Show #56: Peter Gabriel in Madtown

March 2nd, 2006

Last month was the second record-setting month in a row here at UtD with more folks downloading shows than ever before. And so to celebrate, I’m posting a show by one of my favorite musicians recorded right here in Madison.

Peter Gabriel was a founding member of Genesis in 1967 and left the band in 1975 after their tour in support of the mammoth 2-LP concept album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. In July of that year, he issue a press release explaining his departure from the band:

I had a dream, eye’s dream. Then I had another dream with the body and soul of a rock star. When it didn’t feel good I packed it in. Looking back for the musical and non-musical reasons, this is what I came up with:

OUT, ANGELS OUT – an investigation.

The vehicle we had built as a co-op to serve our songwriting became our master and had cooped us up inside the success we had wanted. It affected the attitudes and the spirit of the whole band. the music had not dried up and I still respect the other musicians, but our roles had set in hard. To get an idea through “Genesis the Big” meant shifting a lot more concrete than before. For any band, transferring the heart from idealistic enthusiasm to professionalism is a difficult operation. I believe the use of sound and visual images can be developed to do much more than we have done. But on a large scale it needs one clear and coherent direction, which our pseudo-democratic committee system could not provide. As an artist, I need to absorb a wide variety of experiences. It is difficult to respond to intuition and impulse within the long-term planning that the band needed. I felt I should look at/learn about/develop myself, my creative bits and pieces and pick up on a lot of work going on outside music. Even the hidden delights of vegetable growing and community living are beginning to reveal their secrets. I could not expect the band to tie in their schedules with my bondage to cabbages. The increase in money and power, if I had stayed, would have anchored me to the spotlights. It was important to me to give space to my family, which I wanted to hold together, and to liberate the daddy in me. Although I have seen and learnt a great deal in the last seven years, I found I had begun to look at things as the famous Gabriel, despite hiding my occupation whenever possible, hitching lifts, etc. I had begun to think in business terms; very useful for an often bitten once shy musician, but treating records and audiences as money was taking me away from them. When performing, there were less shivers up and down the spine. I believe the world has soon to go through a difficult period of changes. I’m excited by some of the areas coming through to the surface which seem to have been hidden away in people’s minds. I want to explore and be prepared to be open and flexible enough to respond, not tied in to the old hierarchy. Much of my psyche’s ambitions as “Gabriel archetypal rock star” have been fulfilled – a lot of the ego-gratification and the need to attract young ladies, perhaps the result of frequent rejection as “Gabriel acne-struck public school boy”. However, I can still get off playing the star game once in a while. My future within music, if it exists, will be in as many situations as possible. It’s good to see a growing number of artists breaking down the pigeonholes. This is the difference between the profitable, compartmentalized, battery chicken and the free-range. Why did the chicken cross the road anyway? There is no animosity between myself and the band or management. The decision had been made some time ago and we have talked about our new direction. The reason why my leaving was not announced earlier was because I had been asked to delay until they had found a replacement to plug up the hole. It is not impossible that some of them might work with me on other projects. The following guesswork has little in common with truth: Gabriel left Genesis. 1) To work in theatre. 2) To make more money as a solo artist. 3) To do a “Bowie”. 4) To do a “Ferry”. 5) To do a “Furry Boa round my neck and hang myself with it”. 6) To go see an institution. 7) To go senile in the sticks. I do not express myself adequately in interviews and I felt I owed it to the people who have put a lot of love and energy supporting the band to give an accurate picture of my reasons.

He emerged a couple years later with his first solo album called Peter Gabriel that featured the over-played hit “Solsbury Hill”. The show at hand was recorded during the tour in support of his fourth solo album, known as Security here in the States, which has on it the early MTV fave, “Shock the Monkey”. Security was Gabriel’s second album that showed the tremendous influence of non-Western msuic, especially rhythms, on his writing. While his previous solo album, Peter Gabriel 3 was definitely rhythm-centric, it was here that he began using African percussion instruments and various samples of “exotic” instruments on the Fairlight, an early sampling keyboard In addition, the album featured the violin of Indian musician, Shankar. I would argue that the sound of Security set the mold for all of his future records.

(Photos by Larry Fast.)

Today’s show was recorded on 30 November 1982 here in Madison at the Civic Center. It’s the first set of the night. There were some techincal problems with the wireless mikes that night but it’s still a great performance. Enjoy!

Setlist:

The Rhythm Of The Heat
I Have The Touch
Not One Of Us
The Family And The Fishing Net
Shock The Monkey
Family Snapshot

Download show

Peter Gabriel

(Photo by Carlos Policella.)

Related posts:

1. Peter Gabriel in the News
2. Genesis Reunion?
3. Show #25: Steve Hackett Acostic Trio
4. Show #35: Mad Dog Fagin in Madtown
5. News – 22 August 05