Peter Gabriel "Growing Up"

Michael Varacin · 05-10-2004, 10:28 AM

I never was a big fan of Peter Gabriel. His music was something that was just always "there" that I never paid attention too. It probably comes from hearing Sledghammer so many times over the years.

But this weekend, I was flipping through the channels and in glorious HD they were showing his "Growing Up" concert. I starting watching it mainly to check out the HD picture, but I quickly became amazed at the performance.

His music and stage production seemed to be one of the coolest performances I have ever seen. Very intelligent and interesting.

I am going to go buy a studio album to see if I still feel the same way.

But I recommend this concert DVD...it was definitly pretty cool. I was impressed.

Mike Broadman · 05-10-2004, 10:32 AM

When I get my HT set up again, that is on the top of the list.

I saw him live last summer, and it was great. The Segweys, the hammster ball, Tony Levin- awesome stuff.

Gabriel has managed to find delicate balance between showmanship and maturity in his concerts.

Michael St. Clair · 05-10-2004, 10:57 AM

Check out the DVD...the pic isn't as sharp as InHD, but the audio is DD5.1 instead of DD2.0.

Andrew Bunk · 05-10-2004, 12:15 PM

DVD also has a DTS track which is great IMO. This live performance really helped me appreciate Up as an album. I've always had So and PG's greatest hits, but I just got into discovering all of his other releases this year. Up didn't grab me at first, but after seeing the songs performed I found myself seeing them in a different light.

Fantastic DVD. Secret World Live is another great performance. It's 10 years older so obviously it's not going to have as good PQ as Growing Up, but it's still very entertaining, and has a great DTS track as well.

Michael St. Clair · 05-10-2004, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Secret World Live is another great performance. It's 10 years older so obviously it's not going to have as good PQ as Growing Up

Oh, the SWL DVD could have looked much better...it was shot on film, but they cropped it to fake widescreen and gave it the worst overcompression job I have seen.

The laserdisc is much better.

**HTF Ads**

RaulR · 05-10-2004, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Secret World Live is another great performance. It's 10 years older so obviously it's not going to have as good PQ as Growing Up, but it's still very entertaining, and has a great DTS track as well.

Take note that the Secret World Live DVD has had the top and bottom of the picture chopped off to make it widescreen. As well, there are portions where the screen breaks up into pixels -- classic sign of a bad transfer.

As for the surround mixes, whether or not they sound good is a matter of personal preference, of course. I personally find both the Dolby and DTS surround mixes quite lacking in bass compared to the original stereo mix.

All in all, this is one VHS tape I'm not getting rid of even though I have the DVD.

Edited to add: Hey, what's up, Michael? Should have known you'd be quick to reply about SWL too!

Mike Broadman · 05-10-2004, 01:13 PM

I would also like to give particular notice the the album Us. It has become my favorite, recently. Simply gorgeous.

JasonDNJ · 05-10-2004, 05:43 PM

I was at this tour last year in NJ. Brilliant performance. Peter's daughter sang through most of the songs. Best part of the show was when he sang, "Games Without Frontiers" while riding on a Segway. What was especially funny was the timing with the Segway, the song, and a little incident involving somebody in power falling off of one not too long ago.

Paul.S · 05-10-2004, 06:16 PM

Michael Varacin said:

Quote:

I am going to go buy a studio album to see if I still feel the same way.

. . . and Andrew Bunk said:

Quote:

I've always had So and PG's greatest hits, but I just got into discovering all of his other releases this year.

By all means, at the very least, check out Peter Gabriel 3 ("Melting Face").

I also highly recommend the Plays Live album. Annoyingly, the remastered CD and the SACD are only "Highlights." It's worth looking for the original release, which was a two-CD album. Too many good songs were dropped to create the "Highlghts" album IMO.

Still gnashing my teeth here that CV, the PG music vid compilation that includes "Shock the Monkey" and which made it to LD, has yet to make it to DVD.

-p

{Edited: In my enthusiastic haste, I misread "Us" as "Up" in your post #7, Mike B.}

DaveDickey · 05-10-2004, 06:21 PM

I agree this is a great DVD. I bought the SACD "Up" and then bought the "Growing Up" video a few weeks later. Both are just teriffic. So many talented musicians seem to use up their best stuff early in their careers. Gabriel is one of those rare artists who seems to get better with time.

Ted Lee · 05-10-2004, 07:41 PM

i was at one of the womad festivals when i saw this dude walking around with a camcorder. i was like, "hey, that's peter gabriel!". he was like 4 feet from me. that was a cool moment...

i think pg is amazing. his stuff is so complex, yet moving. i could listen to "passion" over and over and never get tired of it.

great artist...