspoons pub opposite the station. We both went for a pint of Otleys O1, a very pale golden beer with a hoppy refreshing taste. Having 'wetted our whistle' we caught the next train to Cardiff Central.
First stop here was the Great Western, another Wetherspoons. This was very busy and with loud music playing was not our sort of venue. The selection of real ales was limited as well, but they did have a Kite Brewery ale, Cwrw Gorslas, which was a very good beer.
We didn't stay long though and moved onto a pub from the guide, The Cottage. This is one of the oldest pubs in Cardiff and is a typical town centre pub, long and narrow. Its also a Brain's tied pub and had the full range of their beers. They also had the FA Cup final on so we decided to stay here until the gig started.
I went first for a Dark, a classic mild at 3.5% with a bittersweet, mellow taste. Next up was a 'craft' beer from their craft brewery Dr Rudi at 4.2% and was a really good golden ale with NZ hops and a crisp fruit finish.Last up before we headed round the corner to the St Davids Hall was a Brain's Best at 4.2%, a traditional best bitter.
Then it was off to the gig, we arrived just in time to see Mr Hackett in the foyer signing merchandise.

The gig started at 7.30pm with a support act Anne-Marie Helder, who gave us three or four of her own compositions before the main event got under way at 8pm.

The band launched straight into a great rendition of Watcher of the Skies before giving us a two hour tour of Genesis memory lane greats like Supper's Ready, Dancing with the Moonlight Knight, The Chamber of 32 Doors, The Lamia, Eleventh Earl of Mar amongst others with The Musical Box getting a mid concert standing ovation, before a rousing encore of Firth of Fifth and Los Endos.
I know I say it all the time, but this was one of the best gig's I've ever been to.
The walk back to the Station was an eye-opener, a bit like Beirut with Police, Ambulances and guys with blood running down their faces.
Back home on the Sunday and one of the first things I did was to book to see the show again in Bristol in October. Cant get enough of a good thing.