Secret World Live

I saw this live and the DVD really captures the essence of the show. The use of two stages (the male and female representation) choice of songs and of course, Peter's on testosterone really fuels the performance. His show included the perfect supporting musicians including Paula Cole's amazing vocals (if you don't get chills when she duets "Don't Give Up" then you are truly dead). There is no prerecorded vocals or instruments here, he is for sure one of the best live performers as he always has been. I'd give it a 10, but only if he re-releases it on Blu-Ray...I can only hope. Secret World live is required for any music lover's DVD collection.

It was my good fortune to attend a Gabriel concert in 1980 just after he had left Genesis and embarked on a solo tour in the town of Taunton, England. What luck to travel 1/2 a world and find him. Even more astonishing to sit in a darkened theatre and exchange words with a latecomer over the concert and the support act and when the lights went up to discover it was Peter himself as he rose from the seat to take his place on the stage. It was memorable for a stripped down stage show, a baby who wailed at an appropriate moment in Mother of Violence, and a rapturous applause from the audience for the show. From that to this, full on stage effects, marvelous music, astounding camera work, and don't i just love the way that Peter does not hog the show. What an extraordinary group of musicians he has and how they enjoy each other and playing the music. You Europeans are damn lucky to get to go, pity us down the bottom of the world 12500 miles away, But this DVD brings them into your room, and as Jon Anderson sings 'It's almost like being there' .Oh yes! Go you bald men go. Glad Peter joined Tony and David in the head department, and now the drummer as well.

I am not a fan of concert videos at all. I feel they can not provide anywhere near the amount of energy one gets from a live show, and since all concerts are designed for the stimulation of the live audience, most video/dvd concerts fall rather flat.

This, however, is one of those rare viewing experiences that transcends the medium. Gabriel weaves so much stimulation into his concerts that you can't help but be impacted by all the happenings. Etched forever in my mind is his performance of "Come Talk To Me," which might be one of the most intense and passionate performances ever captured on film/video/anything.

If you're not a Peter Gabriel fan, watch this and you will be. If you're a Peter Gabriel fan and you haven't seen this, then you're not the fan you think you are. Almost a religous experience.

A vast improvement over the concert film from the "SO" tour, which ruined the spectacle of Peter's stage show by unwise camera work (mostly by pulling in for close ups during a stage show designed for a wide view, as well as cutting away from the stage show entirely.)

Like most concert films, it's essentially for fans only - why else would you want to see a concert? - but fans should do what they can to get their hands on a copy. Terrific arrangements and embellishments to some of Peter's best material.

Peter Gabriel has always been known for highly theatrical concerts - with Genesis, and then as a solo artist...and his costumes have ranged from a fox to a flower. For this concert, filmed in Italy in 1994 as part of his Secret World/"Us" album world tour, there are no costumes, but an elaborate set on a stage "in the round," to give all musicians access to all parts of the stage, much to the delight of the audience. He goes through most of the songs from the "Us" album, a highly underrated record that fans and non-fans alike unfairly compared to his 1986 commercial breakthrough "So." Each song features an amazing display of singing, lighting, camera work, choreography by not only Gabriel but the rest of his band (including a then-unknown Paula Cole), and stage sets ranging from a phone booth to a giant suitcase (where the band "disappears" into near the end of the concert) to a jellyfish-shaped dome that covers the stage at various points of the show.

There are no Genesis songs to be heard here, and very few from his pre-1986 albums - songs like Games Without Frontiers and the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway probably would not have worked with this set up, although Shock the Monkey might have worked. The combination of the music, the sets, and the powerful enthusiasm of the band brought me to tears several times. The duet Don't Give Up, where Cole steps in for Kate Bush to beguiling effect (her voice is much different than Bush's, making for an interesting, but just as powerful, interpretation), is just one highlight.

The BluRay was a bit pricy at $35 (currently on Amazon) but as a concert I think I will re-watch several times, worth it. I'm proud to have it on my shelf in my "Concert" section, next to Sting's 2001 "All This Time," the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense," Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," and Elton John's "One Night Only" Madison Square Garden concert from 2000.