The 500 - #187 - Peter Gabriel Part Two

This is part two of my Peter Gabriel blog for the record So - originally posted on November 10, 2024.

In my previous blog, found here, I recounted five of the six times I saw Peter Gabriel perform live and saved the story of the sixth event for this post.

Gabriel’s sixth studio record, Us,was released in 1992 It had been a half dozen years since So, the critically acclaimed 1996 record that sold seven million copies and landed at #187 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 2012 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The lyrics of So explored universal themes of faith, religion, materialism, consumerism, belonging, love and conformity. Us, by contrast, was much more personal for Gabriel, whose lyrics addressed his difficult divorce from his first wife, Jill Moore, in 1987, and the depression and therapy that followed. He also reflected on his relationship with Rosanne Arquette, who was an A-list actor in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Gabriel and Arquette.

The opening song on the album, Come Talk To Me, focuses on the growing distance between Gabriel and his teenage daughters during his marital difficulties It also features backing vocals from Irish singer Sinead O’Connor (#408 on The 500) with whom Gabriel had an on-again, off-again relationship throughout the ‘90s.

Gabriel and O'Connor

Although Gabriel released new music during this challenging time, his output was a mainly instrumental record – 1989’s Passion, which became the soundtrack for Martin Scorcese film, The Last Temptation of Christ. The music score was considered a landmark in the growing popularity of World Music and it won the Grammy Award in 1990 for best New Age Album. I absolutely loved it and it got me through many tedious shifts when at a box factory in the summer of 1989. My job was to fill a bailing machine with scrap cardboard that I gathered in a cart I pulled around the factory floor. I was one of the few employees allowed to wear headphones because I wasn’t operating a machine most of the time. Whenever I listen to Passion, I’m reminded of that mind-numbing, low-paying job. That September, I returned to the restaurant game and studied extra hard in school – factory work was decidedly not for me.

Album cover for Passion 

In early 1993, it was announced that Gabriel would be embarking on a massive world tour promoting the Us record. The ambitious gig was dubbed The Secret World Tour visiting 28 countries over 17 months. My friend Jeff and I snatched up a pair of tickets the day they went on sale for his June 26 concert in Toronto at the 50,000-seat Skydome (now Rogers Centre), which had opened four years earlier. The concert sold out quickly, but we secured two seats in the last row of the lower bowl, directly facing the stage. Jeff and I were also at our first Gabriel concert six years earlier at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds on my 22nd birthday.

To say we were excited about the upcoming performance is an understatement as Jeff and I were devoted fans of Gabriel and his former band, Genesis. We had collected nearly everything both singer and band had released, including the solo efforts from the various Genesis members. Together, we’d attended two Genesis concerts in Toronto (sans Gabriel) in 1996 and in 1992 – the first at the CNE grounds and the latter at Skydome.

Genesis on the We Can't Dance Tour (1992)

At the Skydome, we were gobsmacked by the elaborate stage and set design. We later learned that Gabriel had worked with Canadian artistic director Robert Lepage to create two platforms, one square and one circular, connected by a moving walkway. The subliminal message of the two stages was the interplay of tension and union between male and female forces.

Secret World Stage being constructed - pre-show.

In the early 90s, the McDonald’s franchise was heavily invested in the Skydome and the burger empire opened its 600th restaurant, a giant concession stand, on the main promenade, of the stadium’s lower bowl. Our seats were directly in front of the glowing yellow arches that became a problem when the concert began.

The opening song, Come Talk To Me, began with Gabriel inside a red British phone booth on the square “male” stage. His duet partner, the incredibly talented Paula Cole, appeared at the centre of the round “female” stage some 20 metres away. Gabriel emerged from the booth, singing into a headset microphone but giving the illusion he was singing into the telephone. As he moved closer and closer to Cole, the telephone line stretched out behind him. Ever the theatrical performer, Gabriel struggled and strained as he attempted to close the distance between himself and Cole, who served as a metaphoric representation of his daughter. It was a powerful opening number that physically and emotionally captured the pain Gabriel felt as a father who, due to his extensive touring schedule, struggled to maintain a connection with his daughters – often talking only briefly over the telephone, an arrangement that became rarer as the girls grew older and more independent.

Gabriel approaching Cole during Come Talk To Me.

The song ends with Gabriel failing to bridge the final short distance in order to reach out and touch Cole as he is pulled back to the booth along the moving walkway, resisting the inevitable drama of hanging up the phone in the red booth. A video of the song from the 1994 DVD of the concert can be found here.

The glow from the neon yellow arches was an impediment to the emotional tension of the duet, despite an attempt to block the distracting light with a black curtain. The effect was to wash the stage lighting in a yellow haze. No sooner had the song ended than I sprang up from my seat, not saying a word to Jeff, and bolted for the box office I had noticed on our arrival. 

There was no line up and I quickly explained the situation to the clerk who was pleasant and sympathetic to my complaint.  She reached into a drawer and offered me a replacement ticket … “It's for the first row,” she said, smiling.  

Elation tempered as I remembered Jeff, still awash in that sickly yellow haze and likely perplexed about my sudden departure. “I’m with a friend,” I said, hopefully.

She returned the front row ticket to the drawer and said, “I’ve got two together, but I will need the other ticket.” 

Earning my everlasting gratitude, she locked up the booth and accompanied me back to where Jeff was seated. At this point, Gabriel was performing Steam, a song that had hit #1 on the Canadian charts the previous January. It is an up-tempo number, so the crowd was swaying, many standing and singing along. I leaned into our row and beckoned Jeff to come with me, but he ignored me. And concert-goers behind me were getting irritable at having their view of the on-stage action blocked – as if the yellow haze wasn’t enough. I grabbed Jeff’s arm and, with strident urgency, said: “Jeff, trust me, let’s go!”  Thankfully, he relented and, with a confused look on his face, followed me and the ticket agent down toward the stage. I told him to turn over his ticket.  She handed over replacement tickets and at the end of the long walk, pointed to two seats in the second row of the round, “female” stage – about two metres from Ms. Paula Cole.

The replacement ticket I received, notice the price is $0.00

The reality of what had just happened began to dawn on Jeff, who turned to me with a wide grin and proffering an outstretched arm for an appreciative handshake – which I accepted vigorously.

The rest of the show was spectacular and I encourage people to watch the live video. Filmed during his performance in Modelo, Italy, it has recently been remastered into 4K resolution. However, a good version is available on YouTube for free. Needless to say, it remains my favourite Peter Gabriel concert and is certainly in the Top Three shows I have ever seen.