Peter Gabriel - In The Big Room [2 LP]

In The Big Room captures Peter Gabriel and band recorded live in the Big Room at Real World Studios on 23 November, 2003.

'I’d not really taken advantage of the big room as a performance space myself and when, in 2003, the opportunity came up, we grabbed it and offered the small number of seats to members of the Full Moon club. It was not part of a big tour so we weren’t as polished and rehearsed as we might have been while on tour, but it made for a more awake and edgy performance, as we were fully concentrating on what we were doing. There was no elaborate visual show, the whole focus was about making it sound good. I had pretty much forgotten how these songs sounded but listening back to these mixes I was pleasantly surprised how alive they were. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.' - pg

This intimate concert was for members of Peter Gabriel’s Full Moon Club and took place during a short run of live shows in November 2003 that also included a performance for the UK’s Children in Need charity at Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil, a show at the Brighton Centre and the Nelson Mandela 46664 Concert in Cape Town.

The 14-song set draws on material from both the Growing Up Live tour of 2002/2003 - Gabriel’s first in 10 years that accompanied the release of his album UP - and the subsequent Still Growing Up Live tour that ran through much of 2004. Notable additions to the Growing Up Live set include Burn You Up, Burn You Down, Games Without Frontiers and The Tower That Ate People.

For the performance Peter is joined by his touring band from this period of Tony Levin (bass), David Rhodes (guitar), Ged Lynch (drums), Richard Evans (guitar, whistle, mandolin), Rachel Z (keyboard and backing vox) and Melanie Gabriel (backing vox).