# 71/72/73+174/175 – Another P.O.V.

SO... Here's just a little taster, call it teaser if you want, of quite an ambitious project. Not time to give any details yet: watch this space and all will soon(ish) be revealed :-)

International Day Of Peace 1986

The United Nations' International Day of Peace is a global observance and not a public holiday. It is a day when nations around the world are invited to honor a cessation of hostilities during the day.
A UN resolution established the International Day of Peace in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the UN General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in 1982 and was held on the third Tuesday of September each year until 2002, when September 21 became the permanent date for the International Day of Peace. The assembly decided in 2001 that the International Day of Peace should be annually observed on September 21 starting from 2002. By setting a fixed date for the International Day of Peace, the assembly declared that the day should be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence.
By creating the International Day of Peace, the UN devoted itself to worldwide peace and encouraged people to work in cooperation for this goal. Since its inception, Peace Day has marked personal and planetary progress toward peace. It has grown to include millions of people worldwide and many events are organized each year to commemorate and celebrate this day.
(For further information: http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/)

VIDEO BACKGROUND
This came to me through a great friend, Marco L., whom I haven't seen for a long long time (except for a very brief meet up at the last PG show in Verona, in 2010). We probably first met in the late 80's, when we were both active fanzine makers (he with Wonderous Stories, I with Paperlate), but we did get on even more friendly terms in the summer of 1995, when Secret World, the band he was playing keyboards in (which as the name implies was a Gabriel cover band), played in Bologna for a PG Tribute event I was asked to organize and which turned out to be a great success for all involved with about 800 people showing up in the middle of a July week…

We met a few times afterwards: on one occasion, when I was in Rome for something else, we did go for a pizza one night and he handed me 2 VHS tapes telling me - but here my memory could be mistaken - he had come across the guy who filmed the stuff by absolute chance...
For a few years I did not know what exactly to do with them: they were NTSC and the cost of professionally transferring them would have been too steep; also, the only thing I knew was that they were filmed during the 1986 UN show, of which I already had a PAL transfer. I must say I thought it was strange that these were 2 tapes, when one would have sufficed for the barely 30 minutes set, but I simply guessed the rest would be fillers from US Tv or things like that.

I only managed to finally see and transfer the tapes to a S•VHS PAL copy around the year 2000, and boy was I surprised!! Not only the footage from the day of show was far better than the amateur shoot, it was also done from on stage rather than from the audience point of view, and it included all sorts of interesting and amusing bits and pieces from the day (check out the nutter chapter or the dove incident…).
Then, obviously, there are the rehearsals, of which the above is an extract…
While there is in fact nothing really "new" or "unexpected" in this footage, nonetheless I believe that having a chance to "sneak in" on a such an occasion, even if just for one hour, is something quite unique. As unique is the band gathered for the occasion (as you cn see from the musicians listed below). It appears from some of the musicians' different clothes that the rehearsals happened over a couple of days, so the date is actually just a guesstimate on my side.
Finally, this seems to fit in quite well with the theme of the (belated) 25th SO anniversary celebrations…

So: here's to you, Marco! With many thanks to your friendship and kindness in letting me have this all those years ago. I hope to get in touch again and share a few memories & beers whenever the chance arises!



the intruder (2012)


- - - - - - -


Peter Gabriel - International Day Of Peace 1986 (rehearsals & show)
14th/15th September, New York, Unknown studio
16th September, UN Building

STARRING
Peter Gabriel - voice, keyboards
Little Steven - guitar, voice

SPECIAL GUEST
Youssou N'Dour - voice

FEATURING
Darryl Jones - bass
Omar Hakim - drums
David Sancious - keyboards
L.Shankar - voice, violin
David Beal - percussion

ALSO APPEARING
Barry Roberts (University For Peace, Costa Rica)
Dave Stallbaumer (PG technician & stage manager)
Assorted politicians, authorities, personalities and international musicians

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

DISC 1 - STUDIO REHEARSALS
Chapter 1 - Talking before the start (PG, BR, LS & DS)
Chapter 2 - In Your Eyes (Take I - PG on keyb)
Chapter 3 - In Your Eyes (Take II - PG on keyb)
Chapter 4 - In Your Eyes (Chorus rehearsal)
Chapter 5 - waiting and listening to a tape
Chapter 6 - In Your Eyes (Take III - PG standing)
Chapter 7 - In Your Eyes (Take IV - final part only)
Chapter 8 - In Your Eyes (Take V - PG standing)
Chapter 9 - Biko (cut)
Chapter 10 - Barry Roberts speech rehearsal & debate
Chapter 11 - Sun City

DISC 2 - INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE CONCERT
Chapter 1 - Crowd, stage and Barry Roberts declaration
Chapter 2 - A lady's speech and the "Dove Mishap"
Chapter 3 - Musicians interviews
Chapter 4 - International musicians performances (I)
Chapter 5 - International musicians performances (II)
Chapter 6 - "Nutter alert" (a Genesis fan) and backstage shots
Chapter 7 - PG gets on stage and speaks of the day
Chapter 8 - Red Rain
Chapter 9 - In Your Eyes
Chapter 10 - Biko
Chapter 11 - Sun City

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FULL LINEAGE
Unknown format master (I suspect U-matic) --> VHS (NTSC) --> S•VHS (PAL) --> Panasonic NV-HS1000 --> Canopus ADVC-100 --> iMac (iMovie/Compressor/Toast) --> dvd files (torrent)

If the YouTube sample above as whetted your appetite, head on to the Genesis Movement Torrent website to download the full 2 hours video in dvd format...

#94 - Marino (Roma), Palaghiaccio, 18.5.1993

I chose this specific track to upload as the Secret World Live official dvd is getting a second release in July. Apparently, this will correct and improve the awful digitization job that characterized the first issue, and will also restore the track Red Rain to its original place in the setlist: although it appeared on the cd, it was nowhere to be found in the original VHS release and it the subsequent dvd.
Unfortunately, none of the official releases featured - or will feature - the show finale, which could be very different from date to date.

Here, from the same tour but from the earlier leg, is a brilliant and emotional version of Here Comes The Flood filmed in Rome, or to be more precise in Marino, at the Palaghiaccio, on May 18th, 1993.

I think the smile on Peter's face all through the song says it all about what a great show that had been!
Also, a fun thing to notice is how Peter used to only sing the first half of Flood and let it hang out there... But check the video at 2'50": although the song was virtually finished another smile and another chord bring it to its 'natural' completion :-)

#177 - Stuttgart, SchleyerHalle, 11.05.2012

#176 Munchen, Olympiahalle, 2.5.2012

Another year, another show. This is in itself amazing!
We're talking PG here, the man that used to tour once or twice per decade at the most!
Not complaining, though... :-)

The show in Munich was the first in a new series of New Blood dates across Germany, and as all 'firsts' it had is highs and lows (though mostly highs), which is especially true when you are dealing with a full orchestra where only a handful are 'stable' musicians and the rest keep varying. I'm sure that in the ten days between now and Stuttgart (which I hope will be my next show...) the amalgam of the players will have vastly improved, making it all tighter and without the few 'loose ends' that one could notice in Munich.
Again, that is not to say that the show was anything less than great!

Peter's voice sounded relaxed and in good shape. Tom Crowley keeps doing an amazing job on piano (but so do all the others on their respective instruments!).
Melanie was back and she was accompanied by a new (to me) second vocalist, Rosie Doonan, with a great stage presence and very good voice.

Setlist-wise, we were treated to a couple of 'newish' songs: Secret World and Father Son. I know the former has been played only occasionally before (mostly in the US), and can't remember wether the latter ever was on the last tour. Both showed signs of absolute brilliancy, but they did not sound fully matured, and I expect them to improve daily till they reach perfection. Once in Stuttgart, of course... ;-)

Setlist

Heroes
Wallflower
Apres Moi
Intruder
San Jacinto
Secret World
Father Son
Signal To Noise
Downside Up
Digging in the Dirt
Mercy Street
The Rhythm Of The Heat 
Red Rain
Solsbury Hill
Biko

In Your Eyes
Don’t Give Up
The Nest That Sailed The Sky

#113 Paris, Bercy, 24.11.1993

I know, I know, it's been long time since the last post but as mentioned below the "success" of the In Your Eyes clip, now past the 170.000 mark, has really surprised me and left me undecided on how to put up something equally interesting.
I am currently working on a "slightly different" project, but it will take a while to finish it, so I thought I'd post something anyway and chose this clip from the penultimate show of 1993.

Besides Italy (and Glasgow, especially in the 80s...), the Parisian audiences have always been fantastic. That night in Bercy was no exception: my only regret is that the footage does not come from the following night performance, at the Zenith, where all sorts of (fun) things happened above and below the stage!