PETER GABRIEL : BACK TO FRONT - LIVE IN LONDON

 

Disc One (55:50)

  1. Daddy Long Legs
  2. Come Talk To Me
  3. Shock The Monkey
  4. Family Snapshot
  5. Digging In The Dirt
  6. Secret World
  7. The Family And The Fishing Net
  8. No Self Control
  9. Solsbury Hill
  10. Show Yourself

Disc Two (69:30)

  1. Red Rain
  2. Sledgehammer
  3. Don't Give Up
  4. That Voice Again
  5. Mercy Street
  6. Big Time
  7. We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)
  8. This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)
  9. In Your Eyes
  10. The Tower That Ate People
  11. Biko

Label : Real World Records

Venue : 02 Arena, London, UK

Recording Date : October 21-22, 2013

Release Date : June 23, 2014

Review (Wikipedia) : Back to Front: Live in London is a live album and film by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, recorded at The O2 in London on 21 and 22 October 2013 during his Back to Front Tour. The release includes the regular recording of the concerts as well as a special "theatrical" version with interviews, directed by Hamish Hamilton.

Review (High-Def Digest) : In 2012, Peter Gabriel took to the stage once again, embarking on the kind of tour that few artists are afforded the opportunity to without also having to navigate a huge dose of irony. Rather than touring to promote a new album, Gabriel was celebrating the 25th anniversary of the highly influential, memorable, and oft-referenced album 'So,' performing every song on the release in its entirety (as well as a handful of other Gabriel hits). With 'Back to Front,' the often experimental musician engaged in another experiment of sorts: to see how the album, as a whole, worked a quarter century later - both as a piece of pop music revisited, and as a new highly technical stage production. But this isn't some kind of Lucasian tinkering with something many regard as perfect just the way it is. Instead, as it looks to the past, 'Back to Front' works more as an exploration into how an album like 'So' managed to come together in the first place, and as such, the actual presentation of the show - i.e., the way Gabriel and his band's performance is broken up into three distinct acts - is intended to be representative of the creative process, moving the production from intangible, unfinished creation to the stylized precision of material that has endured for more than two decades. The concert was filmed live in London over two nights, and features Gabriel reuniting with the bandmates who collaborated with him during the original 'So' tour between 1986 and 1987. He welcomes guitarist David Rhodes, keyboardist David Sancious, drummer Manu Katché, and bassist Tony Levin to the stage after he and Levin perform a stripped down and purposely unfinished rendition of a new song titled 'Daddy Long Legs.' The intention is for the concert to begin, as Gabriel's own creative process might: working out the kinks of a song to see where it may one day end up. It's a clever way to begin a concert such as this, as it creates a sense of transparency between the artist and his audience, while also showing a sort of vulnerability - in the sense that something incomplete is being tested and could wind up a total disaster - that feels uncommon for someone of Gabriel's stature and, especially, for a concert of this magnitude. Once the entire crew (and some backup singers) is present, the presentation moves to a more familiar place, segueing first into 'Come Talk to Me' and then the easily recognizable 'Shock the Monkey.' As he and his band move their way through the list of songs, including the moving 'Solsbury Hill' and the darkly atmospheric 'Red Rain,' the intensity of the production increases, gradually underlining the impact of each performance with mounting levels of theatricality. By the time the show has moved through 'Sledgehammer' and finally turned the corner on the showstopper 'In You Eyes,' 'Back to Front' essentially works as a crash-course on Gabriel's influence on popular music. Some performers can do a lot with very little, bringing a unique kind of honesty to a performance that delivers power in a very small package. Here, Gabriel demonstrates how one can do even more with a lot. 'Back to Front' is incredibly theatrical from beginning to end, right down to the industrial jumpers worn by everyone on stage that makes the ensemble look a little like futuristic sanitation workers. Sure, some of it - especially Gabriel's double-fisted-hammer-move with the mic during 'Digging in the Dirt' - may feel too stagy, too pretentious, or too much, but it's all just a part of the show's superbly balanced sense of showmanship. That understanding of delivery and presence plays up the notion that Gabriel should exude a certain amount of confidence (given that he's performing arguably his best material) and that, in order to give the audience a takeaway greater than "I saw Peter Gabriel," there needs to be a little risk, and a lot of demonstrative performances. Here, Gabriel and his terrific collection of material manage to offer a great deal of both. 'Back to Front: Peter Gabriel: Live in London' comes as a single 50GB Blu-ray disc in the standard keepcase. The insert works a little like the back of a CD (does anyone buy those anymore?) wherein the track list is broken down for quick reference. Also included is a small booklet featuring an overview of the tour itself and several photos of Gabriel and his band performing. The disc has two choices for audio, which should delight fans looking to play as a straight musical disc, as well as a concert video. To make things easier, the disc features an simple interface that displays all the tracks like chapters in a film, without interrupting the concert, allowing viewers to move through songs without going back to the home menu.