When the US tour ended in mid-December, fans all across Europe
were eagerly hoping that Gabriel would soon present the unusual stage
construction on the other side of the Atlantic, too. European tour dates
started appearing in January. It was only the largest halls that were
booked because it had to accommodate the heavy Up stage construction
so that less concerts were played than for the Secret World tour ten
years before. Seven shows were scheduled in Germany, five in Italy,
but merely four in Great Britain, three in France and one single lonely
show in Scandinavia. That was not a whole lot of tickets for a whole
lot of fans, so the attendance at the shows was very high. The second
Wembley show for example was only mentioned as an option at first, but
it soon went up for pre-sale, while exactly the opposite thing happened
in New York: Two shows were offered, but the second one was soon cancelled.
Let us follow the twelve trucks that carried
the stage equipment all across our continent. Just like ten years before,
they began in the far north:
Stockholm, Globen-Arena, 24.4.2003:
The Globen Arena is a
very impressive venue already from the outside. It is a huge white dome
that resembles an oversized radar station. There were therefore absolutely
no problems fitting the stage into the place – the ceiling certainly
was high enough. Unfortunately, only half the ticket had been sold,
despite Stockholm carrying the proud name of official European Cultural
Capital 2003. The venue is seating-only and the comfy and relaxed atmosphere
is increased by the fact that the floor was covered in carpet.
The audience were not quite as hysteric as in southern countries. In
Scandinavia, people like to show their appreciation by applauding warmly
before and after songs and enjoying the music in the meantime.
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The music was not as loud as it had been
on the US tour – I was sitting three rows from the stage, but
I did not need earplugs – a first! In the United States things
would have become too loud for unprotected ears at least from Red Rain
onwards. Gabriel’s Swedish has not really improved since 1993
so that he pronounced only the usual first sentence to introduce Here
Comes The Flood in more or less (less, actually) intelligible Swedish.
He then switched to English. The performance was as unobtrusive as the
audience. It was obvious that the band had not had much time to rehearse
– they had arrived in Stockholm only two days before. The show
nevertheless ran more smoothly than the first US shows in Chicago because
the stage used for the European leg of the tour was the same one they
used the year before. Only the ‘standard’ set list was played,
plus two encores. Many fans thought that they probably wanted to make
sure everything was still working as before. Alas, the set list hardly
ever changed during the European tour so that that idea proved wrong…
Hamburg, Color Line Arena,
26.4.2003:
In Stockholm we had wonderful
sunshine. Hamburg greeted us with its typical rainy weather. Our arrival
at the AOL Arena was marked by traffic jams and a mud pit camouflaged
as a parking lot. Ten minutes after we finally made it into the venue
Peter begins to play Jetzt Kommt Die Flut [the German version of Here
Comes The Flood; translator’s note] – an altogether apt
comment. It is a big venue and it seemed to be quite full. The arena
itself had no seating (this was true for all German venues) so that
the atmosphere was better than in Stockholm without, however, reaching
boiling point. The performance was a bit livelier, but marred by little
inaccuracies. Sledgehammer in particular was quite chaotic because the
power line for Peter’s light suit would get tangled in the other
cables on the stage despite two Orange Men continually striving to avoid
that. Gabriel read all the introductions in German from a text sheet;
this led to a couple of funny moments when he had trouble pronouncing
a word properly. Sometimes it took him a couple of attempts and friendly
help from the audience. His favourite expression must have been “Husky-Hunde”
[husky dogs] where the pronounced the “u” in “husky”
the same way as the “u” in Hunde [i.e. as in “too”]
so that it seemed funny even to himself. At least it proves that he,
as opposed to dear Uncle Phil, does not need a (semi-)phonetic transcription.
Berlin, Velodrom, 27.4.2003:
The Berlin Tempodrom was a
welcome change after the giant venues of Stockholm and Hamburg. It is
much smaller and has a rather low ceiling, which made for a very comfortable
atmosphere. The sound was delightfully direct and free from echoes even
in the back rows. Because of the low ceiling the Up stage was hung lower
than usual so that the “egg” that is lowered during Secret
World would hover a mere metre [3.5ft] above the stage. This meant that
Gabriel could not stand below it and stick his head into it like he
did on other shows, but he simply lay down beneath it.
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Both audience and performance
were much better in Berlin than in Hamburg; there were hardly any obvious
mistakes. Best of all, the crowd spontaneously took up the chant from
Animal Nation and kept on singing it, so that Gabriel sung
the names of the musicians he proceeded to introduce in the very same
melody. That sure improved the already very good mood in front of and
on the stage!
Leipzig, Sportarena, 29.4.2003:
The band took the superfast
express train ICE to travel from Berlin to Leipzig. Apparently, they
were noticed by the odd fan who were then given all the autograms. We
were not so lucky, but Leipzig is a beautiful city anyway. The Sportarena
is a new middle-sized building in the outskirts of Leipzig. The show
was just like Berlin, the quality of both the performance and the audience
were comparable.
Oberhausen, König Pilsner Arena, 30.4.2003:
The band took the superfast
express train ICE to travel from Berlin to Leipzig. Apparently, they
were noticed by the odd fan who were then given all the autograms. We
were not so lucky, but Leipzig is a beautiful city anyway. The Sportarena
is a new middle-sized building in the outskirts of Leipzig. The show
was just like Berlin, the quality of both the performance and the audience
were comparable
Rotterdam, Ahoy, 2.5.2003:
Well, the Ahoy has been around
for a while, and there are lots of stories about bad acoustics, extreme
security and whatnot… But it’s been renovated, people are
treated the same as elsewhere and the echo is acceptable because the
venue is not that big. Beware, however of the seating! Rows are numbered
from top to bottom, so that my row one seats were just below the roof.
Still, the sound there was remarkably good. It was Richard Evans’
birthday that day so everybody sang Happy Birthday when it was his turn
in the band introduction.
Brüssel, Forest National, 3.5.2003:
This evening marked the first
change in the set list since Stockholm. Come Talk To Me was
added in the middle of the show. This must have been because of the
terrific audience whose fantastic mood had a visible effect on the band.
As is his wont on Belgian concerts, Gabriel introduced his songs partly
in French, partly in English and sometimes even in Flemisch. This was
the best show so far on the European tour!
München, Olympiahalle,
5.5.2003:
The last show before they
move on to Italy. The weather already was very Italian, with 30°C
and sunny blue skies. Both the performance and the audience were not
quite “Italian” yet, but it certainly was one of the better
German shows. Gabriel’s camera broke down during The Barry Williams
Show so that an Orange Man filmed the audience with his own camera.
A couple of very bright spots were trained on the audience when Gabriel
in mid-song called “Let’s get some lights on here!”.
The set list did not include Come Talk To Me.
Paris, Bercy, 14.5.2003:
This night everything was
just right, and we received the full package: Both Sevara and the Blind
Boys of Alabama performed for about 25 minutes each. The main show included
Come Talk To Me again, but the best addition was that Youssou
N’Dour came on for In Your Eyes, so that song featured
him and Sevara and the Blind Boys. This made the song about one minute
longer than usual, but it was wonderful to see how Peter and Youssou
embraced back to back and swayed gently from side to side (a ritual
that is known since the So tour). It also reminds one of the Yoga scene
Peter Gabriel describes before Father, Son, where he and his father
use each other’s body for some stretching exercises. The audience
was all one could have wished for on a concert: listening attentively
during the songs and overwhelmingly loud and enthusiastic between numbers.
Of course the atmosphere was great among the crowd, too, during In
Your Eyes. This show topped even Brussels!
Zürich, 15.5.2003:
Introductions were made in
German, French and Italian. However, none of the three versions seem
to have worked out so that probably no one understood everything. The
rest was a matter of routine.
Manchester, MENArena, 18.5.2003:
Now for England. Quite a change
of mentality in the audience compared to France. All concerts in England
were seating only. The audience in Manchester, for example, were strictly
forbidden to stand up or move into the aisle until the encores. But
most people remained seated anyway, at least until Solsbury Hill
began. At the end of Animal Nation the audience by and by began
to pick up the chant, but when Gabriel said thank you and began to introduce
the band, everybody fell silent. It almost appeared as if that was intentional
because Peter made no attempt to introduce the band in the singing fashion
he used on previous concerts of this tour. Since Sevara did not perform
that night The Blind Boys were the only opening act. Sevara’s
parts in In Your Eyes were performed on the flute by Richard Evans.
It was an interesting musical experiment but it did not sound as lively
as it did with Sevara’s voice.
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Birmingham, NEC, 19.5.2003:
The National Exhibition Centre
is basically a trade fair hall turned concert hall by the installation
of seating rows. The sound was surprisingly good, that is, if you were
close enough to the stage. The atmosphere during the show must have
been the anticlimax of the European tour. This became obvious when Gabriel
tried to get the audience to participate during Animal Nation,
then suddenly stopped and said “To be honest, I think this is
pathetic!” People at least made an effort to sing along after
that remark. Peter still began his introduction of the Orange People
with the words: "Earlier, while you were slumbering, you may have
noticed some orange people...".
The apathy in the audience had one advantage: The gap between the a
capella intro and Mercy Street proper was not filled with applause
so that we could enjoy all details of this song. A final positive surprise:
The Blind Boys came back on stage for In Your Eyes. Their admittedly
darker voices made for a fine and harmonic addition to the song.
London, Wembley Arena, 21.5.2003
& 22.5.2003:
From the outside, Wembley
Arena is among the ugliest venues I have ever seen. So what, it’s
all about what’s going on inside, isn’t it? And what went
on inside was very respectable indeed – everybody was in top form,
great atmosphere, great performance. Since both Sevara and The Blind
Boys had opened the show, they were all there for In Your Eyes.
This night Gabriel introduced Melanie expressly as his daughter for
the first time on the European tour, something he had left until the
last show on the U.S. leg of the tour. There was a V.I.P. area for friends
and families of band members; among them Annie Callingham and Bill Bruford
were noticed. Peter also mentioned that some relatives of band members
were present.
The second Wembley show had been added shortly after pre-sale began
for the first night, and it seems it was worthwhile the time. The atmosphere
was even better with a good attendance rate (albeit not as good as the
night before). Come Talk To Me made an appearance as an encore,
and Gabriel dedicated it, as usual, to those people who were there for
both nights. It made for a worthy end of the England tour, even though
there is nothing extraordinary to add in comparison to other shows.
This night would have been the end of the European
tour, but because of the high demand in tickets a couple more concerts
were added so that the band could enjoy the enthusiasm of German and
French audiences once more. The new place for the final night became
Barcelona.
Stuttgart, 24.5.2003:
Back to the Animal Nation
chant, though the audience took it up only by and by. Peter skipped
a line during the More Than This intro, but he immediately
noticed, called it a “big fuck-up” and started over a few
lines before. Come Talk To Me became the standard second encore
for the rest of the tour.
Köln, Kölnarena, 25.5.2003:
This was the German show with
the best atmosphere, at least in the chronicler’s opinion. The
band has so much more routine playing the songs and they evidently felt
very much at home. The capacity crowd sang the Animal Nation
chant, as did Peter when introducing the band. Come Talk To Me
was played again. Peter was not confused by an only too noticable wrong
note during Jetzt Kommt Die Flut.
Lyon and Nice were further specimens of the typical French atmosphere
– the air was burning! In Nice, the stage was set up at the end
of the hall and the screens were hanging next to each other in front
of the stage.
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Poznan,
Stadium, 30.5.2003:
Poznan was the only open air
show of the tour. It took place in a full-size football stadium and
the weather was, fortunately, warm and dry. The atmosphere was terrific.
Poland was presented with a very special final encore – Biko.
The band had begun rehearsing the song only that very afternoon, but
it sounded excellent. Besides, it isn’t really too difficult to
play.
Barcelona, Palau San Jordi,
1.6.2003:
The venue is gigantic. One
side is a sheer concrete wall so that the sound on that side produced
lots of echoes. The atmosphere war fantastic, almost wild. There were
a couple of extra gags – one would expect that to happen on the
final show of a tour. The audience gave an inflatable shark to the band
on stage with which Melanie then shared the boat for Mercy Street;
some people in the audience wore giant sombreros. There were, however,
no pranks played to the band by the crew, though that is not unusual
on final shows.
Gabriel spoke a little bit Spanish. In the beginning
he even said a couple of sentences in Catalan, the local Spanish dialect,
before he switched to brief English introduction. He even left out the
Father, Son story.
There were only a couple of days for the band
and the crew to relax and recover before the Growing Up tour moved on
to another U.S. leg with a simplified stage and another nineteen open
air performances.
Author – Volker Warncke
Photos – Sabine Zindler
Translation – Martin Klinkhardt
Click
here for Photogalleries
Click
here for the Growing Up Live-DVD-Review
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