First listen of Peter Gabriel's new album, i/o at WOMAD 2023

In a darkening forest clearing, ever increasing numbers of people sit, lean, lie and generally hide from the inevitable summer downpour whilst a giant floating replica of the moon hovers over them. 

We’re at WOMAD about to listen to the world exclusive play through of Peter Gabriel’s new album. If released this year, ‘i/o’ will be Peter’s first studio album of new material in 21 years (anyone familiar with his work will know this is by no means a guarantee!). The general theme of the evening is one of connections. Nature, man, relationships, artificial intelligence and mortality all get a substantial look in and the setting only enhances these. 

If you’ve been lucky enough to see Peter on his UK and European tour already this year you’ll have heard a lot of these songs live already but that doesn’t diminish the excitement of hearing them ‘live’ from Real World studios. Opener ‘Panopticom’ was the first song released on the full moon of January 2023 and deals with the power of information. ‘We’ve got WITNESS on the ground, taking in the evidence…’ I particularly enjoy the cheery and light acoustic guitar in the chorus which offsets against the very dark and brooding verses. 

‘Playing for Time’, ‘And Still’ and ‘So Much’ (one of Peter’s best ever) all feel very personal and are beautiful reflections of lives lived and times valued. 

The title track and ‘Road to Joy’ have that certain something that ‘Secret World’ had previously where by they take on a whole other level live. 

The whole experience flies by in just over an hour and judging by the number of people lying on the wet forest floor seemingly oblivious to the falling rain, this album has done what it set out to do – connect and ground us. 

Having listened to Peter’s music since my parent’s bounced me on their knees to ‘Solisbury Hill’, I really hope ‘i/o’ gets the release and success it deserves. I count myself very lucky to have been at WOMAD today and thank PG for more great music. (and please not another 21 years!)

Written by: Louise Edis

Track listing:

1. Panopticom
2. Playing For Time
3. The Court
4. Four Kinds Of Horses
5. I/O
6. Love Can Heal
7. Road To Joy
8. So Much
9. Olive Tree
10. Home
11. And Still
12. Live And Let Live

 

Peter Gabriel at Hammersmith Apollo

It was a last minute decision for me to get a ticket to the concert.  Although I'm a big fan of Peter Gabriel, over £70 for a ticket was stretching the budget just a little too much.  However a couple of days before the concert I started following the official Peter Gabriel twitter account [@itspetergabriel].  I knew the concerts were upcoming, but wasn't sure exactly when until seeing rehearsal photos tweeted.  So I decided to see if I could find a reasonably priced ticket.  Ticketmaster, no joy, still over £70.  A couple of other websites were around the £50 mark, but then I found getmein.com.   They had tickets for the Thursday show for just £15.  I'd never heard of getmein.com before, but its a Ticketmaster company, so surely could be trusted?

So the day before the concert I purchased my £15 ticket.  After several confusing emails, one saying an e-ticket was going to be emailed, and the next saying the ticket was being sent by special delivery (and might take 72 hours to arrive), I was a little concerned.  After a couple of worried phone calls to getmein.com, and an agonisingly long way for the postman, my ticket arrived.  I could go to the ball!

I arrived at the Hammersmith Apollo at 6pm, and found myself parking 20 seconds walk away for just £2.50.  Result!

At almost every Gabriel gig I go to, I meet up with my friends, and fellow fans, Alan & Ian.

The first half, I was sat up in the gods, just behind a man with the biggest head ever.  Musically, the songs he played that half were good, but Wallflower asides, weren't really anyone's favourites.  The first half for me can be summed up in one word...  "meh...".

At the half time interval, I found my friends in the smoking area outside, and also got recognised from a wedding I photographed last year in the Midlands.  She recognised the hat first, me second.  Hello Lucie!

Alan has a habit of never sitting in his assigned seating, and always pushing his luck by taking empty seats closer to the front.  This time he'd found 3 empty seats, 3 rows from the front.  I followed him back in. This was more like it.  If you can't see the whites of the performers eyes concerts just don't interest me much any more.

The second half was much more like the Peter Gabriel I love.  Standing ovations came after Signal To Noise & Rhythm of the Heat.  When Solsbury Hill started, there was a mad rush to the front, and I found myself standing just a couple of rows back.  Happy days!

Gabriel might be 60, but he can still hit the notes, and can still put on a hell of a show.  Brilliant stuff Peter!

The reason why the two London gigs happened was because of an offer to Gabriel to film it in 3d.  Personally I think 3d is bullshit, but I have to say their cameras were rather impressive.

Unlike the last time I was close enough to the front of the stage to photograph a Peter Gabriel concert (follow this link for photos), this time I only had with me my compact Canon S95.  While it might be one of the best cameras in its range, it was always going to struggle with getting quality pictures in this environment.  I was pushing the camera, not to mention NoiseNinja in post processing to the limits here.

I tried to get good photos, but essentially these are just "happy snaps" from a good night out.

Update: Just wanted to say hello to the fellow lunatics who have found me via the Peter Gabriel forum.  :-)

Update2: For all those interested, this is the set list...

Intruder
Wallflower
The Boy In The Bubble
Après Moi
Washing Of The Water
The Book Of Love
Darkness
The Power Of The Heart
Biko
San Jacinto
Digging In The Dirt
Signal To Noise
Downside Up
Mercy Street
The Rhythm Of The Heat
Blood Of Eden
Red Rain
Solsbury Hill
In Your Eyes
Don't Give Up
The Nest That Sailed The Sky

Peter Gabriel signed my photo!

I'm a big Peter Gabriel fan, so last year I got a ticket to WOMAD, took my camera along and got some of my best concert photos ever.

After I decided to send a photo to Peter to see if I could get him to sign it.  Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that.  Today that photo arrived back with me, personally signed by the man himself.

Rock and bloody roll!

I'll be going shopping for a nice frame to put it in shortly.

Big thank you to Peter, and to Rachael at Real World Studios for making my day!

Peter Gabriel with orchestra at the O2

The last time I photographed Peter Gabriel in concert was at WOMAD last summer.  That time I had my big camera and big lens.  This time all I had with me was my little Panasonic GF1 with 40mm lens.  It's a great little camera, but its hardly the right choice of kit for photographing from half way back in the O2 Arena.

I'd been at the O2 since lunchtime, bargain price parking by the station for just £3 for the whole day.  I'd had a business meeting, seen the soundcheck, met up with some friends who I always meet at Gabriel concerts, got rained upon, had a couple of pints, a bowl of chips and some cheesy garlic bread.  It was a good day.

It was my first visit to the O2 since 2000 when I'd visited the Millennium Dome experience, I'd mostly gone because Peter had done the music for the main show and I wanted to see it as it was intended.  They've done lots with the Dome since then - the arena is a great music venue, there's a multiplex cinema, and loads of restaurants, pubs and clubs.  I was quite impressed.

The concert was something quite different for Peter.  Just him and a big orchestra.  The first half of the concert were all the cover songs from his recent Scratch My Back album.  A life long Gabriel fan described the album as "not as bad as it could have been", and that pretty much sums it up for me as well.  There are a few good moments, and I admire the fact that he's been original and tried to make the covers sound different, but ultimately I can take it or leave it.

The second half the concert however was pure brilliance.  It was all the songs we knew and loved, but all played with the orchestra.  A magical evening of music.

The photos...  more just a few snapshots than anything but they are a good memory of a great day.

Peter Gabriel at WOMAD

For as long as I can remember I've had a wish to photograph a big name concert and also to photograph Peter Gabriel in concert. On the 25th July 2009 at the Charlton Park WOMAD festival both of those ambitions merged into one and became a reality. Normally getting a decent camera into a concert and using it is all but impossible without a media pass. I'd tried in vain to get myself media accreditation in the days prior to the concert but in the end I was happy to have been turned down. The press were only allowed to shoot the first 3 songs and then they were gone.

With the help from Alan and Ian, two friends I have met at other Peter Gabriel concerts over the years, and a trick of bringing back two glasses of beer for them enabled me to get within 3 rows of the stage without actually having to wait there for 5 hours.

Peter and his band came on stage around 21:30 and played for around 90 minutes. The set list went something like this;

Boy In The Bubble
The Book Of Love
Darkness
Come Talk To Me
Steam
Downside Up
Games Without Frontiers
No Self-Control
Big Time
Washing Of The Water
The Tower That Ate People
San Jacinto
Red Rain
Solsbury Hill
Biko

A couple of links of interest. Firstly to WOMAD, and secondly to an organisation that Peter strongly supports Witness.org.

I'm really happy with the results but you be the judge - take a look for yourself.