Untitled Document

Growing UP Italian Tour 2003 Milan/Florence

Ten years after the fantastic Secret World Tour, Peter comes back to Italy with five shows in Bologna, Milano (two), Ancona e Firenze. I would have loved to be to each show, but for many reasons I could only attend the show in Milan on the 9th of may, and the show in Florence on the 12th (the last one in Italy, for the moment, of course!) The shows were different, not much due to the set-lists (only one song has been changed), but mostly for the atmosphere: in Milan, the DVD project was recorded, and the whole gig suffered the circumstance.

The set

A round stage, with a moving walkway on the outside, and a smaller round structure suspended on it. The upper "stage" had four arms around it, where the lights and technicians were positioned.

Each band member has during every song his agreed position, which changes at every song played, so everyone in the crowd has a chance to seem them close.

There is no front stage, nor back stage, the band is in the middle of the audience, only one side has o lower presence of crowd, as the mixers hold most of the place. The centre part of the stage is a rectangular lift, which keeps moving up and down during most of the show; at the start, drums are on the lift, and during Sky Blue, the Blind Boys of Alabama will be lifted when their time of singing has come.

From the higher round structure, time by time a curtain will be lowered towards the stage, now cylindrical, now oval, then spherical (containing the famous Zorb ball); images and colours are projected on it. During the Barry Williams Show, Peter will be singing spinning round the foot bridge around it; during Downside Up, he and his daughter Melanie will be singing walking around the same foot bridge, this time hanging upside down ! At two sides (east and west), huge loudspeakers are hanging from the roof, so high that the stage is still visible from any seat of the venue, and they give a big help to increase the sound of the venues, which are not perfectly suited for music. One the north south sides two huge screens that show close-ups of the stage and films.

Who knows the venues of Assago (Milan) and Florence di Firenze knows perfectly well that they are not acoustically suited for music; at the Filaforum of Assago, newly built and well organized, it is very nice to watch a basket or volley match. The Palasport in Firenze is quite the same, but a lot hotter as there are not many openings for ventilation. Anyway, the huge stage and its accessories were well placed.

For the recording of the DVD in Milan, there were a lot of cameras around the stage, some were stationary, some were mobile; these ones surely bothered the crowd seated behind them.

It is very hard to describe the technological and futuristic structure available for Peter's new show !

The gigs

"Buonasera, questo concerto inizia da dove e' finito il tour precedente" (Good evening, this show starts where the previous one ended), Peter Gabriel announces in Florence, speaking in Italian; and we feel the first shivers down our spines as Peter on the piano starts off alone on stage singing Here comes the flood, and we immediately understand that his voice is in perfect shape. During our final ovation he is joined on stage by Tony Levin, David Rhodes, Ged Lynch, Rachel Z, Melanie Gabriel, Richard Evans and immediately starts the explosive Darkness. Played wonderfully in both shows, but much warmer in Florence.

Every song is announced in Italian only in Florence, while in Milan in both Italian and English languages. "This show is a mix of old and new", and here we go with Red Rain, while from the higher stage structure a flaming ball comes down. Almost perfect duets between father and daughter cause this song to be one of the best of the whole show.

Now the outer moving walkway of the round stage is moving, and the stage look will remain the same for a bunch of songs.

We are introduced to one of the best songs Peter ever wrote, the extraordinary and intimate moment ".. we'll call it the Secret World"... and the crowd is all handclapping ... 30.000 hands clapping. Beautiful, moving there are no words, you just have to be there, the lights, the music, the sound, everybody jumping, captured by the music ... Husssss.. listen...here comes "Sky Blue", with the Blind Boys of Alabama back in the middle of the stage as chorus. Sky Blue, "a work which took me long to complete, and it happened only when I met these marvellous voices". Strong, steady, music growing with sad sweetness, till the final chorus, which was sung by everyone in the venue, simply great. Peter and Melanie leave the stage and get tied up so they'll be able to sing upside down: "...imagine to lay in the grass looking above you so long, till the sky seems to turn in an ocean where you could fall in, then you can say you are in a status of Downside Up". Very nice vocal introduction by Melanie for this great song from OVO; the upper part of the stage comes down so father and daughter are able to hook themselves and walk round it while they're upside down, and in the middle an oval sized big balloon pops out. Looking at the world from another point of view, Peter and his staff couldn't think of something better. The upper part of the stage is now completely collapsed on the normal stage, Peter climbs on the walkway and grabs a camera. He accuses the TV garbage The Barry Williams Show. Probably the weakest moment in Up, seen and heard live it changes totally, Peter sings severely to bring his message, himself and the crowd are shot and everything he is filming can be seen on the two screens and on the curtain which is in the middle of the stage; he runs, jumps, accuses... BWS is the definitive confirmation that Peter's music cannot only be listened to, but also looked at, and only in concert we can catch every meaning of it. Can this be the highest moment of the show ? No sir !..Much more than this...More Than This, announced once more in Italian, explodes in our ears revealing its beauty. This song has just hit the shops, but for me it makes already remember very particular moments of my life, and I feel like myself and the crowd as one. But this is not only my feeling, Peter is able to make a crowd of 20.000 feel united, everyone remains himself but feeling part of something bigger, with the moon and the water, "more than this, so much more than this, there is something else there when all that you had has all gone..". A small boat can now be seen on the stage, the band gathers round singing Mercy Street. This song, from the So album, is played wonderfully; the band is all around the stage, on the moving part which seems moving gently as sailing on a calm sea: the show's most intimate moment. Then Diggin in The Dirt explodes, all the crowd, especially in Florence, singing along shivers!! The Zorb Ball is lowered on the stage, reflecting hundreds of colours, then it gets coloured shining white and we have arrived to the Growing UP moment. Peter enters the transparent ball (on the 9th, he was found rolling in the Milan streets inside it !), and starts rolling, he stops, he jumps, the ball reflecting every possible colour, hitting anything he finds on his way: the hamster is playing inside his ball, an hamster that is an important piece of music's history. The song is repeated almost entirely in Milan, due to a technical problem during the first performance, judged not good for the DVD recording. Animal Nation follows, introduced by Peter who explains his experience with monkeys so close to human nature, and so sensible towards music. The crowd is totally taken, and joins in during the chorus shouting ohhh ohhhhhh so loud, that you can hear the walls trembling. The same chorus is used by Peter (and the crowd answers him) while he introduces the band, in an almost perfect Italian, the biggest ovation from the delighted arena is reserved to Tony Levin. A step back in the past, and Peter is now riding a bicycle around the stage, singing without loosing his breath. 20.000 "boom boom booms"...Solsbury Hill, kicking out even more that in the past shows.

When he wears the famous "electric jacket" (loved by Pink Floyd too), lit by dozens of bulbs, it's time for the bombastik Sledgehammer, and the hammer sure hits hard, you just can't stand still, we're all jumping and singing.
Hard to describe what's really happening, especially in Florence, we're all singing along this song which has been played hundred of times, but still hasn't lost strength.
"..we can't stand still and look a nation which decides who must live, and who must die. We must learn to stand up for our rights this one is called Signal To Noise". A radio signal is projected on the cylindrical curtain in the middle of the stage, the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, recorded before his death, hypnotizes everyone, a clear message to cancel all noises that disturb communication between human beings. The last song of the regular part of the show, played tremendously well and really touching our feelings.

Encores:

-First
In Your Eyes couldn't miss, a very good performance of one of the most involving songs written by Gabriel, even without the help of African vocals Peter transmits us his power.

-Second
Milan: as the DVD is recorded, the song chosen was No Way Out, from the UP cd, not much played during the Growing UP Tour; it is anyway a very nice song, maybe lacking a little bit in intensity, due to the fact of being not so familiar to the band and to the audience.
Florence: an extraordinary, overwhelming, excellent Come Talk To Me, sung by all the audience... please talk to me... come talk to me...

-Third
At last, in both shows, introduced by a very nice presentation by a touched Peter remembering his special contact with his father, an intimate and touching Father Son, after about two and a half hours, brings to the end to something that we can't call only music.

The end

The two shows, apart from the second encore, had the same set-lists. This doesn't mean they have been "the same show", though. Peter never repeats the same show, in every performance he puts something new in the notes he plays. For sure we can say that the hard work of recording the DVD in Milan has had some emotional effect on the whole show. Probably the performance has been technically perfect, but somehow cold, maybe affected also by the Filaforum not being completely full, and hasn't given total support to the show.

In Florence instead, we could immediately feel that the atmosphere on stage was much more relaxed, and sometimes the show has not been technically perfect as the Milan show had been, but this makes a concert even more involving.

No need to say that the pillar of the band has been Tony Levin, with his wonderful musical thread in the background; David Rhodes is the usual honest worker; Melanie is growing both as voice and personality on stage, she has been a very good support for her father; Rachel Z has created very well the smooth carpet full of sounds, where Peter's wonderful voice could comfortably lie on; a very good Richard Evans, often remaining in the background, carrying out a big work, not only as a support; Ged Lynch not really very bad, but not excellent, we have by times missed the great Manu.

And what can we finally write about Peter? He surprises us every time, every time he carries out something better, greater, more perfect. I've been following his carrier for more that 30 years, and I am always surprised by his vocal ability, and by the way he is able to transmit very clearly and without doubt his feelings through his music and his shows.

Another chapter of music's wonderful story is over, there will soon be another one, and we are already waiting to see and hear the marvellous things that this incredible Artist will give us.

Peppe "Tam" Menale & Adriano "ATI" Terroni
By www.rocklab.it

Set list

Milan 9/5

Here comes the flood
Darkness
Red rain
Secret world
Sky Blu
Downside up
The Barry William Show
More than this
Mercy Street
Diggin' in the dirt
Growing up
Animal Nation
Solsbury Hill
Sledgehammer
Signal to noise
------
In your eyes
No Way Out
Father Son

Florence 12/5