#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!

WowTube!

Haven't had time for any new posts or videos recently, but I just want to express how freaked out I am that the In Your Eyes clip as gone over the 100-bleeding-000 views wall on YouTube.

I'm not on Facebook and I haven't done anything to push it or promote it, so I honestly would have never expected it to get that far.

The release of New Blood has obviously sparked a lot of interest, and besides pg.com and Facebook, the link to my clip has appeared all over the place.
So thanks to all the viewers and to the nearly 500 who 'liked' it.

Like the man himself said (after the amazing impromptu performance of Daara J on Lay Your Hand On me at Womad 2007): "Now follow that!!"

Don't know if I'll make it, but I'll try to put down a few of my thoughts on the Scratch My Back/New Blood albums and tours soon(ish)...