A dream come true!
Yes, truly a dream. Three women in a car on the Apennines heading to Milan, three generations, myself the eldest, my daughter (she used to be Hip Pop) and a music-loving friend who, by age, positions herself between the two of us. I’m the only one who attended the 1973 Genesis concert in Rome, the legendary rock group, and in this case, the term legendary is not overused at all. Since then, I never got to see a live performance with Peter Gabriel again. I thought I wouldn't make it this time either, but the dream came true. I wasn’t prepared for one thing, Peter’s voice. Extraordinary, intact and powerful as ever... I still get chills just thinking about it; I imagined something different, but the Rock Elf is in splendid form, may God preserve him for us!
After various trials and pathways, we find our spot, but we prefer to stay standing on the balcony of the third ring, a decent front position... The lights are on and nothing hints that we're here... As we wait for something to happen, for a signal that the concert is starting, we're all calm and look around, when someone steps onto the stage... who? A technician? Immediately, a roar erupts... It’s HIM! As if at a rehearsal after the greetings, Peter sits at the piano and sings the first song... I believe it's unreleased, Obut. Beautiful but I don’t know it... and his voice!!!!!! The air fills with his warm, enveloping voice... The concert begins in this simplicity. Welcome back to Italy, Peter Gabriel! The tour's theme is the anniversary of SO's release, so he performs the entire album but changes some arrangements and performs some famous songs acoustically like Salisbury Hill, Come Talk to Me, Shock the Monkey, a song I didn't appreciate at all becomes enjoyable in this version... I find it hard to make a shopping list, song by song, I prefer to recount the things that struck me the most, such as The Family and the Fishing Net, No Self Control with extraordinary arrangements, the level of the evening was always high without any drops and two hours passed in beauty and joy. It ends with Biko not before Peter says something about Africa, in English, so I could only guess the topic related to current events and since he's not one of those rock stars with an attached sermon book, I appreciated it a lot!
The band accompanying him is the same one with which he recorded SO, all first-rate musicians and you could feel it, applause for everyone but special cheers for Manu Catche’ the drummer. What else to say? Every respectable Archangel deserves angelic female voices, right? Well, even on this point, we didn’t miss anything, I invite you to listen....the vocalists who accompanied him, just as it should be, we are well accustomed to this now after previous partners like Kate Bush, Sinead O’ Connor, Paula Cole, now it's the turn of new singers, forgive me, they're Swedish, and I don't remember the name...but the voice indeed. My daughter didn't know Peter nor his music, I was pleased to see her engaged and happy at some moments, this is the true test! I believe that beauty is recognizable by anyone... And a few nights ago in Milan, Peter with his Back to Front Tour, truly dispensed much of it. A true artist! Perfect setup, fantastic lights highlighting certain moments, but nothing excessive, the true protagonist was the music of a Great One!!! It wasn’t about nostalgia but a continuous reinterpretation with enrichments, a family celebration, and what a party!! I was very impressed, in a positive sense. There's still something good under the sun.
That Voice Again, No Self Control, The Family and the Fishing Net extraordinary live arrangements!! All the others were beautiful! Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Gabriel is here. Let's hope he has something new to give us.... better to produce little and well than to churn out and churn out, but from him, we expect new things up to his standards! One last thing: don’t miss him next time, it’s worth it!!!! Even with the trip, YES!
To the editors, I want to say this isn’t a technical review, I believe many topics are missing, I know, but it’s a review from the soul, anyway you decide, I’m fine with it all, if necessary even the trash for perhaps a little too personal digression. And I feel like closing by saying that I love Peter Gabriel and always will!!
The setlist:
Obut
Come Talk to Me
Shock the Monkey
Family Snaphot
Electric
Digging in The Dirt
Secret World
Family and the Fishing Net
No Self Control
Salisbury Hill
Why Don’t You Show Yourself
So
Red Rain
Sledgehammer
Don’t Give Up
That Voice Again
Mercy Street
Big Time
We Do What Where Told
This is The Picture
In Your Eyes
Encore:
The Tower That Hate
Biko
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