{"id":3612,"date":"2023-05-19T15:10:33","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T14:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/?p=3612"},"modified":"2023-05-21T14:13:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T13:13:06","slug":"raucous-and-reflective-peter-gabriel-krakow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/raucous-and-reflective-peter-gabriel-krakow\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Gabriel Shows No Signs of Slowing Down – A Raucous and Reflective Concert in Krak\u00f3w"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][nk_title like=”” style=””]Behold the pied piper of English art rock.<\/strong>[\/nk_title][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” awb_type=”image” awb_stretch=”1″ awb_image_background_position=”50% 50%” awb_image=”3621″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1684499940208{background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.91) !important;*background-color: rgb(255,255,255) !important;}”][nk_text]<\/p>\n

Revered prog-rock icon, 73-year-old Peter Gabriel, started his new i\/o tour in Tauron Arena, Krak\u00f3w, last night. His music since leaving Genesis in \u201975 has rarely been predictable, and his 4-decade-long solo career has always been required listening: genre-defying, experimental, musically diverse and ambitious, bristling with political\/social commentary and wry wit. This was reflected in tonight\u2019s live set \u2013 a mix of outrageously ostentatious 80\u2019s stadium pomp (including keytars), rich and luscious strings filled in the honeyed foundation of many other tracks that were bubbling over with aching reflection, stirring up the kind of unflinching intimacy that can cast an audience of 15,000 souls in a trance. Behold the pied piper of English art rock.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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A world class cast of incredible musicians surrounded him, including legendary drummer Manu Katch\u00e9, David Rhodes, and the silky skills of King Crimson\u2019s Tony Levin \u2013 all long-standing members of Gabriel’s band. For this tour there were also two string musicians that deserve particular attention: the sublime cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson (also playing keyboards and on backing vocal duties) and Marina Moore (violin\/viola and backing vocals), special mention to Josh Shpak\u2019s gyrating and mute-led Trumpet-playing \u2013 a cacophonous feast for the ears.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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All photos by Norbert Burkowski (No.Photos<\/strong><\/a>) for Krak\u00f3w Music<\/strong><\/a> and Poland Music<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/h6>\n

[\/nk_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” awb_type=”color” awb_stretch=”1″ awb_color=”#6d0024″][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”3624″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”3625″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”3628″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content”][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”3640″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_empty_space height=”95px”][nk_block_quote author=”\u2014 Shaun O’Neill” icon_color=”#590d26″]<\/p>\n

The message is clear: don\u2019t be afraid, stand up for what you believe, and be the change you want to see.<\/h3>\n

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Highlights included some of the songs from the yet to be released album i\/o, particularly the new singles <\/span>Panopticom<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Four Kinds of Horses<\/i><\/a><\/strong>, the <\/span><\/i>otherworldly backing vocals from Witter-Johnson and Moore soaring high. Gabriel\u2019s always collaborated with the finest of vocalists \u2013 tonight was no exception. Many of the newer songs sound better in a live habitat \u2013 more rounded, angular, edgier. The plaintive <\/span>Playing for Time <\/span><\/i>was touching \u2013 showcasing a man in his eighth decade who is doing plenty of reminiscing, contemplating the past, living in the grace of the present, the future taking care of itself. He also threw in the odd classic from an extensive back catalogue \u2013 the cathartic <\/span>Digging in the Dirt<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>the horny and hilarious<\/span> Sledgehammer, <\/span><\/i>and the magnificently divine duet <\/span>Don\u2019t Give Up \u2013 <\/span><\/i>a truly transcendental moment and quite possibly one of the most beautiful things I\u2019ve ever heard live. Kate Bush\u2019s original fragile vocal is handled with reverence by the talented Witter-Johnson, while being confident enough to inject it with her own unique flourishes too. <\/span>Red Rain<\/span><\/i> was a juggernaut of Levin\u2019s melting bass, a monstrously decadent fatberg of sound, a song as technical as any on the set list, executed to absolute precision by the band. Incredibly, Gabriel\u2019s vocals show little hint of time whatsoever. “I’m old now, but I’m helped by so much young energy around me. I think the colors we can use now, all the trumpets and strings, reflect my happiness,\u201d he states. When he eventually bursts into the uproariously joyful <\/span>Solsbury Hill<\/span><\/i>, the folks in the more expensive seats on the ground floor rush to the front as Gabriel boyishly skips around the stage. Suddenly, time melting, a young lad from 1977 is in front of us, a look of pure love on his face, this deep upswelling of nostalgia gushes out over everyone in a euphoric tide. Never thought I\u2019d feel this kind of intensity of emotion in such an impersonal venue.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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There are two encores: the magical <\/span>In Your Eyes<\/span><\/i>, its African-inspired rhythms and lilting chants are as fitting a finale as one could imagine to such a momentous evening. At 2300, as people are leaving, he appears once again to rapturous applause, saying goodbye for good with his political tour-de-force from 1980 \u2013 Biko \u2013 a eulogy to the murdered anti-apartheid activist, the South African\u2019s sad face and piercing eyes hovering above the stage. Its anthemic chorus is a somber yet defiantly fist-pumping end to the most emotionally charged evening of evenings. Each bandmember leaves the stage \u2013 one by one \u2013 only Manu Katch\u00e9 remains on the drums. Eventually, he leaves too.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n
The message is clear: don\u2019t be afraid, stand up for what you believe, and be the change you want to see.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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Revered prog-rock icon, 73-year-old Peter Gabriel, started his new i\/o tour in Tauron Arena, Krak\u00f3w, last night. His music since leaving Genesis in \u201975 has rarely been predictable, and his 4-decade-long solo career has always been required listening: genre-defying, experimental, musically diverse and ambitious, bristling with political\/social commentary and wry wit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Peter Gabriel Shows No Signs of Slowing Down - A Raucous and Reflective Concert in Krak\u00f3w","_seopress_titles_desc":"Revered prog-rock icon, 73-year-old Peter Gabriel, started his new i\/o tour in Tauron Arena, Krak\u00f3w, last night. His music since leaving Genesis in \u201975 has rarely been predictable, and his 4-decade-long solo career has always been required listening: genre-defying, experimental, musically diverse and ambitious, bristling with political\/social commentary and wry wit.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[361,33],"tags":[42,386,384,385,48],"class_list":["post-3612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-event-photography","category-music-reviews","tag-concert","tag-krkaow","tag-peter-gabriel","tag-tauron-arena-krakow","tag-world-music"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 23:01:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3612"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3645,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3612\/revisions\/3645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}