Peter Gabriel

Trust Peter Gabriel – fresh from interpreting his own back-catalogue in new orchestral settings and covering favourite pop tunes, as well as commissioning covers of his songs from sound-alikes and young indie figures clearly under his influence – to do the perform a classic album live thing and make it seem fresh; magical even.

The Back to Front: Live In London DVD captures Gabriel’s two-nighter at the 02 where So was performed in its entirety – in what he called a three-part performance.

The show starts, house lights up, just Gabriel at the keys. He introduces a song so new it isn’t even finished; his old pal Tony Levin joins on bass. The band for these shows is the original touring band that performed those hits from So back 25 years ago – Levin and drummer Manu Katche have been mainstays of Gabriel’s band/s.

Gabriel’s live DVDs are always something special and the lighting for Back to Front is amazing – clever camera tricks and even in this huge arena show, where a classic set of radio singles is the main offering there’s an intimacy. We’re taking right up to the band, we get to see these songs as they happen. Huge video screens provide cool moments too but if anything this is the Gabriel live set/DVD that is most about the music.

There was a time when the pop hits from So – Sledgehammer, Big Time in particular – seemed a million miles (well, nearly) from the four self-titled albums and the movie soundtracks that Gabriel worked on post-Genesis. Classic Rock Radio has perhaps closed the gap now, of course there are big songs like Solsbury Hill – with its ever-infectious melody and euphoric chorus – but it’s amazing how time catches up, or how things play out with time. Nothing on So seems out of place in a set that features brand new songs and material from across Gabriel’s whole solo catalogue. He’s in wonderful voice, the band nails it – and we get a run of huge hits and interesting album cuts before we get to the third act – the So album. It sounds as good as ever, and as wonderful as it was at the time it’s one of my least favourite of Gabriel’s albums – that’s less to do with the album having any real failings, more about how great I think those first four albums are – and selected highlights since So too.

Here it all feels unified – an extraordinary body of work.

Gabriel’s still out on his own – this master of the big show, a wizard, magic piper, he presents the carnival as art-show, plays the big time (pardon the pun) and never seems like someone trying to serve up the big single/s to please. It’s all just a great body of work now. And there he is at the helm, looking comfortable, relaxed, sincere. A scholar and a gent.