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PETER GABRIEL * 2023 06 25 * DUBLIN * 3ARENA * THE I/O TOUR * IRELAND (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 Sledgehammer 10 Darkness 11 Love Can Heal 12 Road To Joy 13 Don’t Give Up 14 The Court 15 Red Rain 16 And Still 17 Big Time 18 Live And Let Live 19 Solsbury Hill 20 In Your Eyes 21 Biko MISSING SONG - This Is Home 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 Dublin concert. Grzegorz Grabowski REVIEW OF PETER GABRIEL'S I/O TOUR DUBLIN, IRELAND Words: Geoff Bailie (FRAGMENT) While the arena and stage area were packed with technology and equipment, the show began very simply with a stripped-back version of “Washing Of The Water,” with Gabriel on piano and solo-career-long bassist Tony Levin. The focus was set right where it should be – on the music. Band members joined then around a “virtual” campfire for “Growing Up” – not exactly fireside singalong material, but a cool reinvention and, perhaps, a statement of intent that this wasn’t going to be a hit-packed romp through the back catalog. Peter spent time between most of the songs explaining their significance and in the case of the new songs, the origin of the accompanying artwork, which formed the basis of the stage presentations of those tracks. Let’s address the issue of new material head-on. Instead of putting out a new album in the traditional way, Gabriel has released songs one by one at each full moon. Despite not having put out a new album of original material since 2002, Peter Gabriel has drip-fed various tracks over those years via soundtracks and one-off singles (so if you’ve missed “Courage,” “I’m Amazing,” “The Veil” and “This is Partyman,” nevermind the Rated PG album, you really should seek them out). So in a sense, the drip feed just got a bit faster! Personally I’m enjoying getting the tracks in this way, and each one is released in 3 variations, or 4 if you count surround mixes. “Darkness” and “Love Can Heal” started the second half with some increase visual, lighting and tech tricks… I’ll not spoil those for anyone going to the US shows! The main part of this set alternated new tracks with songs from the So album, many of which were given extra twists. At this point, I should mention the band and their influence on those sounds. Again Peter has tried something completely different… Tony Levin, Manu Katche and David Rhodes are of course Gabriel band stalwarts, and their input forms the backbone of the sound. However, this time they are joined by five other musicians (not counting PG on keys of course!). Marina Moore and Ayanna Witter-Johnston provide cellos, violins and violas, bringing lots of new elements – plus Ayanna duets on “Don’t Give Up” in an outstanding performance. Richard Evans, a studio collaborator of Gabriel’s for many years added stringed and wind instruments, while Josh Shpak added horns and trumpets, in ways and in places where you would not expect, all of which added depth of textures in the songs. Finally, when recording tracks, Brian Eno recommended Don E to Peter, and he joined the live band, primarily on keyboard but adding funk and vocoder/synth parts. I’ve already called out Ayanna’s duet on Don’t Give Up, but Gabriel’s vocal on “Don’t Give Up” was equally mesmerizing. The main set closed with a funked up “Big Time,” with Don E adding his touch to the song, a new anthemic track called Live and Let Live, and Gabriel’s first solo single, “Solsbury Hill.” It’s not often you see an artist in their 70s performing their first solo single, in the same key as it was recorded in almost 50 years previously and singing it so fantastically. Dublin was the closing night of the European tour and after a summer break the show hits the US. For Prog Report readers, I would really recommend you catch this brave, exciting and amazing show. For me the evening was a pleasure to experience an artist at the peak of his powers at this stage in his career … and maybe we’ll even get an album!!!
