Peter Gabriel – New Blood in London, 23 +24/03/2011 – Concert report

Peter Gabriel has always been considered a pioneer when it comes to the use and dissemination of new technologies. He promoted the Fairlight music computer, released ambitious interactive CD-ROMs in the early 90s, and had the right instinct when he profitably sold his OD2 platform (On Demand Distribution) before the hype around purchased music on the internet even began. Recently, however, Gabriel somewhat neglected the Blu-ray medium. For once, Phil Collins from the Genesis camp was the first to release a corresponding publication on this medium (Going Back: Live At Roseland Ballroom). However, it came as little surprise when the announcement was made to record a 3D Blu-ray during two concerts. The choice of location fell on the relatively large Apollo Theater near Hammersmith tube station in London. During ticket pre-sales, it became clear that Gabriel had big plans. Entire areas were unavailable due to possible setups for special cameras, and even a crane was planned.

Curiously, Mike + The Mechanics had also scheduled the presentation of their new album The Road in London (at the Hard Rock Cafe) for March 23, 2011, turning the London trip into a kind of fan club business trip, as there was also an interview with Mike Rutherford, Tim Howar, and Andrew Roachford before Peter Gabriel’s first show.

Looking back:

Peter Gabriel presented his album Scratch My Back as part of the New Blood Live Shows in 2010. The album was played in its entirety, but after the intermission, there were plenty of classics from Peter Gabriel’s catalog in the second set. Thus, the question arose whether Peter Gabriel would refine this concept once again in London for the DVD/Blu-ray recording, stick to the setlists of the last shows (e.g., in Cologne), or end up doing something completely different. In the run-up, there were indications that his concept of playing Scratch My Back in its entirety would be abandoned. He was also working on several new arrangements of his own songs. However, there would definitely be lasers during the show. This, in turn, was an innovation compared to 2010.

Present:

The Apollo filled up slowly on the 23rd. The seats in the upper tier are steeply arranged, with a Circle at the top where you can still stand leaning against a railing. This won’t be necessary for most people there, as enough seats remain empty. The Hammersmith Apollo is relatively stuffy, somewhat old-fashioned, with red carpet and red seats. In front of the stage, several cameras can be seen, along with a crane apparatus. After Ane Brun’s short set, the house lights suddenly go out and the show begins completely unexpectedly with Intruder. The performance seems tense, unbalanced, and somehow off, and even the camera operators don’t seem to know quite what to do. Even when Intruder was over, more spectators were still streaming to their seats. As a result, there was still a lot of activity in the stands during Wallflower, which Gabriel otherwise only played extremely rarely. To make matters worse, Peter messed up right at the beginning of the song and restarted it – but immediately sang it wrong again, though this time they played the song to the end.

During the intermission, there was a mix of puzzled and enthusiastic faces. These were probably divided exactly between the two fan groups who had already seen this show or not. The second set roughly corresponded to the sets of the autumn 2010 shows. There were no major changes, the arrangements were identical. The lack of confidence and nervousness also ran through the second set, although here – as usual – especially The Rhythm Of The Heat and Signal To Noise were pleasing, as well as the powerful Red Rain, which after some tests just before Solsbury Hill has apparently now found its place in the set. Before the encores, one wondered what had become of the much-announced lasers? These were nowhere to be seen so far. In Your Eyes and Don’t Give Up also remained laser-free. Instead, there was a welcome reunion with Zevara for In Your Eyes, who had already played as a support act for Peter on the Growing Up Tour. Ane Brun was again frenetically celebrated for her contribution to Don’t Give Up. The Nest That Sailed The Sky ends the set as usual, and Peter tinkles the last notes on the piano at the right edge of the stage. No lasers, no ease, a lot of patchwork, few sparks flying – New Blood in London seemed a bit viscous and in need of optimization. So it was a matter of waiting to see what surprises Day 2 would bring.

Day Two

On the second day, Steve Hackett was in the audience with his (now) wife. Many familiar faces from the international fan scene could also be spotted, and fans even came from the USA to see this show. Interestingly, the camera crane had been dismantled and the mobile cameras around the stage were also reduced. It looked a bit as if the entire project had been abandoned after the mixed first day. However, before the show, one could spot the occasional Steadicam, so the focus on the second evening was probably based precisely on this camera technology. You can find information about this camera technology in this Wikipedia article.

The show began a bit like the day before. Although it got quiet faster, Peter broke off the song barely a minute after the start of Intruder because he had completely messed up again. So he simply explained that they would start the show again and we should all pretend we hadn’t noticed anything. He left the stage, the screen came down again, and “Intruder” started anew. And suddenly all the nervousness and tension from the day before was gone. The Steadicams ran across the stage, sometimes from behind, sometimes from the side, sometimes from below in the orchestra pit, but it didn’t seem to bother the musicians (anymore). Peter and his orchestra played a relaxed first set, The Drop was no longer played, instead he celebrated a beautiful rendition of Washing Of The Water with Melanie. But that didn’t change the fact that Biko was again the highlight of the first set. It was a bit strange then that in this appealing atmosphere with this orchestral sound, Peter made his obligatory gesture and also encouraged the audience to do so again – which they did. One can be curious to see how this will look on the Blu-ray. Overall, the audience was better on the second day than on the first. It brought people to their feet more often, the applause was longer, and during quiet passages, the audience was also quieter more often than the day before.

San Jacinto, Signal To Noise, and The Rhythm Of The Heat were at top level, it doesn’t get better than that. And then during The Nest That Sailed The Sky, something happened that no one had expected anymore – the lasers came into use and one felt somewhat reminded of Pink Floyd 1994. And so the concert came to a dignified end. Outside, there was then one or another fan encounter with Steve Hackett, who had also very much enjoyed the concert.

What remains:

The second evening makes up for a lot. Looking at it more closely, one wonders why he deviated from the Scratch My Back concept. That would have been an excellent basis – and a coherent concept – for a New Blood DVD/Blu-ray. Instead, he confused his fans and probably also himself to some extent. The first set was somewhat oddly inhomogeneous. Moreover, he made many fans’ mouths water in advance with votes on further New Blood songs. It was almost certain that Biko would come. Another candidate was Secret World, but that wasn’t played in London yet. The many cameras didn’t always make it possible to follow the show appropriately. On the other hand, from a German perspective, it’s a blessing when Peter consistently makes his announcements in English. Only then does one realize how much the flow of speech (and sometimes also the humor) depends on the language.

Autor: Christian Gerhardts
Fotos: Axel Beringer