What was your last concert you went to ?

Sir Peter and Orchestra, O2 London

quote:

NO GUITARS, NO DRUMS , ORCHESTRA

Quite right there were no Guitars , but there were drums so the mugs are a lie guys. There were strings too.
A good show, the audience like me liked the second half better than the first, what turned out to be polite applause in the first half , was easily beaten in part 2. I wasn't too keen on the singer , but Mel was pretty good.

A well presented, scored and lit, what appears to be a mesh that went up and down and 3 strips conveyed the light show, Adrians pictures convey this very well.

Peter did manage "Thanks guys" as he passed by the queue as he boarded the after show party boat.

Altogether a very good show, still not keen on the new stuff, about a 50-50 split in the survey in the boat queue around us.

Great pictures Adrian, good to see the guys again and the Thai meal was good too, although I was starving again by the time we got to Gatwick thank heavens for M&S to go.

See above. You're too quick Stu.

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
Fantastic.
Adrian,
If you do want to go again tonight and can find two extra tickets Mike and me will come.
Stu

Let me sleep on it. I'll let you know if I am going later today.

Stu - mail me if you can - i have found three row 6 seats

Adrian,

great pics, if it wasn't my play day with the kids I would consider a second round as well.

Cheers ... Oliver

Great to see Sally, Howard, Adrian, Oliver and John again. Very enjoyable meal too.

Well, what a concert. Something a little different but spectacular nonetheless. Of the new stuff, Mirrorball was my favourite. The second half was brilliant as you would expect.

I really loved it. [Shame about the acoustics and fan where John and I were sitting though].

Special thanks to John from providing the luxury limo service home. I own you quite a few pints now!

J

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
the Thai meal was good too, although I was starving again by the time we got to Gatwick thank heavens for M&S to go.

You lasted 'til Gatwick?, I think Julian needs to 'fess up!

quote:

Originally posted by Julian H:
Great to see Sally, Howard, Adrian, Oliver and John again. Very enjoyable meal too.

Great to see the gang, a very pleasant time was had nattering over the meal.

quote:

Originally posted by Julian H:
Well, what a concert. Something a little different but spectacular nonetheless. Of the new stuff, Mirrorball was my favourite. The second half was brilliant as you would expect.

Have to agree on all those points.

quote:

Originally posted by Julian H:
I really loved it. [Shame about the acoustics and fan where John and I were sitting though].

It was a bit disappointing to have the echo, but that chuffing fan! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Julian H:
Special thanks to John from providing the luxury limo service home. I own you quite a few pints now!

Don't start that, or else you'll be drowning in all the ones I owe you for help on set-up!

John

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
7th row from the front tonight.
Thanks Adrain.
Stu

Just told the missus and she is more than happy to get rid of me for a second night She did ask who was ringing at 4 am this morning

Anyway, this guy on youtube has assembled a pretty good selection of clips from the Paris show. Excellent quality.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Beluga1968#p/u

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
7th row from the front tonight.
Thanks Adrain.
Stu

Just told the missus and she is more than happy to get rid of me for a second night She did ask who was ringing at 4 am this morning

Anyway, this guy on youtube has assembled a pretty good selection of clips from the Paris show. Excellent quality.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Beluga1968#p/u

Thks for the link, as far as the food goes - Adrian and I only lasted to the intermission before we needed a refill.

quote:

Thks for the link, as far as the food goes - Adrian and I only lasted to the intermission before we needed a refill.

Yes the Thai wasn't too filling was it?
Seems to have finished Sally off, we have just called the ambulance for her as her gall bladder pain is now quite severe.

I'd go to the Water Margin buffet if we went again.

Off to the hospital so may be some time.

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:
as far as the food goes - Adrian and I only lasted to the intermission before we needed a refill.

Julian's got you beat.......

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
Off to the hospital so may be some time.

Just in case you've already left, I'll have to shout.

SALLY, GET WELL QUICKLY!!!

John

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:

Seems to have finished Sally off, we have just called the ambulance for her as her gall bladder pain is now quite severe.

Very sorry to hear this, Sally get better soon!

Just an update, they are keeping Sally in overnight.
They have filled her with "happy" drugs as she is in a lot of pain. They will do another ultra-scan and she will have a visit from the consultant on Monday, to decide if they do the op to remove her Gall Bladder or just move her up the list.
I'll pass on your good wishes, thanks.

Howard

Hoping everything goes well. That is very painful, I am sure she is pleased to be "happy".

best,
Jeff A

BigH, best wishes from me and Jane to Sally.

Another great Gabriel show tonight. Very close to the front and the view was excellent. Sound superb and I could hear the vocals even better tonight. Here is the review of the Saturday show from The Guardian.

5 Stars!!

It is risky enough to break an eight-year silence with an album of cover versions, as Peter Gabriel has just done with Scratch My Back. To then debut it in its entirety at a venue the size of the O2 seems downright obtuse. But you don't have to own the album, or even be an especially keen Gabriel fan, to find this daring show utterly extraordinary.

Evidently, no pennies have been pinched. The huge orchestra performs in front of the kind of ingenious, hi-tech jiggery-pokery you'd expect from Radiohead or U2, broadcasting a stream of eye-popping imagery. Yet Gabriel, who now resembles a hip version of Sir Peter Hall, sings with such commanding intensity that he grants this vast venue the intimacy of a recital at the Royal Festival Hall.

He has been a persuasive, theatrical storyteller ever since his days in the wizardy realms of 1970s Genesis. What is surprising is how deftly he crafts his disparate material into one cohesive suite. Though he sometimes hints at the original performers of the Scratch My Back songs – shades of Lou Reed's laconic drawl on The Power of the Heart and Paul Simon's quizzical lilt on The Boy in the Bubble – he makes each song whisper its secrets to the next.

Scratch My Back opens stealthily with David Bowie's Heroes, and resolves, on a note of ambiguous calm, with Radiohead's Street Spirit (Fade Out). In between, John Metcalfe's arrangements ramp up the drama to operatic heights. Elbow's Mirrorball is voluptuous and moving, while Arcade Fire's My Body Is a Cage could be the showstopper from some apocalyptic musical – the orchestra opens tense and restrained, then suddenly blooms like a drop of blood in a glass of water. Every song sounds like a modern classic – you suspect Gabriel and Metcalfe could make something heartrending out of the Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow.

It is a tough sell for fans impatient to hear actual Peter Gabriel songs: one woman screams for Biko with alarming intensity. So there are whoops of glad recognition when the second half explores his own back catalogue. Sadly for the alarming lady, there is no Biko, but Digging in the Dirt is jarring and immense; Solsbury Hill is airy and joyous, its percussion provided by an arena of clapping hands. Gabriel seems looser and warmer, too, cueing his players like a bandleader. By the end, he looks elated, as well he might.

Great review and pretty spot on IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:
Great review and pretty spot on IMO.

and mine! Amazing as expected.

I was a good, even maybe great show though the reviewer with his flowery language, was forced to admit that the audience and maybe Peter were happier with the second half of PG "standards".

Again I can't see these "massive" differences between tracks on the SMB album.

Adrian was the set list any different?

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
Adrian was the set list any different?

Blood of Eden instead of Mercy Street - not a swop I would have done.

Highlight for me was Don't Give Up - I was astonished at how beautifully Gabriel sung it - his voice is just so good.

Some photos from a Sunday night viewpoint.

A review for BigH - not one I can agree with - 3 stars Times - but read the comments from the readers - those I fully agree with. The man is brave, he innovates and he challenges the listener. A genius.

Never a man to undertake a new album or show lightly, Peter Gabriel unveiled his latest production with a stern and at times overwhelming sense of artistic rigour. Accompanied by the 50-piece New Blood Orchestra conducted by Ben Foster, and with no intrusions from guitars, drums or any other traditional rock instrumentation, he began by performing his new album, Scratch My Back, in its entirety.

It is a collection of songs written and originally recorded by other acts but Gabriel — with help from the arranger John Metcalf — contrived to make them sound as if they were all part of a unified symphonic work.

This was achieved by slowing them down to the same funereal pace and then peeling away their emotional skin to reveal the dark shades of despair and desolation apparently lurking beneath all along.

David Bowie’s Heroes was the first to succumb to the treatment, followed by Paul Simon’s Boy in the Bubble. Having first expunged the classic arrangements of all their buoyancy, Gabriel converted the melodies of these and other nominally “popular” songs into an anguished howl of existential despair delivered in a way that showcased an impressive vocal range but remained firmly stuck within a rather narrow emotional spectrum.

Gorgeous white and blood-coloured lighting designs swirled like a cosmic soup above the heads of the orchestra, while a vision of Gabriel, 60, swathed in layers of black and looking more sage-like than ever, loomed from a modestly-sized screen at the side of the stage. The orchestra performed with gusto while the singer administered shock therapy to Lou Reed’s The Power of the Heart and navigated a thunderous interpretation of Arcade Fire’s My Body is a Cage. But by the time they finished with a gloomy version of Radiohead’s already grim anthem Street Spirit (Fade out) the cumulative effect had become rather grey and dispiriting.

Gabriel returned after the interval for a selection of more familiar songs, which nevertheless excluded most of his biggest hits such as Sledgehammer and Steam, along with anything else that required a back-beat. A yelled request for Biko fell on deaf ears: wrong gig. But there were twinkling versions of San Jacinto and Mercy Street, and even a brief moment of levity during Downside up when — perhaps unintentionally — Gabriel introduced several members of the orchestra somewhat after the fashion of Vivian Stanshall in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s The Intro and the Outro.

More typical, however, was the ponderous drama of Signal to Noise underpinned by thunderous timpani, and a laborious rendition of Darkness, which Gabriel ominously introduced as “a song about fear”. A merry Solsbury Hill lifted the oppressive mood at the end, providing a brief moment of respite for an audience that had been required to work unusually hard for their money.

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Philip Wilson wrote:
I though the orchestra - which were amplified and given a more rock-orientated mix with the option of a deep back-beat - sounded better than they did the album. The vocals were terrific (these are not the easy songs a less interesting artist might have tried) and the visuals started off straight out of Fantasia and continued in a pitch-perfect show in red white and black. Although I love the second half song choices, complete with a nod to the venue, some didn't work so well and I found the first half more satisfying as a performance. This was an emotional journey. I left wanting more. Five stars from me. Happy birthday peter.
March 29, 2010 12:36 PM BST
RECOMMEND? (1)
Mark Johnston wrote:
At the grand old age of 60 Peter Gabriel is still an extraordinary performer, and his voice has lost none of its power and resonance. The songs from the new album were lifted to new heights by an orchestral arrangement, and if nothing else we should applaud the courage of a man who is prepared to take risks. The second half of the show consisted of some ingenious new arrangements of an extensive back catalogue of songs. The evening was a triumph for an artist who continues to challenge and entertain.
March 29, 2010 10:46 AM BST
RECOMMEND? (1)
Gareth James wrote:
A little harsh, I think. The new album worked remarkably well live and the new arrangements of old songs were often sparklingly fresh. The sound and visuals were exceptional and I rather liked the unpredicability of the song choices in the second half. It's great to see a 60-year old continuing his lifelong reinvention and innovation where younger models are churning out the same old thing!
March 29, 2010 8:56 AM BST
RECOMMEND? (4)

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:
Blood of Eden instead of Mercy Street - not a swop I would have done.

I'm very surprised by this swap, thought Mercy Street was one of the highlights.

As far as the Times review goes, just read it over lunch and had an urge to write back to the paper - maybe the guy was hoping for a 'best of' medley with Sledgehammer and Biko at the heart of it.

Anyway, thanks for the great pics.

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:
Blood of Eden instead of Mercy Street - not a swop I would have done.

I'm very surprised by this swap, thought Mercy Street was one of the highlights.

As far as the Times review goes, just read it over lunch and had an urge to write back to the paper - maybe the guy was hoping for a 'best of' medley with Sledgehammer and Biko at the heart of it.

Anyway, thanks for the great pics.

I agree mercy Street is a shoe in for me, Biko could have fitted it is a great subject. I never have been a great Steam/Sledgehammer(too much Radio play syndrome) fan, although the later seems to go well and sound fresh on the live(electric?) sets.

Mercy Street was one of the best visual tracks (with the lovely boats visuals pictured further up) of the show and was a highlight for me.

Here is 4 stars Evening Standard of London

At 60, Peter Gabriel surely deserves the title of national treasure: a left-field pop star for 40 years, and a champion of world music, he is also involved in new technology and humanitarian work.
That can’t excuse the hoodie he wore at the O2. But this show to mark Scratch My Back, his first album in eight years, was undoubtedly an occasion, even if the record is an orchestral collection of cover versions.
Gabriel performed the album in full with the orchestra, marrying a subdued vocal with symphonic power. He was an enigmatic presence, yet the emotion would burst through his almost conversational delivery.
While some arrangements had the feel of a classy film soundtrack, Gabriel was most effective on creepier songs such as Arcade Fire’s My Body is a Cage, during which he emitted a plangent croak. Street Spirit (Fade Out) was perhaps even more forbidding than Radiohead’s original.
The orchestra returned for the second half and Gabriel became playful as he explored his art-rock back catalogue. He trained a spotlight on the audience during San Jacinto, and wailed formidably alongside the backing singers. Fans cheered his debut hit Solsbury Hill although, wisely, the rather portly Gabriel no longer skips around the stage as he once did.
Don’t Give Up really missed its original co-singer, as one enraged audience member made clear by shouting “Kate Bush!”. But overall this was an ambitious, controlled performance that sent you straight back to Gabriel’s singular body of work.