I saw one of the early concerts that Gabriel performed with the 'New Blood' orchestra, just under 12 months ago, when he performed the whole of his 'Scratch my back' album - and just a few of his own tunes in an orchestral setting @ the O2 Arena in Greenwich.
This time he was back - and at a much smaller venue, but only performed 4 of the covers, with the rest of the 2hour+ set composed of his own material - re-worked (sometimes rather radically) for orchestra.
If anything I enjoyed last night's show even more than the show last year - which was amongst my favourite shows of 2010. Gabriel was in a good mood and the orchestra were really fantastic. Playing a 4500-capacity theater rather than an arena, meant that some of the visuals were paired down a little, but we got to see Gabriel, his 2 backing singers (his daughter Melanie and Ane Brun) and in particular the orchestra really close up. The crowd response was fantastic and much warmer than last year's show and most people seem to really enjoy the orchestral slant and applauded all of the soloists very loudly.
He played a lot of material from periods of his career that I am not particularly familiar with and most of the time the orchestral arrangements came off. However both Biko and Digging In The Dirt that I do know quite well, didn't seem to work as well in the orchestral setting as some of the other tunes.
Still, an excellent show and one that I look forward to enjoying again on DVD.
As I left the theatre, I spotted an familiar face leaving along with the crowd - a certain Mr Steve Hackett.
Set 1:
Intruder
Wallflower
The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon cover)
Après moi (Regina Spektor cover)
Washing of the Water
The Book of Love (The Magnetic Fields cover) - fantastic!
Darkness
The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed cover) - fantastic!
Biko
Set 2:
San Jacinto
Digging In The Dirt
Signal To Noise
Downside Up
Mercy Street
The Rhythm of the Heat
Blood of Eden
Red Rain
Solsbury Hill
Encore:
In Your Eyes (with a guest singing the female parts)
Don't Give Up (with Ane Brun performing Kate Bush's part)
The Nest That Sailed the Sky (instrumental)
