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So: Back to Front
Sep. 27th, 2012 08:00 pmIt is the 25th anniversary of Peter Gabriel's So, so he put the old band back together, and went on tour. It was an interesting show. If anyone expected a regular concert, they didn't quite get one.
At eight o'clock sharp, Peter took the stage to explain that the scheduled opening act, Ane Brun was sick, and could not perform the tour. Her backing musician, Jennie Abrahamson, would perform in her place. Jennie sang in a high, breathy voice, and played Peter's big Bosendorfer piano. She was accompanied by Linnea Olssen on cello and vocals. They both have beautiful voices, but there was one point in particular, where their harmony was breathtaking. They did four songs.
At 8:40, Peter came out to give a brief explanation of his show. Yes, it needed an explanation, but more on that in a moment. His band comprised Tony Levin on basses and stick, David Rhodes on guitar, Manu Katche on drums and David Sancious on keyboards, along with Jennie Abrahamson and Linnea Olssen on backing vocals.
So Peter came out to the front of the stage, with the house lights still up, and explained that the show would be in three parts. Basically, acoustic, electric and So. The first song was a sort of rehearsal. Tony came out with his bass, and the two of them kinda jammed, like they were working through a new song. After that one, the rest of the band joined them. They did three more tunes, acoustically. "Come Talk to Me" (Sancious on accordion), a slow, jazzy version of "Shock the Monkey," and "Family Snapshot." The last, included the lyrics, "Come back Mum and Dad/You're growing apart/You know that I'm growing up sad/I need some attention" at the end.
If I recall correctly, it was during "Family Snapshot," during the rocking part, that the house lights went down. They were playing it casual, like a rehearsal, up until that point. After that, it became a real concert. For the second section, they played five songs. All the songs in the show were from Us or earlier. In this respect, with the exception of the four songs from Us and one from OVO, it wasn't very unlike a concert of the time. The other difference was that they played all the songs from So.
The third set was the album, straight through. Note that it was the running order of the new remastered version, with "In Your Eyes" moved to the end. Though I owned the LP, I must never have played it much. "That Voice Again," merely sounded familiar, while "We Do What We Are Told" didn't. Nor did "This Is the Picture," though that song was not on the original LP. The other five songs (except "In Your Eyes") were on Shaking the Tree which I played extensively.
They came back for an encore with "The Tower That Ate People," another song I had never heard before. It's a heavy, techno-ish tune. One of Gabriel's set pieces was a large ring, up in the light battens. He was at front center of the stage, when the ring came slowly down and surrounded him. Then it split, leaving the lower half lying on the stage, while the upper half rose back up. It trailed behind a helix of cloth surrounding a tube of cloth, which held Peter inside of it. The band closed with the still-relevant and always emotional "Biko." Oh, oh, ohhh-oh!
The main stage element of his 1987 tour that he brought back was the animated light stands. There were five of them on a track that ran around the perimeter of the stage. Each consisted of a trolley, a straight, counterbalanced arm with a head on the end, that rose and fell. The head had three Vari-lites mounted on the bottom. They were pushed around and operated by stagehands, while the Vari-lites were computer controlled, of course. The choreography was great. As in the original stage show, they "attacked" Peter during "No Self Control," and seemed to nurse him during "Mercy Street". Their spotlights swept the audience accusingly, for "We Do What We Are Told."
It seemed the average age of the audients was in the forties. Lots of thirtysomethings and fiftysomethings as well. Some older, some younger, even young children, but I'd call it an old crowd. Old enough that they wanted to sit whenever the songs weren't really danceable. And I mean *really* danceable, because there were many songs that I wanted to dance to, but couldn't because I had to sit. Every song began with wondering whether we were going to have to sit back down or whether we'd be able to get up. It was rather aggravating. And those of you who know me, know I'm not all that into dancing, so I don't know what was up with that crowd. I'm too old for all that up and down - I'd rather just have stayed up the whole time.
And speaking of old, Gabriel isn't appearing as spry and energetic as he has in the past - even the last time we saw him, only ten years ago. It didn't affect the music any, just the level of energy coming from the stage. And it seemed there were more of the low-key songs. "Here Comes the Flood," "Mercy Street," "Secret World", "Don't Give Up." But Gabriel does a mix of cerebral, emotional, ominous, exuberant, etc. "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" were just as energetic as always, and "Solsbury Hill" was appropriately bouncy. "Red Rain" and "Digging In the Dirt" were as intense as ever. Even so, he took the stage at 8:45, and played until 11:00. That's two hours and fifteen minutes, but he only left the stage for a couple of minutes before the encore.
( setlist )
At eight o'clock sharp, Peter took the stage to explain that the scheduled opening act, Ane Brun was sick, and could not perform the tour. Her backing musician, Jennie Abrahamson, would perform in her place. Jennie sang in a high, breathy voice, and played Peter's big Bosendorfer piano. She was accompanied by Linnea Olssen on cello and vocals. They both have beautiful voices, but there was one point in particular, where their harmony was breathtaking. They did four songs.
At 8:40, Peter came out to give a brief explanation of his show. Yes, it needed an explanation, but more on that in a moment. His band comprised Tony Levin on basses and stick, David Rhodes on guitar, Manu Katche on drums and David Sancious on keyboards, along with Jennie Abrahamson and Linnea Olssen on backing vocals.
So Peter came out to the front of the stage, with the house lights still up, and explained that the show would be in three parts. Basically, acoustic, electric and So. The first song was a sort of rehearsal. Tony came out with his bass, and the two of them kinda jammed, like they were working through a new song. After that one, the rest of the band joined them. They did three more tunes, acoustically. "Come Talk to Me" (Sancious on accordion), a slow, jazzy version of "Shock the Monkey," and "Family Snapshot." The last, included the lyrics, "Come back Mum and Dad/You're growing apart/You know that I'm growing up sad/I need some attention" at the end.
If I recall correctly, it was during "Family Snapshot," during the rocking part, that the house lights went down. They were playing it casual, like a rehearsal, up until that point. After that, it became a real concert. For the second section, they played five songs. All the songs in the show were from Us or earlier. In this respect, with the exception of the four songs from Us and one from OVO, it wasn't very unlike a concert of the time. The other difference was that they played all the songs from So.
The third set was the album, straight through. Note that it was the running order of the new remastered version, with "In Your Eyes" moved to the end. Though I owned the LP, I must never have played it much. "That Voice Again," merely sounded familiar, while "We Do What We Are Told" didn't. Nor did "This Is the Picture," though that song was not on the original LP. The other five songs (except "In Your Eyes") were on Shaking the Tree which I played extensively.
They came back for an encore with "The Tower That Ate People," another song I had never heard before. It's a heavy, techno-ish tune. One of Gabriel's set pieces was a large ring, up in the light battens. He was at front center of the stage, when the ring came slowly down and surrounded him. Then it split, leaving the lower half lying on the stage, while the upper half rose back up. It trailed behind a helix of cloth surrounding a tube of cloth, which held Peter inside of it. The band closed with the still-relevant and always emotional "Biko." Oh, oh, ohhh-oh!
The main stage element of his 1987 tour that he brought back was the animated light stands. There were five of them on a track that ran around the perimeter of the stage. Each consisted of a trolley, a straight, counterbalanced arm with a head on the end, that rose and fell. The head had three Vari-lites mounted on the bottom. They were pushed around and operated by stagehands, while the Vari-lites were computer controlled, of course. The choreography was great. As in the original stage show, they "attacked" Peter during "No Self Control," and seemed to nurse him during "Mercy Street". Their spotlights swept the audience accusingly, for "We Do What We Are Told."
It seemed the average age of the audients was in the forties. Lots of thirtysomethings and fiftysomethings as well. Some older, some younger, even young children, but I'd call it an old crowd. Old enough that they wanted to sit whenever the songs weren't really danceable. And I mean *really* danceable, because there were many songs that I wanted to dance to, but couldn't because I had to sit. Every song began with wondering whether we were going to have to sit back down or whether we'd be able to get up. It was rather aggravating. And those of you who know me, know I'm not all that into dancing, so I don't know what was up with that crowd. I'm too old for all that up and down - I'd rather just have stayed up the whole time.
And speaking of old, Gabriel isn't appearing as spry and energetic as he has in the past - even the last time we saw him, only ten years ago. It didn't affect the music any, just the level of energy coming from the stage. And it seemed there were more of the low-key songs. "Here Comes the Flood," "Mercy Street," "Secret World", "Don't Give Up." But Gabriel does a mix of cerebral, emotional, ominous, exuberant, etc. "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" were just as energetic as always, and "Solsbury Hill" was appropriately bouncy. "Red Rain" and "Digging In the Dirt" were as intense as ever. Even so, he took the stage at 8:45, and played until 11:00. That's two hours and fifteen minutes, but he only left the stage for a couple of minutes before the encore.
( setlist )
