it could not have been a better concert.
seats. our purchased seats were fairly decent: on the floor, but in the back. steve m., my partner-in-seat-squatting-crime, and i headed toward the stage during the opening act of the blind boys of alabama. first we had fourth row. then a different section of the fourth row. before peter came on we had found a completely empty seventh row section (at least ten empty seats) where the people just didn't show up! this equalled an amazing view and great room for dancing and me and steve tore.it.up. sweaty amazingly awesome good time.
the concert. amazing. (this will be the overused word of this post). two words: energy. intensity. the place was rockin. there was no lag -- even the slow songs kept up a pace that carried through the entire show. this is the first concert i've been to in over ten years where i just did not want the music, the night, the show to end. check out tony levin's tour journal to get an idea about the show, as well as backstage stuff, too. this is a really fun journal to read.
the sets and props. peter and melanie walking and running while hanging upside down on a lowered track. the hamster ball. the hamster ball bouncing. the lightbulb jacket. the bike for solsbury hill. it was all so creative. so well thought out. so light with humor. so filled with fun. none took away from songs. none took away from the other.
the band. wow. incredibly tight. tony levin's got a new fan. he is matrix cool. all the men had shaved heads or buzz cuts. the women had past the shoulders dark brown hair. everyone was in black except the orange guys (roadies who scurried around between songs). peter was dressed as a jedi master (so i said.) tony levin had the coolest jacket i've ever seen. it seemed to be black silk (pieced together maybe?), like a japanese wizard's robe. the guitarist made a caftan seem all bad ass and rock and roll.... so if you can imagine that. and the keyboardist had a totally wendy-and-lisa thing going on... black gloves with cut out fingers. the guys sitting behind us seemed to let out appreciative "mmm's" anytime she came our way.
there's a lot to say about the music, but i'm not sure i'm the one to go off about it. i'll see if one of the musicians i was with want to contribute... (NEW!! scroll down to read stephen's review).
concert overheard one
marya: i love peter gabriel.
steve: i love peter gabriel more.
marya: but would you sleep with him?
steve: [ponders]
marya: i win.
concert overheard two
[a few songs later]
marya: so... think you'd sleep with him now?
steve: maybe mess around a bit.
concert overheard three
before the show, on the drive up we had a discussion about mustaches. steve says he's never just had a mustache alone and considered shaving off his goatee to try it out. i remarked that the only men who tend to have mustaches-only are cops and gay guys. so, at the concert...
steve: hey, tony levin's got a mustache-only.
marya: yeah, but he's a cop during the day.
concert overheard four
marya: what's his web site, tonylevin.com?
steve: worldsfuckingbestbadassbassplayer.com?
marya: i'vegotthecoolestjacket.com?
steve: it doesn't matter, they all point to the same url.
and now for the concert review... a la s. matteson...
Peter Gabriel has Grown Up! [cracking knuckles]:
I feel like Peter Gabriel's songwriting and lyrics in the last few albums have been a vehicle of catharsis, a coming to terms with life and relationships rather than just expressing/describing them. I sometimes wonder what Peter Gabriel is going through in his life to write such songs. His music seems to be diverging slightly from a rythm based genre and is now focusing on Melodies, harmonies. Peter Gabriel has always been fascinated with Africa and it's music, but it seems like Peter Gabriel is experimenting more with vocal melodies and harmonies from African Heritage then before.
Peter Gabriel has always self-admitted that his music originates from a rythmic structure, and possibly he is adding more to that mix in the way of melodical and harmonic methods.
I was surprised by some of the songs that he played during the performance. I would not have thought his voice would have been able to handle Here Comes The Flood (1st song) as well as some of the others, but he pulled it off quite nicely. I wished they would have performed "Excuse Me", which had a barber shop quartet at the beginning, but can't have everything!!
As an extra note, Peter Gabriel doesn't seem to have long extended "jams" on his songs. The musicians didn't improvise too much either, that i saw. Did they? Like...a drum solo or something? Some of the other music I listen to that I like a lot do this. I'm wondering if he will ever get into that or not? Part of me wants to see him try it. Almost every song he writes is a masterpiece though, so I don't mind if he keeps doing what he is doing! ;-)
Overall, one of the BEST shows I've ever been to!!
-S
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