History, heart, humility: The ins and outs of Peter Gabriel’s i/o Live show in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH ― In an age when the goal of every arena show seems to be filling every square inch of space between performer and audience with spectacle, Peter Gabriel goes about this mission somewhat differently.

He did it Sept. 23 in Pittsburgh with talk, with tunes – more new than old – and with that most old-fashioned of strategies: humility.

That was apparent from the outset, as, on the stroke of eight, Gabriel appeared onstage all by himself, sporting a flat cap and a wry sense of humor. He removed the hat and immediately poked fun at his weight and his baldness.

And for the first two songs, he and his eight-piece band eschewed video screens or any other wide-angle gestures. They clustered, campfire-style, around center stage to play “Washing of the Water” and “Growing Up,” two low-key tracks: the first more than 30 years old, the second more than 20.

It shouldn't have worked, and had it gone on any longer, perhaps it wouldn't have. But it was an effective introduction to a challenging show in which Gabriel played almost all the material available so far from "i/o," an album he’s been releasing single by single over the past year, with each new moon.

In between those songs, Gabriel introduced his band, not once, but three times, and called attention to soloists or notable performers on every tune. He was scrupulous about mentioning the names of the visual artists who contributed work to his set. He led a rousing ovation for the stage and sound crew. And he discussed the narrative throughline of the new songs, brain-mapping technology, and the promise of AI. At moments, it seemed like a TED Talk was about to break out.

But the mark of a good speaker is that people listen to what he says. And the audience at a mostly full PPG Arena was both patient and attentive. You’d be hard-pressed to find a quieter crowd outside a symphony hall. The concertgoers treated Gabriel with similar respect.

And in some ways, the evening really did present like a symphony, complete with an intermission.

You can get away with that if you have certain advantages. The first is a crack band, spearheaded by three longtime Gabriel collaborators: bassist Tony Levin, guitarist David Rhodes, and drummer Manu Katché. The other five instrumentalists added a pleasing variety of colors to the material, from violin and cello to trumpet and whistle to British nu-soul man Don- E’s vocoder additions to the 1986 hit “Big Time.”

The second advantage is that, at age 73, Gabriel has retained a remarkable amount of the trademark high tenor that graced so many classics, in Genesis and on his own. He smartly saved an impressive falsetto for two duets with cellist/keyboardist Ayanna Witter-Johnson, a more-than-acceptable substitute for Kate Bush on the fan favorite “Don’t Give Up.” During the encore number “In Your Eyes,” Gabriel and Witter-Johnson crossed and recrossed the stage in an extended coda, sparking one another to new vocal heights.

The third and greatest advantage is simply that Gabriel’s new material is uniformly strong, and some of it, the plaintive piano ballad “Playing for Time,” which builds to an irresistible climax, and the rousing “Olive Tree,” which would have been a fine addition to Gabriel’s huge 1986 hit album "So," can stand alongside anything he’s written.

Think of all the “legacy” artists who try to mine that elusive seam between genuine surprise and pop accessibility. For every Bowie or Paul Simon, there are three dozen who fail, falling into the abyss of polite, artsy mediocrity.

What Gabriel does ought not be taken for granted.

However, a longtime fan might reasonably suggest that substituting one or two old, upbeat numbers -- there’s a long list, including 1980’s “Games Without Frontiers,” shouted out by one enthusiastic audience member at the start of the night -- but also including more recent choices like “Steam,” “Kiss That Frog,” or maybe even 2002’s “The Barry Williams Show” -- for slower new songs might have made for a more well-rounded evening.

On the other hand, audiences got to hear a couple of new tunes slated to be on "i/o’s" tracklist, which haven't yet been released. Those include “Live and Let Live,” built around a sprightly keyboard riff, and which has the sound of a future set staple.

In addition, Gabriel did offer a pretty-generous five selections from "So," including the inevitable “Sledgehammer.” He played that one exactly right: the only way most men in their seventies can present a song entreating a lover to “open up your fruit cage” straight-faced…is to not do it straight-faced at all. So, Gabriel didn’t: the whole thing was strictly tongue-in-cheek, from the videos of insects getting busy to the “Three Bald Men” choreography he, Levin, and Rhodes offered at the front of the stage.

It’s some measure of the show’s success that the high-tech video screens were really just another color. There were impressive moments, such as when Gabriel appeared to be singing from inside a painting in “Love Can Heal.” But overall, the set’s big moment came at the end, when Gabriel encored with “Biko,” a song that, when considered in the live context, is both blessing and curse.

Blessing, because more than 40 years after its release on Gabriel’s third solo album, the simple memorial to slain South African activist Stephen Biko retains its power. Curse, because once you go to that somber reminder of apartheid, there’s really no way to follow it up. So “Biko” closed the show Saturday, with Katché’s tom-tom tattoo both powering the song and finishing it, as the other players left the stage one by one. Overhead, a portrait of Biko in a fiery red circle descended, eclipsing the instruments.

It was a heavy moment, to be sure, but also a reminder that, like the show itself, there aren't many performers who could have pulled it off. You can only get there if you have the history, the heart, and, of course, the humility. Saturday was a reminder that Peter Gabriel still possesses all three qualities in spades.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: The Ins and Outs of Peter Gabriel’s i/o Live show in Pittsburgh