I must admit, after being a long Genesis fan (5 or more years), I can’t really call myself a true fan until I see the man himself, Peter Gabriel. Although the band reached high success even after Gabriel’s departure, he’s theatrics and strange stage presence was what really got me hooked on the band, that and my dad’s love for the band, of course.I saw Genesis back in 2007, of course Gabriel was absent, he was doing other projects at the time, so like always, Phil took the lead. So I never got the chance to see what made Genesis so special in the first place. But now, Gabriel was making a stop in Toronto and I was not going to miss this one. This year marked the 25th anniversary of Peter’s most popular solo album, So. To celebrate, Gabriel announced a North American 25th anniversary of So titled the ‘The Back to Front’ tour. This meant that he was going to play the album from start to finish. I purchased tickets the day they went on sale.
Fast forward to ten minutes before showtime, the lights go down and on steps a figure dressed in all black, I knew instantly it was Pete. A spotlight quickly shines on Gabriel as he welcomes the crowd and briefly describes how the show will go. “There will be a short acoustic section to start, a trip back to some of the older songs, and then we will play through the album” Peter said in his soothing British accent.
The show began will just Peter and his longtime touring bassist, Tony Levin. Peter started off with a song he had been writing but not yet finished (he told the crowd seconds before he started playing it). What aspect of the show that surprised me most was that I never knew he was such a good piano player. I had him seen play piano before on video clips, but never to the extent that he did when he started playing.
The song had no title, although Pete, being clever, titled it “Unfinished Song”. Quickly after the opening song Peter wasted no time and went right into “Come Talk To Me”, a popular song off of Gabriel’s 92 album, Us. The band then came on to join Peter to finish the acoustic set with enjoyable sing along songs “Shock The Monkey” and “Family Snapshot. The show itself was a recreation of the 1986. Gabriel made use of the exact same lighting (manually maneuvered lights) and he invited back the same musicians that played with him on the original tour.
After the acoustic set, Gabriel and the band went right into classic throwback hits, including “Digging in
the Dirt”, “Secret World”. “Secret World” really made the show for me, it has long been a personal favorite of mine. When he whispered into the microphone, “Come with us to our Secret World…” I will admit I lost it. Following the first electric throwback songs Peter enclosed the throwback set with “The Family and the Fishing Net”, “No Self Control”, the classic “Solsbury Hill” and “Washing of the Water”.
Following the finishing of the throwback set, Peter then says, “So” into the microphone. From here on out the band from start to finish, every song on the album. This included “Red Rain”, “Sledgehammer”, “Don’t Give Up”, “That Voice Again”, “Mercy Street”, “Big Time”, “We Do What We’re Told”, “This is the Picture” and “In Your Eyes”.
This section of the show was without a doubt fantastic. It was very interesting for me (being someone who could not see Gabriel back then) to witness what the show was like back when it was originally played across the globe in 1986.
Gabriel and the performing the powerful “Red Rain“.
For the encore Gabriel played “The Tower That Ate People” which had a giant spiral of suspended fabric cleverly swallow up Gabriel. This was definitely the most impressive visual part of the show, beside the lighting.
The second song of the encore and final song of the night was the classic Gabriel protest song, “Biko”.
Gabriel had the crowd chanting he and the musicians took one last bow exiting the stage while the crowd continued to chant.
Video of Biko.
The concert overall was fantastic and I’d say worth the ticket price of over $100. It’s obvious, judging from the Toronto reception, that Gabriel still has the spark which made him so popular among fans when he first went solo back in the late 70’s. I’m just glad that I got to witness one of his shows – for hopefully – not the last time.
Setlist
Acoustic
Unfinished Song
Come Talk to Me
Shock the Monkey
Family Snapshot
Throwback
Digging in the Dirt
Secret World
The Family and the Fishing Net
No Self Control
Solsbury Hill
Washing of the Water
“So”
Red Rain
Sledgehammer
Don’t Give Up
That Voice Again
Mercy Street
Big Time
We Do What We’re Told
This Is the Picture
In Your Eyes
Encore
The Tower That Ate People
Biko
Music Warfare 