Concert Review: Peter Gabriel at the Kia Forum
Whoa, Brendan! With all the concert reviews, this space is turning into Rolling Goddamn Stone, isn’t it? Well, I can’t help it. I’ve gotten the opportunity to go to so many unexpected cool shows lately. Don’t be jealous. You can be a concert-hopping gad-about-town just like your buddy Brendo! Here are some key tips to frequent concert attendance:
- Tip 1: Have cool, generous friends. This time, my pals Mike, Sophia, and Catherine decided to buy last minute tickets to the Gabriel show. Apparently, buying four tickets was cheaper than buying three because the economy is fake and money means nothing. So they had an extra ticket banging around, leading me to…
- Tip 2: Be available. It helps if you have nothing to do, like ever. I can’t emphasize enough how beneficial this is. Have no social life whatsoever. Sit around and wait for people to do cool stuff and then ride their coattails to good times, baby!
- Tip 3: Live in Los Angeles. People shit on LA for a lot of reasons, some deserving and some not. But you can’t deny - there are a genuinely insane amount of cool things going on any given night. As a result, even big concerts are rarely sold out. Near showtime, there are usually cheap tickets available. It’s a pure tonnage thing. On the night we saw Peter Gabriel, there were tickets that night available to see Squeeze, The Postal Service, and several other bands for which I would have been utterly smackered to tag along. But I had never seen Peter Gabriel before, so I was doubly thrilled to get the invite.
I’ve been on a “see ‘em before they die” kick ever since Tom Petty unexpectedly left us. That one really gutted me. Petty’s music was like the wallpaper of my life - I always assumed he would be there, touring every summer. I never got around to seeing him live and it’s one of the great regrets of my life, right up there with not stretching my hamstrings for my first thirty or so years. So when there is an opportunity to see an elder statesman of rock like Peter Gabriel do his thing, I’d be a fool not to jump at it. A fool, I say!
The show was at the Kia Forum which used to be known as the Great Western Forum. When I was a Boston child in the 80s, I was of course an insane Celtics fan. So I hated the sight of that fucking place. For younger folks who want to understand the vibe of the Forum, check out the criminally prematurely cancelled HBO show Winning Time. These days, the Forum only holds concerts, but I swear I still got a whiff of the unmistakable lingering stink of Kurt Ramis.
Predictably, the show was terrific! As most artists are, Gabriel was obviously most enamored with his new material. Apparently, there is a character and a narrative arc that he took the audience through, but we unfortunately got there a few minutes late so missed the set up of the story. From my end, there was a lot of “Wait - what’s he talking about? Is someone having an existential journey I should know about?” The new songs were nice, but once he kicked into “Digging in the Dirt” all was forgiven.
Gabriel peppered the new material with the hits. “Sledgehammer” ended the first set and I could have gone home satisfied. My only complaint was no “Shock the Monkey,” but we got “Big Time” so that’s close enough. But the highlight of the show for me was “Don’t Give Up” with Gabriel’s cellist /backup singer Ayanna Witter-Johnson singing the Kate Bush part. That song is always haunting, but I genuinely had tears in my eyes. It was a killer.
One funny moment during the show: the always socially-conscious Gabriel was setting up a song inspired by a Nelson Mandela quote. As he said “After Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years…” the crowd cheered as if they were just hearing about it. Yeah, LA? Excited about the news? Anyway, that made me laugh.
The band was tight as hell, but in a lot of ways the visual art was the star of the show. Gabriel collaborates with several artists to create these amazing digital pieces. At the start of the second act, these screens descended from the rafters to cover the front of the stage. They were transparent enough to see the band at times but then filled with amazing interactive art for Gabriel to play with. Truly a sight to see.
At 73, Gabriel sounded great and moved with a very charming ‘old man shuffle.’ Catherine described it as ‘David Byrne art school white guy dancing.’ He was a humble and grateful presence on stage. Definitely see him on this tour if you get the chance. See him before he dies! Actually, see him before I die so we can about it! There’s a decent chance he outlives me. At least he looks like he stretches his hamstrings.
Boogie Writes is a completely independent endeavor by one hard-working funnyman trying to make his way in the world today (which takes everything you’ve got.) If you like what you read, please subscribe, support, and tell a friend! Also - do you need advice? Of course you do! Send your queries to brendan@brendanboogie.com with “Dear Boogie” in the subject and get some solid or at least passable advice!