"Yes, I know she just won a Grammy, but how come Paula Cole gets a cellular and I have to use a crummy payphone?"
Up until a few days before the concert, we weren't sure what to expect. We assumed it would be something similar to what we saw on the P.o.V. video tape: great lighting, great music, Peter falling backwards into the audience.
Then we heard a little about PG's innovative new stage design and special effects, but that still didn't prepare us for what we were about to see.
As we entered the Orlando arena, we saw this huge peninsula of a stage that almost took up the entire floor. It was a square stage followed by a narrow catwalk followed by a large circular stage...a variation of the US logo. We were surprised by this setup--it was the closest thing you can get to having an in-the-round concert without actually being in-the-round.
Gabriel came out (wearing khaki shorts and a leather jacket; we thought he was going to perform in that getup and we would have to call the fashion police...) and introduced the opening act, Papa Wemba.
Papa Wemba had enough spirit and action going to make up two opening acts. Even the two keyboard players actively danced while playing (Tony Banks, take note.) What grabbed us as being funny was that one of Papa Wemba's sidemen dressed and danced as though he had been Michael Jackson in a former life.
After Papa Wemba got everyone tapping their toes and ready for some more music, the lights dimmed and we got ready to see one of the greatest shows ever.
As the bagpipes for "Come Talk to Me" droned, a glowing red English telephone booth rose from the stage. Gabriel emerged from the booth, and while pleading for communication, pulled the phone cord clear across the stage. At the song's climax, a hidden treadmill dragged Gabriel back into the phone booth.
This way-cool effect set the standard for the whole evening...far from being low-tech, but not quite Pink Floyd excessive...these visuals are cool in that they interact directly with Gabriel.
A few songs into the set, PG sang "Steam" with columns of steam rising from the stage. A tree appeared at one end of the stage while Gabriel sang "Shaking the Tree" and also "Blood of Eden" and "Don't Give Up" with keyboardist/vocalist Joy Askew.
"Across the River" showed Shankar standing by himself on the round stage, playing melancholy strains with his double violin. Gabriel used the treadmill to create the effect that he was rowing the rest of the band from one stage to another.
"Solsbury Hill" was one of the most lively songs of the entire concert that had everybody up and dancing.
When Gabriel sang "Washing of the Water" and "Family Snapshot", he proved that he didn't always need special effects to prove his performing abilities.
One of the weirdest, wildest parts of the show was for "Digging in the Dirt". First, Gabriel donned a helmet with a camera attached which allowed him to project warped images of his face on a huge screen at the back of the stage. Then out of the stage floor came an enormous pile of dirt and PG scooped up a handful of sand and sifted through his fingers. A moment later, the dirt pile was removed to reveal a very large plaster silhouette of Gabriel's face, which PG dances around upon for the rest of the song. Very bizzare.
Throughout the entire show, Gabriel went back and forth and in-between the stages, never tiring and seldom breaking between the songs. Things would be going on the square stage, and before we knew it, a new prop or a different drum kit would already be set up on the round stage. It was one of the most seamless performances any of us had ever seen.
And the show had the perfect closure...near the end of the song "Secret World", Gabriel picked up a suitcase, placed it on the floor and opened it. One by one, the band walked over to PG, stepped in the suitcase, and disappeared. Then Gabriel closed the case, picked it up (pretending like it weighed a ton, ha ha!), walked over to the round stage, put down the suitcase, and waited.
At that moment, a huge blue dome decended from the ceiling, with lights flashing, looking like the mothership coming to take Gabriel away (if this actually happened someday, it would explain a lot). The dome closed in on Gabriel, and the crowd went wild.
...wild enough to earn a couple of encores, as a matter of fact. The dome lifted back up into the ceiling to reveal Gabriel rejoined by his band, as well as by Papa Wemba and his band. There they gave the most powerful, uplifting performance of "In Your Eyes". Even better than the one on the Secret World Live CD.
Then came the last song, the one we all expected. With an image of a flickering candle on the big screen, Gabriel sang "Biko", what has been called by some as being the song that freed South Africa.
Gabriel came out one last time to thank all those who had helped with the performance, and led the band in a most gracious bow, and dissappeared under the stage.
We wonder...how many sci-fi fans saw the red phone booth and immediately thought, "Oooh! A newly rennovated TARDIS!"
We've been to enough concerts to know that Gabriel fans are some of the best in the world. However, there were these two ladies who sat behind us and aside from the fact that they spilled beer on one of our Solsbury Hill members, they started talking REALLY LOUD right in the middle of "San Jacinto", as if to say, "How dare this guy sing while we're trying to talk!" We're mentioning this as a warning: Act rude at a concert, and a group of people out for revenge will write about you on the Internet.
We would have given anything to have been a roadie for a day on this tour. We'd get to learn all of the tour secrets, bond with the band, and find out how the hell they fit all of those props and stuff underneath the stage.