Steve Hackett brings Genesis classics to the 500-seat Ridgefield Playhouse

The former Genesis guitarist's Best of Genesis & Solo Gems tour stops in Ridgefield on Tuesday, April 20, 2027.

There are rooms where you watch a guitarist, and rooms where you can practically see the fingerwork. The Ridgefield Playhouse, at 500 seats, is the second kind, which is what makes next spring's booking worth circling now.

Steve Hackett plays the Ridgefield Playhouse on Tuesday, April 20, 2027, with an advertised 7:30 p.m. start. Tickets are through the Ridgefield Playhouse. The show was announced on October 22, and with a room this size and a fan base this devoted, the best seats won't sit around for long.

The night is part of Hackett's Best of Genesis & Solo Gems tour of North America, which, as Ultimate Classic Rock and Blabbermouth reported, opens April 10 at Center Stage Theater in Atlanta and continues to Washington's Warner Theatre on April 13 before working through New York, Buffalo and Toronto. A Montreal date at Théâtre St-Denis follows on May 4, per BroadwayWorld, and the run wraps on May 6 in Québec. Published tour listings also show a Ridgefield show the night before, on April 19, so Fairfield County effectively gets two chances.

The concept is right there in the name. The show pairs fan favorites from Hackett's years in Genesis with highlights from a long solo catalog, as Louder described the tour. For longtime fans, that combination is the draw: the Genesis material that made Hackett's name, played by the guitarist who helped write it, set beside the solo songs he has built up in the decades since.

The Genesis songs that made his name, played by the man who helped write them, in a room of 500.

The tour is a genuinely international undertaking. Hackett has a pair of acoustic shows at Trading Boundaries in East Sussex on February 6 and 7, 2027, according to Genesis News, and a Portuguese report has him returning to Lisbon and Porto in October 2027. The North American leg is the centerpiece of the spring, and Ridgefield is one of its smallest rooms.

That's the local angle. JamBase files Hackett under rock, metal and jazz, which is a fair sign of how wide his playing ranges, from intricate progressive arrangements to quieter, more exploratory passages. A 500-seat theater lets all of it come through clearly, without the distance of a bigger hall. For a guitarist whose playing rewards close listening, that matters.

The Ridgefield Playhouse has long been a home for exactly this kind of booking, which is why it fits so naturally on a tour otherwise playing much larger theaters in major cities. For Fairfield County, it means the trip to New York isn't necessary. It's a Tuesday, the start is 7:30 p.m., and you'll be home at a reasonable hour.

If you grew up wearing out a Genesis LP, or you came to Hackett through his solo records, this is the kind of show you remember. Get tickets early, find a seat with a clear view of the stage, and watch the hands.

Sources: Steve Hackett North American tour 2027 (Ultimate Classic Rock) (ultimateclassicrock.com); STEVE HACKETT Announces 2027 North American Tour Dates (Blabbermouth) (blabbermouth.net); Steve Hackett announces Best of Genesis and Solo Gems North American tour (Louder) (loudersound.com); Steve Hackett to Return to Montreal May 4, 2027 (BroadwayWorld) (broadwayworld.com); Steve Hackett Trading Boundaries shows 2027 announced (Genesis News) (genesis-news.com); Steve Hackett announces Lisbon and Porto concerts for 2027 (Portugal Resident) (portugalresident.com); Genesis' Steve Hackett announces 2027 North American tour (RTTNews) (rttnews.com); Ridgefield Playhouse (ridgefieldplayhouse.org); JamBase listing (jambase.com)