Venue:
The O2 London
Date: 19/06/2023
Peter Gabriel’s first tour for nine years rolled into London’s ‘enormodome’, The O2, on a hot, Monday night. Seventeen dates in Europe, plus Birmingham, had warmed up the band nicely, and you could tell that the new musicians had found their feet and their place in the rhythm of the band. It’s an eight-piece unit, this time out, with brass, strings and keyboards covered by the newbies. Amongst these, special mention has to go to the incredibly talented Londoner, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, a cellist and singer who has a voice to die for. The core of the band sees Tony Levin and David Rhodes command centre-stage in front of the wonderful French drummer, Manu Katche, a trio of consummate musicians who have given sterling service to Gabriel.
Peter has a new album cdue so it was obvious that we were going to get some unfamiliar songs – except that, these days, several album tracks get put onto the internet, so familiarity was not an issue. The set starts with the musicians assembling in a semi-circle around a fire, playing acoustically. First up is Washing the Water, from 1992’s Us, then Growing Up from 2002’s Up. Panopticom is the first new song and its announcement is warmly received by the knowledgeable audience. And its a belter. Two more new ones follow, the second of which is the new album’s title track, i/o, which is a wonderfully catchy and uplifting song. Sledgehammer closes the first set and it has the audience on its feet, roaring along.
The second set features a glorious Don’t Give Up, with Witter-Johnson more than holding her own in the Kate Bush role, and a fantastic Red Rain. Big Time, Live and Let Live and Solsbury Hill close the show, with the band sounding huge, before encores of In Your Eyes and a magnificent Biko.
Special mention must go to the sound-crew. Not only was it the best sound I’ve ever heard at the O2, it was one of the best I’ve heard in any large venue. Whoever mic’d up Manu’s drumkit – thank you. I waited a long time to see him play and I could hear every stroke, every cymbal-splash and every magnificent snare-crack. I have seen Manu Katche play drums on In Your Eyes so I can now die a happy man.
And then there’s the visuals. Stunning just doesn’t cut it – art from Peter’s favourite contemporary artists, most of whom he’d invited to the show and name-checked, filled the screens. An amazing lightshow and a special screen across the entire front of the stage at the start of set 2, allowed for projections and light-tricks which had me gobsmacked, even in the nosebleed seats.
This was one of the most uplifting and incredible shows I’ve ever been at. After 52 years of regular gig-going, that is quite a statement. But then, this was quite a gig.
The audience:
Word-friendly and respectful.
It made me think..
For Peter Gabriel to still be producing independent, challenging music, 48 years after leaving Genesis, is quite some going.
How was Gabriel’s voice? I remember that being a concern on here when the dates were announced.
The voice was fine.
We’re seeing him in Dublin Sunday night. Can’t wait!
Thanks for review. You always give very positive ones. Do you just never post the poor ones or are you very lucky in your concert choices?
Have found what I have heard of the new songs to be pretty dreary, so, for me, that could be a tough ask in concert. Nevertheless am planning to see him in September, holding out for a late bargain ticket as they are not selling that well.
@dai, I’m pretty lucky, (careful?) when it comes to poor gigs and, to be honest, I wouldn’t post a bad review anyway. I was brought up with the motto, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
The new songs were wonderful in a live setting and they didn’t dominate the set.
@niallb I guessed that may be the case. Will give the new songs some more listens before the show.
That’s my philosophy too – I won’t write up a gig I didn’t enjoy.
`with a top price ticket for Lucinda Willians in Dublin next Feb knocking you back E80,
E100 for PG is beginning to look like the best bargain of the summer.
Not going as I’ve got tickets to see Steve Earlle on the Thurs and can’t really justify going to both
@Jaygee my Lucinda Williams ticket for Birmingham Town hall was £36 – seems like Dublin prices well over the top.
I enjoyed your review Niall, can’t wait for the album, the new songs are very enjoyable.
Thanks.
@SteveT
was a bit surprised myself but it’s seated at the
Olympia where you and I saw Eels a couple of months
Back
She was a lot cheaper at Vicar St earlier this year but
I had another gig – Mary Chapin C – around the same time
So didn’t go.
Thanks for the interesting and informative review. I will be attending the PG gig in Glasgow on Thursday. This will be the first time I have seen him live for just over 50 years (Glasgow Greens Playhouse, 10/02/73, 70p). I kinda went in the huff with him when he left Genesis. I have been catching up with his solo stuff on Qobuz over the last couple of weeks. I know the gig is going to be a whole lot different in every way from ’73 (no bizarre haircuts or his wife’s frock). I presume that there was no support act?
No support. Show started exactly at 8pm and ended at 10.50pm, with a 20 minute interval. Do not miss the start of part 2.
Ta for the timetable info. We can relax now for our pre-gig meal in the India Quay. All in all, this is shaping up as a most enjoyable evening.
Sounds great. Nothing could induce me to go to the O2 again though.
Excellent review, compadre! He’s in Glasgow tonight and I wish I was going.
Niall, I concur with everything you say. We saw him in Munich about 3 weeks ago – open-air concert at Königsplatz – and it was fantastic.
Before the event, I too had had some concerns about his voice (having seen him 5-6 years ago) but they proved completely unfounded. The only weak part of the show was the opener, Here Comes the Flood, sung in German – 2 marks deducted for trying too hard!
To be fair, he has 2 whole albums in German.
I attended the Stockholm show at the Avicii Arena on 31 May.
Generally, I agree with the reviews of the other shows mentioned above.
We had mid-priced seats a fair way from the stage. Price: about £64 per ticket.
The Arena was about 70% full, I suppose.
The sound was pretty good, and I enjoyed the visual presentation that went with each number. And of course it was great to see Gabriel’s old wingmen like Tony Levin and Manu Katché present and correct.
I applaud Peter for not just trotting out the safe old hits when he tours. He’s excited about the new songs (which haven’t actually come out on a proper album), and so those are the ones he’s going to play. Fine. The downside of this, of course, is that … there’s a limit to how excited the audience can get about songs that they don’t really know. There’s mainly just polite, dutiful applause after each of the (many) new numbers. With the exception of the well-received “Sledgehammer”, “Solsbury Hill”, “Don’t Give Up” and “Biko”, the true animated, collective buzz of a great gig isn’t really there.
Oh well. I don’t mean to sound too negative. I enjoyed the gig, and I like the new songs. And most of all I still admire Gabriel – the Old Carthusian who’s still defiantly looking ahead.
Which is my worry. But I suppose that after 20 years we should be grateful we are getting new material at all.
Regarding ultimate setlists, my daughter and her mother went to see The Cure last weekend. I also was thinking of going and wish I had done. Totally stunning setlist and tickets started at $31 (less than 20 quid), nearly a 3 hr show (15 song encore!) and apparently Robert Smith was in great voice:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/2023/centre-bell-montreal-qc-canada-43a62fef.html
I like Robert Smith, he comes across as a smart and witty character and I like a few of his songs (the hits, really). But I can’t be doing with his look. Not at his age. He looks downright silly.
Aging rock star looking silly? He’s hardly alone in that. Am sure if he didn’t show up looking like that fans would demand their money back! It’s all part of the show
Roughly the same set as the show I saw in Leeds last December…an absolutely fantastic night.
I saw The Cure last Autumn, and Peter Gabriel in Birmingham last saturday; I thought the gigs were very compatible in style (a lot of new material) and staging (similar projections and lighting). I would have liked a bit more from Peter Gabriel albums 3 and 4, thoughh maybe he has moved on from those styles.
Great review (as always). I would really love to see PG live, but a combination of the high ticket prices and the fact I would have to fly half way round the world to see put a dampener on that.
I am holding out a minuscule hope that he decides he would like to visit Singapore when he inevitably takes the tour to Australia / Japan / etc. I don’t think he has ever played here though and I’m not sure if there is a big enough demand. If the price is reasonable, I guess I could head down to Perth if he plays there (and take in a few wineries in Margaret River at the same time….)
If Gabriel is disappointed by the reception that the new songs are getting, maybe he might like to try this new setlist that I’ve put together. I’ve rejigged it quite a bit, but I think he’ll find that it’ll go down quite well with audiences:
Watcher of the Skies
Cinema Show
In the Cage
The Musical Box
Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
The Return of the Giant Hogweed
Firth of Fifth
The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
Supper’s Ready
Encores:
Get ‘em out by Friday
The Knife
I Know What I Like
Now, all we’ve got to do is persuade PG of the merits of this revised show…
No I Can’t Dance, Illegal Alien or In Too Deep (and that’s just the I’s)
No – obviously, Gabriel wasn’t in the band when those songs were recorded, so I think we’ll stick to the golden years…
It was a joke
And a very fine one too. I could probably set up a tour of Working Men’s Clubs in the north of England, if you’re interested.
Southern WMCs would be
my preference.
We could start the tour in
Battle or Epping Forest
I predict a mass exodus with that setlist (if not known about before tickets went on sale)
Yes, you’re probably right. But the few old-timers that remained would be ecstatic!
Indeed
They’d be counting out time on every song
…or they could just get a ticket for Steve Hackett…
Or Ray Wilson.
Precipitous decline after his 66 WC winners’ medal
We had tickets to see Simon Day at Chelmsford Theatre last night for a show based around his Fast Show characters. It was cancelled a few hours before curtain up because Simon had fallen ill. On Twitter he has just blamed it on norovirus which in turn he blames on the crowd at the Peter Gabriel gig at the O2.
But the cancellation, or more correctly postponement, meant we could see the one-day-only Solstice showing of 4K remaster of The Wicker Man at the cinema instead, so every cloud an all that …
There’s a lot of norovirus around at the moment. FIL had it at the weekend, then Offspring The Younger on Wednesday. He collapsed on the way to the loo, so I took him to A&E which, at 1am, was packed full of people. He went straight to a bed (and a drip) by passing out during triage and puking on himself, although I don’t recommend it as a method of jumping the queue.
@fentonsteve
Philip Schofield on line 2, FS….
Is he still audience diving?
He’s put on some pork, so he’d best not.
Was at the Dublin show last night.
It really was incredible. Niall spot on with the review.
And I was at the Ottawa show tonight. Absolutely sensational
I saw a YouTube video of a recent concert and he looks like over the hill Brando as Jarel in Superman 1.