PETER GABRIEL 2023 06 19 LONDON THE O2 ARENA THE I/O TOUR ENGLAND (Video-DOT)

PETER GABRIEL * 2023 06 19 * LONDON * THE O2 ARENA * THE I/O TOUR * ENGLAND (Video-DOT) SETLIST ********** 01 Washing of the Water 02 Growing Up 03 Panopticom 04 Four Kinds Of Horses 05 i/o 06 Digging In The Dirt 07 Playing For Time 08 Olive Tree 09 This Is Home 10 Sledgehammer 11 Darkness 12 Love Can Heal 13 Road To Joy 14 Don’t Give Up 15 The Court 16 Red Rain 17 And Still 18 Big Time 19 Live And Let Live 20 Solsbury Hill 21 In Your Eyes 22 Biko BAND LINE-UP ************************** PETER GABRIEL - vocals, keyboards TONY LEVIN - bass, keyboards DAVID RHODES - guitars RICHARD EVANS - guitar, flute AYANNA WITTER-JOHNSON - cello, piano, backing vocals MARINA MOORE - violin, viola, backing vocals MANU KATCHE - drums DON McLEAN - Keyboards JOSH SHPAK - trumpet, french horn, keys, backing vocals I'd like to thank all the YouTubers whose footage I used to make this movie. THANK YOU VERY MUCH Grzegorz Grabowski I want to be honest with you and let you know that there are a few short moments in this film that were not shot in London. I mean Video because the audio from beginning to end is from the London concert. Grzegorz Grabowski I dedicate this movie to my late son Kajetan Grabowski. . ________________________________________________________________________ A BOG-STANDARD GREATEST HITS SHOW THIS WAS NOT BY Shaun Curran There is something to be said for a refusal to play into easy nostalgia, and Gabriel has often marched to the beat of his own drum It’s fair to say that Peter Gabriel’s first London show in nine years wasn’t one for the casual punter. Of the 22 songs performed by the former Genesis frontman, half were brand new, presumed to be from his forthcoming album i/o, his first record of new material in 21 years that currently has no release date. Six have been drip-fed out over the past few months – Gabriel decided to put out two versions of each track, a dark and light mix, on each full moon this year – but five haven’t been heard at all. A greatest hits set this was not. Such obstinacy would normally be the death knell of any gig: people paying top dollar for big shows, especially from an artist of Gabriel’s vintage, tend, somewhat justifiably, to expect to hear songs that they know and love. But then there is something to be said for a refusal to play into easy nostalgia, and Gabriel has often marched to the beat of his own drum: on his last tour, he opened with a song he hadn’t even finished writing. Even the start of the show was somewhat incongruous. After shuffling on in near darkness and making a joke that he is an Abba-like avatar (“except instead of younger I’m 20 years older, 20lb heavier and bald”) Gabriel played opener, 1992’s gentle “Washing of the Water”, on keyboard with just long-time stalwart Tony Levin on bass; the rest of the eight-strong band joined for the worldly rhythms of “Growing Up”, and played under a huge illuminated moon sat around a faux campfire, complete with embers smoking from firewood. It was the most lowkey start to an arena show imaginable. The next hour was full of Gabriel’s new material, which, expressed by musicians of the highest technical proficiency – and augmented by a complex visual spectacle arranged by Canadian theatre director Robert Lepage displaying the work of specially commissioned artists including Ai Wei Wei – was an artfully constructed and melodically rich mix of mood, textures and colours. You could trace folk, rock, 80’s-style funk and electronica in the arrangements, which were fairly straightforward and light by Gabriel’s standards. Some of it was superb: “Playing for Time” was a beautiful piano ballad; “Four Kinds of Horses” a luxuriously layered climate change anthem; “i/o” (meaning output/input) a rather sweet take on interconnectivity with nature. But the lack of recognition means when the show’s first half ended with an exuberant take on signature tune “Sledgehammer” from 1986’s mega-selling So – Gabriel in his element pulling out spritely dad dancing moves for a man of 73 – it was like being transported to a different gig. The relief in the arena was palpable. The second half struck a better balance. After crashing into life with the dense prog of 2002’s “Darkness” – Gabriel singing behind a hi-tech multi-part lengthy see-through screen in silhouette – newer songs like synthy “Live and Let Live” stood up next to hits like the layered rock of “Red Rain” and the infectious “Big Time”, which still sounds like the epitome of mid-80’s chart pomp. It was a blissful end to a connoisseur’s show.