Peter Gabriel
1993-06-01Earls Court
As a general rule I avoid gigs in big venues as I think they're very poor value for money but with some acts you just don't have a choice. As Peter Gabriel albums (and therefore tours) arrive only slightly more often than Buddy Holly albums I knew this would be one of my few chances.
I was a very long way from the stage so I hired some binoculars from some nice people next to the t-shirt stand. Now these weren't those little dinky binoculars you get at the theatre or the opera, these were binoculars suitable for watching incoming enemy aircraft. And I needed them.
For support we were treated to a couple of bands signed to PG's RealWorld record label. On the whole they were rather boring but the band from South Africa had a rather interesting habit. The two male backing singers / dancers would run on stage excitedly at the begining of a song then walk off stage at the end only to run on stage again. Some people just love to make an entrance.
When PG finally started he emerged from a telephone box (long before Oasis) singing and dragging the handset across a long 'catwalk' to another smaller stage where Sinead O'Conner suddenly appeared. Probably one of the few occassions when he's shared a stage with someone more insane than he his.
As the gig went on there were enough stage tricks to keep the eyes from popping off to the bar for a quick pint and enough variation in the music to keep the ears busy too.