Peter Gabriel – In The Big Room – review

Why are there “Lunatics in the Big Room”? On 23 November 2003, Peter Gabriel gave a rather remarkable concert. Although it took place as part of the Growing Up Live Tour, it was a modest affair with just 100 spectators. However, it was held at Gabriel’s home in the Real World Studios in Bath. Or more precisely, in the so-called Big Room: and he raffled off the tickets online. Fans who were members of his website’s Full Moon Club, which essentially posted a video greeting from Gabriel online every full moon, were eligible to participate. Gabriel called these fans ‘Lunatics.’

Setlist

The performance recorded here took place after the conclusion of the third leg of the tour with the so-called ‘Stripped Down Shows’ (because they were performed without a large round stage and full show elements) and before the start of the fifth leg, which was given the name Still Growing Up Live. This now fourth leg in between (if you even want to call it that) consisted of just four dates in November 2003 and a piano solo concert at the Newport Film Festival in March 2004 (see complete list of tour dates here).

The selection of songs performed that evening was a bit special. During the first two legs of the Growing Up Tour, Gabriel had found a set list that suited him and which, in principle, remained unchanged. In addition to all the songs from the UP album represented here, this phase also saw the inclusion of Downside Up, Mercy Street, Digging in the Dirt, Secret World, Father, Son, and In Your Eyes. For the aforementioned Stripped Down shows across North America, Gabriel added a few more classics to the programme, including Games Without Frontiers, The Tower That Ate People, San Jacinto, and Shock the Monkey.

He ended up trying out a few songs, which then became part of the set for the next big leg, the Still Growing Up Tour. In addition to Games, Tower and San Jacinto, this was mainly Burn You Up, Burn You Down, which he played live for only the second time here.

Gabriel had also come up with something special for this show in front of die-hard fans: He put together a total of ten songs from which the audience could choose three tracks for the end of the show. The three songs chosen were Secret World, Father, Son and In Your Eyes. The other songs to choose from were: Biko, Red Rain, Growing Up, Sledgehammer, My Head Sounds Like That, No Way Out, Here Comes The Flood.

How to interpret the result of this vote is open to question. The three songs chosen were all part of the regular set list on all three legs of the tour. Rarities such as My Head Sounds Like That and No Way Out were not chosen, which is a shame, as this means they will not be included on an regular live release. However, these two songs are also rather unwieldy – the audience in attendance clearly preferred to hear crowd pleasers. It is interesting, then, that the big all-time favourites Sledgehammer, Red Rain and Biko were also voted out. Anyone who wants to analyse this further is welcome to do so…

The different releases

Remarkably, this concert has now been released three times. For the first time it was made available shortly after the performance in January 2004 via the music download platform OD2, co-founded by Gabriel, under the name The Big Room Session. It is probably the most complete release, as it includes detailed interludes as well as Darkness and Solsbury Hill.

Between 24 April 2024 and 19 June 2025, the concert was made available again track by track as part of the Full Moon Bandcamp subscription. This time, perhaps with a little more attention, as the first release had largely gone unnoticed. Now the whole thing was called Lunatics In The Big Room, and it was missing Darkness and Solsbury Hill. The reasons for this are likely to be technical. Not everything worked perfectly that evening and Solsbury Hill even had to be started twice.

On the other hand this release included interludes in which Gabriel usually explains where and how the next song was recorded (‘right above us here’… ‘not far from here’) or gives a few other small explanations. In addition, everything was preceded by a track consisting of the welcome message. So it’s very comprehensive, but it should be noted that editing has also been done here. The applause at the end of almost all tracks has been faded out and the recording starts again with the next piece.

Finally, since 27 June 2025, the show is available as a standalone album (initially only in digital form), now simply called In The Big Room. Darkness has been reinserted, but Solsbury Hill is still missing. The announcements have also been reduced to a minimum. In return, the tracks now flow into each other, as is usual for a live album. In addition, all the material has been remastered, presumably with a view to future release on physical media. Technically, everything became 3 dB louder and a peak limit has been applied. No changes were made to the sound.

The album

The set list has already been discussed. Within the enormously long and constantly changing UP tour, it represents a strange intermediate stage. It’s no longer purely the programme of the Growing Up Tour, but not yet the modified sequence of the Still Growing Up Tour. Both sections are documented in their own concert films, so mixing them here is quite nice. Especially since a live performance of Shock The Monkey is finally part of a regular live album from that tour.

Otherwise, the programme is also exceptional in that it includes some traditional classics, as well as many (at the time) new songs, but several showstoppers are missing (not least due to the omission of Solsbury Hill). This makes the album’s track list quite unusual and suitable for a special fan event.

The small venue suggests a good atmosphere. In fact, the crowd is enthusiastic, but not overly euphoric. However, this is also a seated concert, which always tends to dampen an audience somewhat. Gabriel seems to be in a good mood at this home game, but he doesn’t seem completely relaxed. Perhaps this is due to the four-month break since the last concert, which was only filled by a short gig two days before this Big Room show. At least the fuck-ups that later became increasingly feared at his concerts are not to be heard here.

The live versions of the songs are essentially familiar from the tour films. They are powerful with this band, but always remain a little static. On the other hand, Ben Findlay’s mix, which is as clear and detailed as ever, allows you to hear many elements that were not discernible before. The two guitars and their respective distinctions from each other come across particularly well (Burn You Up, Burn You Down). So do the various keyboard sounds on More Than This and San Jacinto. The acapella intro to Mercy Street has a relatively large amount of reverb mixed in. It works well but contrasts a little with the otherwise rather dry mix (not only) of the vocals.

It’s a shame that Shock The Monkey, the song that is quite an exception in this set list, comes across as rather sluggish. At least it is far removed from the dynamics and power the song had in 1987 on the So tour.

All in all

The release of this album is once again marked by all the usual Gabriel twists and turns. Whether subscribers are being deprived of added value by now taking away this concert as an exclusive offer is up for debate. The Bandcamp-only release is certainly different in detail from the now official album. But that doesn’t really affect the music itself. And that’s what it’s all about.

Otherwise, the show is quite nice and an interesting document of this phase of preparations for the Still Growing Up Tour. For fans who were there at the time, this release is also sure to be a nice reminder. However, the concert is not entirely spectacular. So it’s a nice-to-have but probably not a must-have.

Author: Thomas Schrage
Photo of Real World Studios: York Tillyer

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Tracklist

1. Burn You Up, Burn You Down 4:23
2. More Than This 6:12
3. Games Without Frontiers 5:01
4. Downside Up 5:30
5. Mercy Street 6:39
6. Darkness 6:45
7. Digging In The Dirt 6:31
8. The Tower That Ate People 5:01
9. San Jacinto 8:24
10. Shock The Monkey 5:26
11. Signal To Noise 8:04
12. Secret World 8:26
13. Father, Son 4:26
14. In Your Eyes 10:00

Band & Credits

Tony Levin (bass)
David Rhodes (guitar)
Richard Evans (guitar, mandolin, tin whistle).
Rachel Z (keyboards)
Ged Lynch (drums)
Melanie Gabriel (vocals)
Peter Gabriel (vocals, keyboards)

Mixed by Ben Findlay
assisted by Claire Lewis and Thea Cochrane
Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios

In The Big Room is available on all major digital platforms and can also be purchased as a download.