PETER GABRIEL

Peter Gabriel: always looking forward, as he ruddy well should be.

VENUE O2 ARENA, LONDON

DATE 19/06/2023

When it comes to giving the people what they want, Peter Gabriel has always delivered musically, but in doing so he’s rarely opted for the easy path. Quitting Genesis for a solo career that melded (horror!) new wave and world music into his prog rock base, having one of the world’s biggest albums of 1986 in So and then waiting six years to follow it up, not to mention waiting a decade to follow that album up and another 21 years to, hopefully, deliver another new album on top of that! And then drip-feeding your new album as singles every full moon to a fanbase who very often want you to do things the way they want, not the way you want. It’s not what you’d call taking the easy route.

It stands to reason that Gabriel is going to want to play as much of his upcoming album I/o as he can when he takes to the stage and, as reports from other dates in the tour have shown, we do indeed tonight get all six tracks released thus far, plus another six the audience won’t have heard before tonight. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say, but in this day and age of the immediacy of the internet, this is potentially hazardous given that Kaptain Keyboard Warrior lurks in every corner, waiting to tell the world how awful you are because you haven’t played every song they alone wanted to hear.

Needless to say, by the time Prog returns home from the O2, some people are venting their frustrations online, but probably more are pointing out how much they’d enjoyed the show. We’re firmly in the latter camp. Things start low-key, with Gabriel addressing the audience in a self-deprecating manner, poking fun at his and their own advancing years, before settling around a mock campfire with his live band for Washing Of The Water from Us, followed by Growing Up from Up, before dipping into the new material. This includes a vibrant Panopticom, Four Kinds Of Horses and I/o, all introduced by Gabriel – who also discusses much of the accompanying video work with an audience that features many of those artists themselves. Jazz pianist Tom Cawley joins Gabriel for Playing For Time, while an upbeat Digging In The Dirt and Sledgehammer offer something old against the ultra-new Olive Tree and This Is Home.

The second half of the set offers more back catalogue fare to appease those disgruntled by so many brand-new songs, and the applause is decidedly more upbeat than earlier in the evening. The audience are back up on their feet dad dancing like Gabriel, bassist Tony Levin and guitarist David Rhodes for Red Rain and Big Time, while multi-instrumentalist Ayanna Witter-Johnson duets on a devastatingly poignant rendition of Don’t Give Up.

As expected, Solsbury Hill – the only offering at this point from the first four albums – near raises the roof, while a first encore of In Your Eyes is simply superb, before the ever-emotive Biko brings things to a close, its anti-apartheid message as haunting and impactful now as it was when he recorded it in 1979.

Dad dancing at its finest.

PRESS/YORK TILLYER

It’s a really great performance, with a stunning stage show that’s heavily reliant on the music Gabriel makes. But an even more lasting impression is to consider that within the space of two weeks, two of prog’s elder statesmen have graced this stage, and the contrast between the two couldn’t be more stark. One – a review of which you’ll find on p106 – sees its protagonist reacting to pressure he’s largely brought upon himself (for the record, this writer too recognises that being against the actions of a government does not mean you’re against their native creed) with bitterness, vitriol and petty jibes. Meanwhile Peter Gabriel continues to strive for good and to point out injustice, looking for answers to help others.

So yes, there may have been one or two people exiting the O2 Arena grumbling about the lack of older songs on display tonight, but there were far more people with smiles on their faces, totally engrossed in the evening of art and music they’d just been privy to. A powerful statement from a totally committed artist. Fantastic.

JERRY EWING

Gabriel throws some shapes.

Ayanna Witter- Johnson earns a well-deserved high-five.

Men at work: Tony Levin, the boss and David Rhodes.

“A powerful statement from a totally committed artist. Fantastic.”

Keyboardist Tom Cawley looks on as Levin takes the mic.