Well having been one of the lucky winners to the competition what was held on the Peter Gabriel official website, I made my way to Wembley Arena. Now I had been there once before to a Meatloaf gig but that is another story and usually told after a few drinks.

I arrived at the venue early and made my way to my seat, which was quite a reasonable view of the stage mind you I still can’t grumble it was a free gift anyhow.

I sat down and over the PA came the announcement by Peter that Sizer Barker were about to come on stage, Sizer Barker being one of two Supporting acts.

Sizer Barker were quite good and better than I anticipated, they had a Beatley kind of sound, Mind you being that there from Liverpool and that they used some of the Beatles techniques and ideas in their songs I can understand the reason I came to that Idea.

The next person was armed with just an Acoustic guitar and he was very different, I couldn’t understand what he was singing about but the songs were interesting and of a high level of musicianship.

Next was the main Event, Peter choosing to enter the stage through the middle of the arena and passing through people, which had around 75% of people on there feet and applauding.

Peter Started with “Here comes the flood“ which went by and I started to appreciate Peters music having only heard 16 golden greats, and Hits and a SACD of UP I was in for a treat, next up was the “The Darkness“ this woke up anyone stifled by the heat and brought a tear to the eye, the bit about a Monster had a theme similar to some of the Lamb Lies down on Broadway…

Red rain came next, and the lighting was spot on Peter has a very vivid imagination to pull such ideally matched lighting cues.

Secret World was good, again a lot of people got up and span themselves round including a rather drunk guy 4 rows down from us, but the song gave me a buzz, alas not enough to spin round though.

White ashes came next and I quite liked it, again different, I had only taken around three photos by this point, then Games without frontiers came on and I felt that hair on your back raising moment you get when the music is spot on, the lighting was interesting, and the Segways were innovative and Peter nearly ended up in the front row.

Then Burn you up Burn you down, which I recall was released as a single and as a bonus track on the Hit and Miss compilation, When performed live it exceeded expectation.

 

The next one I can remember was The Tower that ate people, for a few reasons, the staging changes and the title, but I enjoyed it nice use of Samplers/Keyboards and most likely to win the award of least expected Peter Gabriel song. Time went by, and then Peter gave us an insight to the story of San Jacinto did Peter really save this guys cat?

Next up Digging in the dirt, again this was one I knew well and enjoyed, by this stage I was joining in with the words, which are quite introspective in some regards. Growing Up was great, The Ball with Peter like a hamster was fun, I took a few good photos of this, and the Orange man chasing Peter around in case he ran off stage with the ball was priceless.

Solsbury Hill nearly had me in tears, another one I knew well, and sang along to, I also got some great photos of Peter on his bicycle.

Sledgehammer next and this got everyone on there feet…

 

Set List

• Here Comes The Flood,
• Darkness,
• Red Rain
• Secret World,
• White Ashes,
• Games Without Frontiers
• Burn You Up, Burn You Down
• Downside Up
• The Tower That Ate People
• More Than This
• San Jacinto
• Digging In The Dirt
• Growing Up
• Solsbury Hill
• Sledgehammer
• Signal To Noise

 

 

 

Encore’s

• In Your Eyes
• Come Talk To Me
• Father Son.

 

Tour Personnel

• Peter Gabriel – Vocals / Keyboards
• Melanie Gabriel – Backing Vocals
• Ged Lynch – Drums / Percussion / Congas / Drum Kit
• Richard Evans – Godin Mandolin / Rickenbacker 12 String / Dave King Acoustic / Dave King 12 String / Dave King Dobro / Overton whistles / Backing Vocals
• David Rhodes – Frudua electric / Fender JazzMaster / Fernandez electric / Gibson Les Paul / Neptune Baritone / Backing Vocals
• Rachel Z – Kurzweil 2600 keyboards / Korg Triton Keyboards / Backing Vocals
• Tony Levin – Music Man 5 String Sting Ray Bass / NS Electric Upright / NS Electric Cello / Music Man Fretless 4 String / Gibson EB2 / Nord Bass / Chapman Stick / Backing Vocals

The rest of the gig flew by, I recall an encore by the support acts and Peter and one of the orange people, trying to trip up the lead singer of Sizer Barker lol.

Then the final encore was Father, Son and alas it was all over, tons of crew in hard hats ran in and pulled the stage down before I got out of the venue and I bought the obligatory tour programme.

For more information about Peter please visit his official site www.petergabriel.com

Thanks to Peter and his band, and his management for the competition.