Live Nation presents Peter Gabriel
Chase Center
Terry A Francois Blvd at South St, San Francisco, CA 94158 USA
8:00 PM, Wednesday, October 11, 2023

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[7:n PM] {pre show ambient music from John Metcalfe playing on the PA}
[8:05 PM] {lights down; PG out, then story-telling to set the scene for tonight's show}

1. [8:10 PM] Washing of the Water
   [8:13 PM] {PG introduces the band}
2. [8:16 PM] Growing Up
3. [8:26 PM] Panopticom
   [8:31 PM] {PG banter about visual art; introduction of the next tune}
4. [8:32 PM] Four Kinds of Horses
   [8:39 PM] {PG introduction for i/o}
5. [8:40 PM] i/o
6. [8:44 PM] Digging in the Dirt
   [8:50 PM] {PG introduction for the next tune}
7. [8:51 PM] Playing for Time
   [8:57 PM] {applause; PG banter about growing up on a farm}
8. [8:58 PM] Olive Tree
   [9:04 PM] {applause; PG talk about art and the next tune}
9. [9:05 PM] This Is Home
   [9:10 PM] {PG lauds Tony Levin}
10. [9:11 PM] Sledgehammer
    [9:16 PM] {applause at set end; PG introduces the band again; TYSM, see you shortly…}
    [9:17 PM] {ambient music from John Metcalfe resumes playing on the PA}

[9:33 PM] {the performers begin sneaking onstage for the next set}

1. [9:34 PM] Darkness
2. [9:40 PM] Love Can Heal
   [9:46 PM] {PG credits prior artist; story for the next tune; credit for Ai Weiwei}
3. [9:47 PM] Road to Joy
   [9:52 PM] {PG lauds Don-E & Tony Levin}
4. [9:53 PM] Don't Give Up
   [9:58 PM] {mid-tune applause at coda}
   [10:00 PM] {PG lauds AWJ for her amazing voice; introduces the next tune}
5. [10:01 PM] The Court
   [10:05 PM] {PG: Every year, the weather seems to get a little stranger… this is Red Rain}
6. [10:05 PM] Red Rain
   [10:11 PM] {PG reminisces about his dad, dedicates And Still to his mum}
7. [10:12 PM] And Still
   [10:19 PM] {PG: OK so what time is it now?}
8. [10:20 PM] Big Time
   [10:25 PM] {PG banter about Nelson Mandela and the power of forgiveness}
9. [10:27 PM] Live and Let Live
   [10:34 PM] {PG reveals how he got the title for Solisbury Hill}
10. [10:34 PM] Solsbury Hill
    [10:38 PM] {applause; PG introduces his band again; thanks the audience; all off for a brief encore break}
    
    1st Encore
11. [10:40 PM] In Your Eyes
    [10:51 PM] {applause at end encore; all off after group bow; back in a minute or so}
    
    2nd Encore
12. [10:53 PM] Biko
    [11:02 PM] {final applause}

• Don-E: keyboards, harmony vox;
• Richard Evans: guitar, mandolin, whistle, wind instruments, EWI, harmony vox;
• Peter Gabriel: piano, keyboards, flute, percussion, vox;
• Manu Katché: drums, percussion;
• Tony Levin: bass, Chapman Stick, electric contrabass, keyboards, harmony vox;
• Marina Moore: violin, viola, harmony vox;
• David Rhodes: guitar, harmony vox.
• Josh Shpak: trumpet, french horn, EWI, keyboards, harmony vox;
• Ayanna Witter-Johnson: cello, piano, lead & harmony vox.

Public transit nightmare today: we drive to Oakland for an easy connection on the way home, and climb to the platform to find a train approaching the station. So far so good! But then three strikes: first, a mentally disturbed dude fires off a fire extinguisher inside our train car, doh! Pretty much everyone calmly stampedes into the next car, and a big dude bars the door against the nut case. We arrive at Embarcadero, then wait about 5 minutes while the train operator investigates and determines that the train can stay in service. Meanwhile, an EMT moves through and checks whether anyone needs assistance (after inhaling the extinguisher mist), and the crazy dude shuffles off up the stairs and out of sight.

Strike two happens when we get to Powell. Signage to direct us to the new muni line is laughably bad, and our walk is maximized because the previous incident has pushed us off in the wrong direction for our connection. We find the T line eventually, then I'm stopped at the turnstiles: Ting's Iphone unlocked the gate just fine, but my android only gets a weak beep and a red no entry light. Lame! I end up raising the next dude that comes by instead of working things out properly. Hopefully that won't come back to bite me!

It's a really really long descent to the T line platform, and we miss our connection as the escalator slowly takes us down. Taking a seat at the bench, we wait for the sign to refresh, and after a minute, it tells us, “next T in 20 minutes” – ouch! Strike three!

Happily, an imaginary Muni ref in the sky sent us an unannounced S car a few minutes later, and we ended up arriving early at Chase Center without further incident. Whew! It's always nicer to beat the crowd and be in your seat on time instead of stuck in an entry queue when the lights go down for the big big show!

The staging for the show currently shows a giant click as the centerpiece, with a guy behind the screen repeatedly painting the hour and minute hands, checking his work, then erasing and updating it as the time changes. I wonder what kind of pay he earns for that?

The show ends at 11:02 PM. Fortunately for us, about 80% of the people between us and the exit have cleared out already, so we have easy access to egress from the building. A quick walk down the south side of the center and we're sitting on a bus, waiting to head to BART by 11:10, nice! It's about ten minutes between the wait until departure and the traffic to roll across into the Mission. The station is empty: I bet we caught the first bus out tonight! And our decision to park at West Oakland pays off once again: 7 min from our arrival at the entrance gates to the next east bound train, vs. 15 min for a Rockridge train. Trip optimization for the win!

So how was the show? Terrific! I might have gotten more out it if I'd studied his latest album, but at this point I'm a lazy listener with too many distractions…and with Peter letting out the new tunes in dribs and drabs as separate singles, that was a big ask! Besides Peter, the main draw for me tonight was experience the staging by Robert Lepage – I've been gaga for his work ever since attending The Far Side of the Moon in 2001, and at this point I'm willing to see most anything that he sets his hand to!

Standouts on the theatrical front tonight include really creative use of visual screens (possibly in a new configuration for every single song), along with artistic collaborations by at least a dozen visual artists (one per song, announced by Peter throughout the night). My guess is that the official video releases of the new tunes off i/o feature those same artists: something to check up on later on!

Props to the folks who contributed to setlist.fm for tonight's gig – I took the night off from scribbling in order to simply listen and enjoy the show.

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!