Saturday night I went to the outdoor Starlight Theater to see the amazing Peter Gabriel. However, it was not the Sledgehammer Peter Gabriel, but rather a musician performing his "revamped" repertoire in front of a 46 piece orchestra. Along with 18 core musicians traveling with Gabriel, the rest are supplemented by local musicians in each city. This tour began with a few orchestral dates to promote the 2010 covers album Scratch My Back which included radically reworked songs by Paul Simon, Neil Young, Radiohead and others. (The Simon track The Boy In The Bubble from Graceland tonight was stripped of everything other than the lyrics!) The companion piece I'll Scratch Yours, with those same artists covering Gabriel songs has yet to materialize. In fact Thom Yorke was planning to cover Gabriel's Wallflower, but has abandoned the idea since Radiohead disliked Gabriel's album. Orchestral arranger John Metcalfe and Gabriel starting fiddling with some of Gabriel's own material and the True Blood tour was born.
The New Blood Orchestra, under the energetic conductorship of Ben Foster, was superb. On Digging In The Dirt, Signal To Noise, and The Rhythm Of The Heat, once the vocals were finished, Gabriel would leave the stage handing the spotlight to the orchestra.
One of my favorites of the night, Blood Of Eden, was performed simply with Tom Cawley on piano and Gabriel's daughter, Melanie, on backing vocals. (not Paul Cole, but still a beautiful voice and a beautiful girl)
At 61, Gabriel still has soaring vocals and gave a magical evening of almost 3 hours to 5,000 fans. It was an occasion, an event, and an experience.
The setlist:
Heroes by David Bowie
Wallflower
Apres Moi by Regina Spektor
The Boy In The Bubble by Paul Simon
My Body's A Cage by Arcade Fire
Father Son (magical with video of Gabriel's 99 year old dad)
Darkness
Washing Of The Water
Biko
(intermission)
San Jacinto
Digging In The Dirt**
Signal To Noise
Downside Up
Mercy Street
The Rhythm Of The Heat
Blood Of Eden ***
Intruder
Red Rain**
Solsbury Hill (boom boom boom!)
encore:
In Your Eyes
Don't Give Up (with Ane Brun)
The Nest That Sailed The Sky (instrumental)
