STILL GROWING UP - LIVE AND UNWRAPPED

When you hear the name Peter Gabriel what do most people think of? The man in the flower mask, old Henry, the man in the zorb ball or the man who's found a way of walking "downside up" on stage? these things (and much more) Peter Gabriel is... he's a different artist from album to album, song to song even. a very hard man to pin down. Still Growing Up is basically the man stripped down to his bare essentials. A voice, a keyboard and a few session musicians to back him up, and for me it says more about this songwriter than Secret World, POV and Growing Up put together.

The Last time we saw "Come Talk To Me" performed for instance, Peter Gabriel was hanging out of a phone box that just came out of the ground...whereas on Still Growing Up he is pinned behind his keyboard, performing his song, with the very person it's written about (who gets a very hard time) providing solid backing vocals. To me this is so much more meaningful.

Peter Gabriel in this show has an air of a wise sage and not the embarrassing uncle dancing at your wedding vibe that he had on Secret World. an altogether cooler, wiser songwriter.

track by track -

The Feeling Begins ---------------------- A solo Daduk performance here, much in the vein of the version from "passion" without the percussive backing. the key is C so the drone leads perfectly into the next song...

Red Rain ----------- A version in the vein of the Secret World show. very strong vocal performance from PG. Tony Levin plays around with the bass part in the chorus here.

Secret World --------------- By far the best version of this song available. a tasteful, clipped version of the song with a more mature outlook as to when to use the high register. more tight and together than the version on the first Growing UP dvd.

White Ashes --------------- A recent rework of the OVO song adding vocals and lyrics. Reminds be a bit of some of Nine Inch Nail's softer work. very moody. and the best thing about it is the "Gabrielese" vocal solo at the end. any questions about the quality of Gabriel's voice are answered in the last note alone which he holds perfectly with such power like a true pro.

Games Without Frontiers ------------------------------ Gabriel rides a Segue for this song. a slightly tongue in cheek version which has been modernised a bit using electronic percussion and Tony Levin plays a lot of the bass line on his synth. It's also in a lower key than the original.

Burn You Up --------------- A Great new orphan track from Mr Gabriel. Far superior to the version available on the Hit CD with great vocal adlibs during the chorus.

The Tower that Ate People --------------------------------- Slightly less inspiring than the album version. that is until the "man feed machine. machine feed man" which is always impressive. This song doesn't work very well with this particular band.

San Jacinto -------------- My favourite version of this song. very much slower and more determined than the original. very much in the vein of the Secret World version only without the pointless theatrics. it is a much stronger performance as Gabriel concentrates on the Vocals (which are quite challenging)

Digging in the Dirt ----------------------- A great version of this Live favourite.

Solsbury Hill -------------- Similar to the Growing UP DVD version only without the Bike. Tony Levin's bass playing in this is fantastic.

Sledgehammer ------------------ meh...

Come Talk To Me --------------------- A fantastic version of a fantastic song

Biko ----- Gabriel works the audience so well in this very powerful version of the song

This is for fans of Peter Gabriel's music who can take or leave the theatrics.