Between 1986 and 1998 there were four big music events that were aimed at gathering support for Amnesty International, raising awareness of the organization and canvassing for political rights of people everywhere. Bits of these concerts came out in May 2013 on a 2DVD set. Now a 6DVD box set has been published that shows all four concerts in full length as they could be seen on TV.
The reason we are reviewing this box on our website is obviously Peter Gabriel, who can be seen multiple times. There are, however, many other treasures to discover. The DVDs are a trip into the past, into a time when our musical heroes were young and full of energy, a time when making political statements and social commitment were a matter of course. And it is a trip into the high time of fashion crimes...
The Human Rights concerts
The tradition of musicians supporting Amnesty International began with the Secret Policemen’s Balls. In 1986 Bono brought together various stars for a brief tour through the United States to introduce the work of AI to Americans – with enormous success. In 1988 Gabriel took over the job of the gatherer and brought together five solo artists for a world tour. Chile had to be left out of the tour plan, because the country was still suffering from the Pinochet regime. Only in 1990 did it become possible to stage a two-day festival to celebrate the liberation of the country. In 1998 there was a big event in Paris to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of human rights. Always present at these events were rock and pop musicians who played memorable, and frequently unique, performances. All these have been collected in this set.
The outside
The box comes in a foldout digipak in a cardboard slipcase. The DVDs are not held by the usual centre clip but little grabbers at the sides. Time will tell how enduring this system will be. In the digipak there is a sheet with the track lists and a separate booklet of 40 pages. An essay discusses at length why musicians choose to get involved with Amnesty and how the four concerts came about.
The video
Archived tapes of the various TV programmes make up the raw material for the DVDs. They obviously have the quality standards of the days, so you should not expect too much, particularly since the broadcasts took place under real-life conditions without much rehearsing. This means you need expect neither today’s high resolution images (particularly not at the early shows) nor any special camera shots. The video ought to be seen as a documentary of unique events. The video format is 4:3 NTSC
The sound
The audio is also based on the tracks of the TV footage. There is a 5.1 track alongside the stereo track, but you should not expect major surround effects. The audio has been remastered as well as possible, with much clarity and presence.
The menus
The first thing you see from the DVD is the EagleRecords logo, which may get on your nerves with 6 DVDs, but then you are taken directly to the simple and sufficient main menu. The backdrop for the menu shows images of the concert audiences along with applause and the odd bit of music. There is not much to choose from, anyway: Play, Song Selection and Audio Options, and off we go.
Let us look at the four concerts and the way they are presented. In order not to blow up this review out of all proportion we shall only take a passing glance at the shows and some of the appearing artists. Peter Gabriel’s contribution, however, is discussed at more length. A full track list of all 6 DVDs can be found below.
The concert spanned almost the whole day. For the boxset it was split to two DVDs. It was the final show of a six concert tour through the United States, and was broadcast live by MTV from the Giant Stadium New York. A large number of artists played to an audience of around 75,000, and actors and other celebrities would announce the acts. It was almost as big an event as LiveAid, which had taken place the year before.
DVD 1
The first DVD shows brief performances of various artists from the first part of the concert that spanned the afternoon. There are usually one or two songs from each artist, the only longer set is by Jackson Browne.
Remarkable: The simple performance by Peter, Paul And Mary, who stand there singing their folky songs without moving (just like the 60), a touching anachronism; Yoko Ono’s appearance that really makes you wonder why someone told her she had to make pop music; Miles Davis with a jazz performance that is unusually demanding in this context; Joan Baez who does not sing any songs of hers, but does so in an intense and refreshing manner.
DVD 2
This DVD contains longer sets, usually six songs, by six artists who headlined the tour.
Lou Reed has added some pop to his punk-style music by adding a jazzy saxophone; Bryan Adams with some straightforward happy rock; Joni Mitchell plays only two songs, but she adds a beautiful, calming moment with her cool jazzpop; U2 with a very young Bono, who play three of their own songs (pre-Joshua Tree) and three covers; finally The Police (with a slightly extended band) whose last concert for 21 years we get to see. They offer routinely successful work and a setlist with a song from each of their albums.
Second in this line-up (after Lou Reed) is Peter Gabriel. The full set has been included, though there are cuts between songs, removing presumably the announcements. The Conspiracy Of Hope Tour took place shortly before the So tour.
His band is therefore not quite complete here. Rhodes and Katché are onstage, as is Larry Klein on bass (he plays on So) and Ian Stanley of Tears For Fears on keyboards. In only four days of rehearsals they have worked out a powerful if naturally not quite polished version of the songs. Gabriel’s performance is dynamic, even sporty. You feel him willing to perform his songs with all his personality. This sets him apart from the others’ performances – you realize how special he was.
Red Rain is full of power. Hearing this makes it hard to understand why rumour still has it that the song had fallen through on the So tour. Shock The Monkey was Gabriel’s biggest hit before So. Peter hurries across the stage in an emotional rather than a coordinated fashion. His moves would look much more structured in the Point Of View film. The silk shirts will absolutely have been banned from the stage after this shirt as the perspiration is only too visible.
Family Snapshot, this theatrical song with its varying dynamics, has a very emotional performance that set it apart from the run-of-the-mill rock/pop numbers that could be heard the rest of the day. Sledgehammer is quite peppy with a guest saxophone player. Gabriel runs across the stage confusedly but energetically. The big no-no, however, is a commentator’s voice that can be heard briefly explaining that what you see is “Gabriel on stage in the Giant Stadium”. That is something that really should not happen on a music DVD you paid for. (Though it is probably due to the TV footage forming the basis of the release).
Big gestures and no lightshow mark Gabriel’s performance of San Jacinto. The transition towards the ending, particularly the sound, is a bit rough. You can spot Armando Gallo taking photos at the side of the stage. Biko is performed complete with “the rest is up to you”. An unusually controlled ending for such an event..
DVD 3
After the success of the Conspiracy Of Hope tour another Amnesty activity was decided upon: The Human Rights Now! Tour was set up to raise awareness for the Declaration of Human Rights and the activities of AI. This time it was Gabriel who brought together five headliners. They travelled across five continents in six weeks and found it an impressive and formative experience.
The DVD contains the TV rendition. It is over three hours long and was quite an event when it was originally broadcast. The concert, which took place on October 15, 1988, in Buenos Aires is interrupted between acts with bits of documentaries, cuts from press conferences, artists’ statements, impressions from the journeys, animations by Aardman Production and general political content about the Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately, there are no helpful subtitles for those whose English is not so good.
The performances follow the order in which the artists originally appeared, which is also some kind of order of importance. What is interesting is that this order is jumbled around somewhat since almost everybody sings a song with almost everybody else and they also swap musicians.
Youssou N'Dour plays two great lively songs. It is good and important that he took part. Tracy Chapman can be heard with four songs played solo on the guitar. Her performance is good and impressive, but naturally not as fast.
Then there is Peter Gabriel. This Amnesty tour took place after his So tour, so he brings almost his full tour band (only Tony Levin is replaced by Sting’s former bass player Daryl Jones, plus Shankar on violins). It is a bit unfortunate that the DVD box uses the TV broadcasts because this means we get to hear many of Gabriel’s song several times over as they were, obviously, considered TV-worthy every time). So here we get a second helping of Sledgehammer and Biko. Other songs from the short set might have been more relevant, e.g. Games Without Frontiers. Sledgehammer comes with a delicious saxophone solo by Branford Marsalis of Sting’s band, very worthwhile listening to. Gabriel has also developed a choreography for the song.
Youssou N’Dour and his band add percussion elements to In Your Eyes (another song we will see again on the box). It is well-practised and spirited. Biko begins in very different way. There are no strong drums in the beginning, but a whistful vocal improvisation, which is as unexpected as it is beautiful. Gabriel seems highly motivated with his made-up face, but also burdened. These are perhaps traces of the divorce he had just gone through (and did he gain some pounds?). He also has a bad hair day.
Sting plays his three songs strongly, with sophistication and lots of self-confidence. For They Dance Alone he is joined onstage by Gabriel and the women he sings about, the women whose husbands were abducted by the Pinochet regime. During the snappy instrumental ending both Gabriel and Sting dance with each one of the women in an emotional, if somewhat blatant gesture.
Bruce Springsteen appears with the E Street Band to play a whopping rock performance. In the end all the headliners play a stirring, almost unending party version of Twist And Shout, then a touching Chimes Of Freedom before the show ends with Get Up Stand Up.
This concert brings together such a large number of strong music personalities that those who attended it must have experienced the concert of their lives.
DVD 4
Volume four of the box is split in two halves. It contains the An Embrace Of Hope concert from Chile and a documentary called Context Of The Human Rights Concerts Part One.
In 1990 a two-day event called Un Abrazo A La Esperanza took place to celebrate the liberation of Chile from the 17 years of the Pinochet regime. This film, too, has the music interspersed with interview parts. The films make it clear that the focus is on the message – unfortunately, again without subtitles.
Some of the music acts are rather unknown, as indeed is the event itself. Inti-Illimani are a big local band in Chile; they play two folk songs with a boy choir. Wynton Marsalis’ jazz ensemble presents a terrific number in the good old New Orleans style and really heated up the atmosphere. An unexpected act is the (now long faded) boy group New Kids On The Block, whose choreography has the girls screaming – but of course they also help promote the ideas and goals of Amnesty International with that part of the audience. A first highpoint of the concert is Sinéad O’Connor who moves between elf and punk as usual. She presents a remarkable version of her big hit Nothing Compares 2 U. Ruban Blades offers fine Latin-American music while Jackson Brown adds folk and country rock.
Peter Gabriel, who had just released Passion, takes the stage during Sting’s set, with some musicians from Inti-Illimani. Together they play Biko (again) with a great vocal intro and smashing drumming by Vinnie Colaiuta. It is an intense performance, though obviously under-rehearsed. The anthemic gesture is not continued to the end of the song, but they fade it out – after all, Sting and his band remain on stage.
With his band of three Sting plays Little Wings and Cueca Solo, both in Spanish. The dance number with the women is repeated in the latter, but this symbolic action has less energy, and what used to be a stirring element has acquired an air of inevitability after the end of the regime. Musically, it is a bit awkward and the ending, which was apparently meant to be the high point of the concert, falls a bit flat.
The second part of the DVD contains three documentaries that examine the concerts of 1986, 1988 and 1990. Here we finally get subtitles, English subtitles at least. It is hard to see why they did not add other languages – after all, this is where the Amnesty mission is really presented in depth.
Contains six chapter, namely #1: bits of live moderation of the MTV concert broadcast with Hollywood actors and other celebrities; #2 an unbearably rushed compilation of statements by various stars; #3 Peter’s video impressions, from what he filmed backstage as a kind of documentary; #4 a jam session that took place in a club one night on tour with Bono and others; #5 the background story about this jam session; #6 an interview appearance of, amongst others, Sting and Peter Gabriel on American breakfast TV.
Contains five chapters, namely: #1 a brief documentary about the tour that illustrates the amount of media attention the tour received; #2 performance of Chimes Of Freedom in Los Angeles with Bono and Joan Baez; #3 performance of Get Up Stand Up in Montreal; #4 a reading of all 30 articles of the Declaration Of Human Rights, illustrated with all kinds of animations; #5 brief TV spots in which various celebrities talk about the tour and about human rights.
Contains three chapters, namely: #1 statements by the artists involved and extracts from speeches by Kofi Annan and the Dalai Lama; #2 documentary film material; #3 brief TV spots with various celebrities.
DVD 5
The Struggle Continues (1998)NAfter a longer period without any major concerts to benefit Amnesty a new event took place in Paris in 1998, initiated by Peter Gabriel amongst others: The Struggle Continues. It was occasioned by the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration Of Human Rights (which also took place in Paris).
Right at the beginning the four headliners (Sting was missing) of the Human Rights Now! Tour appear and sing Get Up Stand Up – a good beginning.
Peter Gabriel sings two songs. His band consists of Rhodes/Katché/Naimro, Habib Fayé on bass and Jimi Mbaye on second guitar; he borrowed both from Youssou N’Dour. The first thing you hear is a gripping early version of Signal To Noise. Gabriel’s voice seems unsure and thin. The song after that is In Your Eyes for a change; Youssou and his percussionists make it an energetic, playful version. Gabriel himself seems worn-out. He had obviously hit the scales and lost some hair, which makes him look comparatively doughy. His voice sounds weak, it is frequently too quiet, falls away, does not reach the high notes. A worrying impression. No wonder fans wondered four years after that whether he would be able to do a full Growing Up tour.
After Gabriel there is a number of various artists, usually with two or three songs: There are Alanis Morissette (fresh and endearing), Tracy Chapman and band (pleasantly relaxed), the duo Page/Plant (oldschool rock), Bruce Springsteen (solo with guitar and, amongst others, an unusual version of Born In The USA) and Radiohead (passionate and boisterous, perhaps a bit obviously so, but the rather young audience seem to like it).
Youssou N’Dour appears with his band and sings a sort of unplugged version of Shaking The Tree with Peter Gabriel. Though the struggle through an obviously under-rehearsed song they still manage to take it to new heights towards the ending. Their dance moves are magnificent.
For the final climax Tracy Chapman and Joceleyn Beroard join them for the song 7 Seconds, which is a bit uncoordinated: Gabriel does not remember the lyrics, Chapman can hardly be heard, Beroard’s effort is better. Another peculiar finale.
DVD 6
The final DVD in the box is the oddest of the lot. It contains a documentary part and a compilation of various music clips. It all divides into five parts..
#1 (37 minutes) Another TV documentary (with English subtitles) that was apparently created in 2013 for the box. It sums up the various concerts and how they came about in the first place. In recent interviews a number of artists (Gabriel included) talk about those events, mentioning how important and changing the experience was for them and how much everybody is par inter pares and sharing everything on tour. Much of this could be heard (several times) on the box. For some unfathomable reason the original aspect ratio of 16:9 has been compressed into 4:3...
#2 (18 minutes) Basically, a 2013 interview with Bruce Springsteen in which he explains his views at greater length.
#3 (20 minutes) Basically, a 2013 interview with Sting in which he explains his views at greater length.
#4 are two historical music performances that inspired the AI concerts: Townshend/Wiliam with Won’t Get Fooled Again (1979) and Sting & “The Secret Police” with I Shall Be Released (1981). Incidentally, you can see and hear Phil Collins play tambourine and offer backing vocals in the background.
#5 are thirteen clips by various artists, e.g. Bono, David Byrne, Coldplay, Green Day, Seal and many others. These are live cuts and music videos from 2010 to 2012. It is a strange collection probably aimed at interesting various audiences in Amnesty’s projects.
All in all
The box is huge, very huge. Watching it in a go is no mean feat. Their value in terms of political statements as well as sentimentality is enormous. The sheer number of musicians assembled, the power of convictions behind the messages and the joy they have in playing makes up for fuck-ups and wobbly performances. It is a journey back to the times of altruistic social commitment of a kind that does not exist anymore. Video and audio may not be up to today’s standards, but they are well done. The box is definitely worth while getting.
Links
Amnesty Human Rights Concerts - Official website
Get Up Stand Up - Highlights from the Concerts 2DVD - review (05/2013)
Official Youtube channel - offers many videos from the DVDs
complete tracklist - image
Complete Track listing
New Singles Collection including new songs
Multi-Artist-Album from 2000, with Elisabeth Frazer, Richie Havens, Paul Buchanan, Neneh Cherry and larla Lionáird. Gabriel himself sings on four.
Review available
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