Peter Gabriel – Back To Front Tour 2013 – Report from the European tour

It was a bit like 2002. Europe? No, we’re touring North America. And then let’s see. In fact, this time the super disaster loomed: Gabriel started his ‘sabbatical’ directly after the North American tour in 2012 and so there were considerable doubts as to whether the Back To Front Tour would also be seen in Europe – not least because the original tour in 2013 would have been at least 26 years ago. But such numbers have always been of little interest to Gabriel. The So Anniversary Boxset was not a silver anniversary, but a Gabriel anniversary. We are celebrating the 26th anniversary with a box set. That’s also a concept. In this respect, the stones fell from everyone’s hearts when the concerts for Europe 2013 were finally announced.

There is already extensive documentation of the 2012 shows, which is why we will highlight the European specialities in this report.

Dates and venues

All concerts took place from the end of September to the end of October 2013. There was one concert in each city – with the exception of London, where two took place. Peter played many venues that were already familiar to fans from previous tours, including the Forst Nationaal in Brussels, the Arena in Leipzig, the O2 Worlds in Prague, Hamburg and Berlin, the Palais Omnisport in Paris-Bercy and the O2 in London. Some venues had simply changed their name, sometimes between the concert announcement and the concert itself, such as the MRC Arena in Manchester. The tour started in a completely unknown venue in Herning, Denmark. At least the city is not unknown to Genesis fans – the second concert of Genesis’ Turn It On Again Tour took place there in 2007. There was also another concert in Amsterdam and a rare visit to Vienna. The Gabriel stronghold of Italy had to make do with a single concert in Milan. Concerts in Geneva were a rarity on previous tours. Zagreb was a novelty – Peter had never played here before and Croatia would be a member of the EU at the time of the show. However, the concert had to be postponed because the promoter went bankrupt. The replacement show therefore took place in Belgrade, Serbia – outside the EU.

Once again, Spain and Portugal were left without a show. Greece, the setting for the 1987 concert film Live In Athens, was also left out this time. The Scandinavian countries Finland, Sweden and Norway also had to forego concerts in 2013. The same applies to large parts of Eastern Europe.

Most of the venues on the tour were normal event halls. The one in Herning was a little strange, as there were promptly massive sound problems. Peter played at the ISS Dome Düsseldorf for the first time. The ice hockey hall in Unterrath is a metal box with borderline accessibility. Surprisingly, however, a good sound was achieved in this tin box.

Gabriel becomes static – no setlist variations

Peter Gabriel live Europe 2013 BerlinWell, not quite. There was actually a variation. At the beginning, Gabriel played Games Without Frontiers, somewhat surprisingly. After just two shows, however, the song was dropped again. On the North American tour, either Washing Of The Water or Humdrum was played at the end of the first set. Even there, there was hardly any variation. In Europe, Gabriel then completely cemented the set from Brussels onwards. However, the second part of the show ended with at least one completely new piece, the song Why Don’t You Show Yourself from the film Words With Gods, which is due to be released in 2014.

Show elements: New, old, changed

As the set didn’t change significantly, there were hardly any changes to the live show. However, a few things are worth noting: The Magic Cubes from the first two evenings in Herning and Amsterdam were once again a new, playful element to Games Without Frontiers. It was somewhat reminiscent of 2003, when Gabriel brought the Segways onto the stage. The problem with the Magic Cubes was probably that they didn’t have the desired effect. In fact, they seemed more like a foreign body during the show – which is probably one of the reasons why the whole song was cancelled.

Overall, however, the show contained some interesting details. As in America, the first three songs were played with hall lighting. Despite the explanation, most of the audience found this effect strange. A ‘Lights out!’ was heard frequently. The effect was all the more ingenious during Family Snapshot, when in the middle of the song, at the beginning of the ‘fast’ passage, the lights suddenly switched from the hall lights to the stage lights. Sometimes it worked better, sometimes worse. In Stuttgart, for example, the hall lights gradually dimmed and in Berlin the lights didn’t go out together, but separately and one after the other.

Then the black and white phase of the show began. There was not a single coloured light until the end of the ‘electric’ part. Only white spotlights and lightning elements accompanied and characterised this part of the show. At the end of Family Snapshot, during the line ‘I shoot into the Light’, where the photo of the header graphic was taken, one of the cranes rose for the first time. This was followed by Digging In The Dirt and Secret World, which were followed by a sensory overload of light effects. The video screens were also used for the first time. Distorted images of the musicians were reminiscent of the Secret World Tour. In Secret World, geometric shapes moved across the screens in which the musicians could be seen, until at the end the entire band was presented on the screen. The light ring under the hall ceiling was then used for the first time during The Family And The Fishing Net. He came down and ‘sat’ on one of the light cranes, which emitted fog upwards at the end of the song. It was spooky during No Self Control when Gabriel was ‘captured’ by the light cranes. These oppressive moments were magnificent. Interesting fact: the cranes were operated manually!

Why Don’t You Show Yourself was an enrichment for the set. The new song, best described as a ballad, was characterised by a beautiful melody and the use of a cello.

Finally, the So section was colourful. Red and blue for Red Rain, colourful for Sledgehammer and Big Time. Interesting: During Don’t Give Up, Gabriel carried a suitcase across the back of the stage as Jenny Abrahamson sang. A tribute to the Secret World Tour?

Mercy Street was even more sophisticated – Gabriel’s reclining performance was captured congenially by several cameras – including a ‘sky camera’ lowered from above. The anxiety returned with We Do What We’re Told, when the cranes were arranged symmetrically at the front of the stage. During This Is The Picture, the band no longer played their Modern Talking instruments standing up at the front, but remained in their usual places. This meant that the band’s ‘in-show-introduction’ was no longer necessary. This also took place at This Is The Picture in 1986/87. In Europe, Games Without Frontiers was apparently intended for this, and the band was gradually introduced in the Magic Cube intro. Eventually, however, Games Without Frontiers was dropped from the set and with it a band intro.

The highlight of the show is probably The Tower That Ate People. The descending ring of light and the fabric cover in which Gabriel disappears inevitably make Genesis fans think of The Lamia.

Curiosities and fuck ups

Sledgehammer was affected twice by a fuck-up. In Herning, Gabriel’s microphone failed for one verse, and in Berlin there were problems with the bass, which in turn threw David Sancious off his stride and he played the horn sample too late. In Leipzig and Manchester, Gabriel cancelled Come Talk To Me and restarted it.

Another curious thing in Amsterdam: Secret World was played in a kind of edit. The reason for this was probably an incorrectly played background sample. Interestingly, this was hardly noticeable, the band played the song ‘confidently shorter’, the entire middle and end sections were simply missing.

Camera chaos in London

Filming for the upcoming Blu-ray and cinema experience took place on two evenings in London. Extra cameras were set up on both evenings, but (as with New Blood) not an identical setup. On the first evening, there was a giant crane at soundboard height, while on the second evening there were additional transverse cameras on rails. Coloured ceiling lights were also used throughout the concert, usually in blue, green and red.

In the run-up to the show, Peter Gabriel had called on the audience on Facebook to record the concert on smartphones as part of a crowdsourcing campaign, especially In Your Eyes and Big Time. On the evening of the concert, however, film producer Hamish Hamilton announced something completely different. The talk was now of This Is The Picture. This resulted in chaos, as many knew the Facebook message, others did not. Finally, there were purists who rejected such filming anyway and security who probably only listened to Hamish Hamilton and not all of it: the security had orders to ensure that filming only took place during This Is The Picture. The result: spectators were constantly being admonished, which didn’t exactly help the atmosphere. What’s more, the spectators were also reprimanding each other.

Hit list…

This hit list is supposed to be a little gimmick for the tour, it’s 100% subjective, but compiled by someone who should know, because Axel has seen all but one show of the European tour.

… the atmosphere

In general, there was a difference between seated halls and standing room concerts. The latter were livelier. So the German shows all have a slight advantage here. But even in Brussels and Milan, where there was an unseated interior, the spark didn’t really ignite – presumably these concerts were still a bit early in the tour schedule. Manchester, on the other hand, was a highlight, despite the seating – the same applies to Prague. The most beer was probably drunk here too… The famous post-concert euphoria didn’t set in until around Geneva.

TOP: The German shows, Manchester, Prague
FLOP: Milan, Amsterdam

… the sound

The sound experience always depends on the position, but Axel covered many metres at all the concerts and was sometimes here, sometimes there and was therefore able to get a good overview. The sound was rather disappointing compared to previous tours. You could never hear Manu Katché really well, for example, unless you ended up right in front of the stage. The best sound experiences were provided by Leipzig, which is somewhat surprising, and London. Here, everything was a little more bombastic due to the size of the hall. Glasgow, on the other hand, was the low point, although the new HYDRO was supposedly built because of its acoustics and the acoustics are supposed to be one of the hallmarks …

TOP: Leipzig, London
FLOP: Glasgow

… the venues

The O2 arenas are all kind of the same, even if the London O2 is more gigantic than the others. The Forst Nationaal in Brussels is a really nice old, grubby hall with atmosphere, while the HYDRO in Glasgow is brand new, looks full on the outside and is compact on the inside. Paris is a legend anyway.

The hall in Milan is a long way out, plus a long walk through the industrial area. The situation is similar in Düsseldorf, where security is also very borderline: there is apparently only one large entrance to the interior.

TOP: Paris, Brussels, Glasgow
FLOP: Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Milan

… Peter’s vocals

May be the most difficult to judge and we refer here to the Encore report.

TOP: see Encore report
FLOP: see Encore report

… Drink prices / beer

Beer usually cost between 4 EUR and 6.50 EUR for half a litre or a pint. The absolute exception was Prague with 40 crowns for a fine Staropramen – that’s not even 1.50 EUR. Paris, on the other hand, was catastrophic, where you had to fork out 8.50 for a lower-class beer (1664).

TOP: Prague
FLOP: Paris

… spectators

Based more on an estimate. It was full almost everywhere except in Herning and London II, but there the hall is huge. There might have been the fewest spectators in Geneva, possibly also in Belgrade, but Axel wasn’t there …

most: London
least: Geneva

… Security

It was relatively relaxed almost everywhere except in London, where there was quite a bit of chaos. The entry procedure in Paris was completely out of order – a long walk through the neighbouring dark forest, then the security check.

decent: everywhere except Paris, London
not good: London (regarding filming)

… Weather

Cold outside: it wasn’t really cold anywhere
warm outside: Amsterdam and Brussels – like spring
Rain outside: Milan, but especially Prague and Leipzig, Manchester even stormy

… Smoking areas

Some venues offer smoking areas, or you can go to a closed-off area outside the door. In London, smoking is completely prohibited. If you want to smoke, you have to go outside and your ticket loses its validity.

TOP: Düsseldorf, Brussels
FLOP: London

by Christian Gerhardts and Axel Beringer
Photos: Lia Eastwood and Christian Gerhrdts