The Great Wind and Wuthering mystery!

[martinus]

Originally Posted by foxtrotter

Woweee! were you there at that tour, Martinus? Where was the gig?

In Munich, of course - literally only half a mile from my luxurious flat (TV and internet in all rooms except for the bathroom). It was odd - certainly a bigger production than the Secret World tour, and very impressive, too. But at the same time ... I find it difficult to express what I mean even in German. I'll try... at the same time it felt less alive. Part of it may have come because the circular centre stage is essentially static. Yes, it rotates, but the band all remain on his small island. On the Secret World tour the band moved to and fro, from centre stage to end stage and back. The other thing about the Growing Up tour being less alive is because less of it was actually performed live. Let me give you the most drastic example: Signal To Noise was the end of the regular set. You know how the song develops from a minimal arrangement to the really big thing. I did not mind Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's voice being sampled in - Severa's voice is not the same and his contribution is what makes this song complete - anyway, that sample was not the problem. So Signal To Noise builds, builds, builds, then the sound wave breaks and everything is washed away by this giant flood of sound which can of course then be repeated ad lib. And they did. And during this extremely big sound the musicians began to leave the stage. Tony Levin put down his bass and left, yet the bass sound could still be heard. Whatsername left the keyboards, but the keyboards could still be heard. The guitarists left and yet... Melanie left and Peter left and yet... there was still full foaming sound! So when they all had left and only the drummer was drumming his heart out and we could still hear the full sound it was obviously because there were samples playing. I must admit I felt cheated. It makes you wonder how much of the rest was sampled in. And instead of the last song being the wave on which you float out of the venue going "what a fantastic show" it was a kind of anticlimax.

Mind you, I am not against sampling in general. But if musicians feel the need to do that, they have to show (at least once) that they can do it without sampling.

Mercy Street was wonderful, though. Secret World, too. Darkness absolutely rocked. And Growing Up.

[foxtrotter]

Now I'm back again (and baby it's gonna work out fine!).

Hiya, you'll understand that the word: 'Baby' has to be used in terms of artistic accuracy.

Anyway, here I am once more. Back after quite a while away. Is Jersey Joker still here as well? The best thing about this forum is the 'drop by' feel you get from it.

Since I have been away it was BAD KARMA about Phil and his crushed vertebrae last October, what? Did you know over there that he announced in the UK papers that his spine has been so compressed after all the years of sitting at a stool he can't drum no more or his back will give up completely.

Do you remember a post I posted one time about saying Phil looked as if he wasn't going as hell for leather on the last tour? Now we know: the poor sod must have been in agony on that tour!

Phil, if you are reading this, thank you for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess a live track in tribute could be: "Bad back in NYC!"

Hope all is well with you guys. Thanks, Martinus for the gig review! Sometimes gigs do disappoint slightly and sometimes even down to how you are feeling at the time.

Good to chat and post once again.

Originally Posted by martinus

In Munich, of course - literally only half a mile from my luxurious flat (TV and internet in all rooms except for the bathroom). It was odd - certainly a bigger production than the Secret World tour, and very impressive, too. But at the same time ... I find it difficult to express what I mean even in German. I'll try... at the same time it felt less alive. Part of it may have come because the circular centre stage is essentially static. Yes, it rotates, but the band all remain on his small island. On the Secret World tour the band moved to and fro, from centre stage to end stage and back. The other thing about the Growing Up tour being less alive is because less of it was actually performed live. Let me give you the most drastic example: Signal To Noise was the end of the regular set. You know how the song develops from a minimal arrangement to the really big thing. I did not mind Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's voice being sampled in - Severa's voice is not the same and his contribution is what makes this song complete - anyway, that sample was not the problem. So Signal To Noise builds, builds, builds, then the sound wave breaks and everything is washed away by this giant flood of sound which can of course then be repeated ad lib. And they did. And during this extremely big sound the musicians began to leave the stage. Tony Levin put down his bass and left, yet the bass sound could still be heard. Whatsername left the keyboards, but the keyboards could still be heard. The guitarists left and yet... Melanie left and Peter left and yet... there was still full foaming sound! So when they all had left and only the drummer was drumming his heart out and we could still hear the full sound it was obviously because there were samples playing. I must admit I felt cheated. It makes you wonder how much of the rest was sampled in. And instead of the last song being the wave on which you float out of the venue going "what a fantastic show" it was a kind of anticlimax.

Mind you, I am not against sampling in general. But if musicians feel the need to do that, they have to show (at least once) that they can do it without sampling.

Mercy Street was wonderful, though. Secret World, too. Darkness absolutely rocked. And Growing Up.

[martinus]

Good to see you back again!

It's been kinda quiet here recently. Got a new job that keeps my busy.

Plus I'm looking at hotels in Berlin, for I'm going to both Peter's shows there. This is going to be either absolutely fab or absolutely drab. I hope for the first

When I heard the bit about Phil's back I thought "well, that explains a lot." All over the it.blog from the tour people kept mentioning that Phil "had a kind of strained look on his face when he sat down at the drums" or that he "did not seem to enjoy drumming as much as he used to" or even "seemed angry at something". Well, a back pain is simply a pain in the back. (groan...)

I wonder how it affects his Motown album...

[foxtrotter]

Hi Martinus, Nice to hear from you again and good luck with that new job!!! I've never seen Peter live but as you are going to BOTH shows you must be really into it and looking forward to it. Ah, That unique, smkey voice amid the dry ice. I always think it must be very unlike any other gig - more of a sense of watching a (musical) experiment in a lab, where you come out knowing more about music than when you went in.

However, that isn't to say "On the Air" and "Big Time" for example aren't just the most amazing groove-along things.

I was interested in your comments about Phil and his 'Bad back in NYC' affliction, especially as other people asifde from yerself had had some suspicions about this and noticed it too. Oh, well, I suppose that is it. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway shows aill probably not happen, but as always with Genesis you can never, ever tell. Not until they are six feet under will I ever take it as read that they won't get on the road again.

TTFN mate. Whgen are the shows in Berlin?

Chars

Foxtrotter.

Originally Posted by martinus

Good to see you back again!

It's been kinda quiet here recently. Got a new job that keeps my busy.

Plus I'm looking at hotels in Berlin, for I'm going to both Peter's shows there. This is going to be either absolutely fab or absolutely drab. I hope for the first

When I heard the bit about Phil's back I thought "well, that explains a lot." All over the it.blog from the tour people kept mentioning that Phil "had a kind of strained look on his face when he sat down at the drums" or that he "did not seem to enjoy drumming as much as he used to" or even "seemed angry at something". Well, a back pain is simply a pain in the back. (groan...)

I wonder how it affects his Motown album...

[martinus]

Originally Posted by foxtrotter

I always think it must be very unlike any other gig - more of a sense of watching a (musical) experiment in a lab, where you come out knowing more about music than when you went in. However, that isn't to say "On the Air" and "Big Time" for example aren't just the most amazing groove-along things.

That's the fascinating thing about Peter. He can get away with the biggest, most bombastic songs - and he can make very intimate songs work even in big venues. He makes me groove, he makes me listen carefully, and frequently both at the same time. And even if I happen not to like the particular song that much I always know that the musicianship both in writing and in performing the song is excellent.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway shows aill probably not happen, but as always with Genesis you can never, ever tell. Not until they are six feet under will I ever take it as read that they won't get on the road again.

They may go on tour again, but I suppose if they do it will really be a selection of shows like the half a dozen Peter does in Europe. If they would ever bring back The Lamb I would be prepared to take it as a sign that I do not need a refridgerator in hell.

TTFN mate. When are the shows in Berlin?

The Berlin shows take place on March 24 and 25. There are also shows in Paris, France, and in London, UK around the same time. And watch out: Peter Gabriel is apparently working on some concert dates for North America, too. If I were you I'd start saving money for it because he sure as hell is most unlikely to perform with an orchestra only and play songs by other people... ever again.
More information here: http://www.genesis-news.com/forum/peter-gabriel/1521-three-classical-concerts-march-2010-a.html

[jebho62]

Originally Posted by martinus

If I were you I'd start saving money for it because he sure as hell is most unlikely to perform with an orchestra only and play songs by other people... ever again.
More information here: http://www.genesis-news.com/forum/pe...ch-2010-a.html

You sure know how to make decisions that we have to make so much easier!! Thank you so much! We are not even positive he will make the trek across the sea are we?

[martinus]

Originally Posted by jebho62

We are not even positive he will make the trek across the sea are we?

Well, he may take the Eurostar train to cross underneath the sea between Britain and France (where it's cold and wet...). But seriously, you can take it directly from the horse's mouth, that is, from #SPOILER ALERT# Peter Gabriel's two podcasts available from Peter Gabriel | Latest News .
Don't listen to these podcasts if you want to be surprised by the arrangements! #SPOILER ALERT END#
If you want to only know about what Peter has to say about putative North American gigs begin listening 19mins 20secs into the second podcast where Peter says:

We are looking now at some dates in America and Canada. It will be about three 'cause I don't want to be out for a long time, and I think it will be a little later now. We were thinking of doing them at the same time but I think now we want to take a little more time with these arrangements [...]

[foxtrotter]

Ta for the dates, Martinus. Good to hear from you. My brother lives in Paris so I might go and see Peter over there.

I see Kev the Squonk saw the ATTW3 show. Lucky sod!

I'll try to get a new thread going about this! Erm... Hang on a minute!!

%&**$%"***!!!!!!!

[martinus]

Originally Posted by foxtrotter

Ta for the dates, Martinus. Good to hear from you. My brother lives in Paris so I might go and see Peter over there.

You will need to hurry because tickets are selling fast.