“Big Room... Big Noise” – Peter Gabriel's new live album: In The Big Room reviewed by Alan Hewitt.

A new live album from Peter is always a joy...in fact ANY release by Peter is something to be cherished. And while we wait for the release of the Los Angeles show from the I/O tour which was reportedly filmed and sound recorded, Peter has decided to visit the archive to give us a brace of archival recordings. The first of these was recorded at Real World during the extensive 2002- 2004 touring schedule to promote the UP album.

The show gets under way with Burn You Up, Burn You Down probably one of the best PG tracks never to be committed to a proper album! Up beat, up mood, funky and a total joy always a set list favourite and equally so here. The harmonies between Peter and Melanie along with David Rhodes and Tony Levin are sublime and indeed, Levin's bass thunders along probably giving the invited audience a free foot masssage!

More Than This, another one of the better tracks from the UP album follows, equally emotional and full of the kind of raw power that only Gabriel can generate. Speaking of emotion, Peter revisits his past briefly next with Games Without Frontiers. It is hard now with forty six years separating this from when I first heard it in 1980 . Its searing indictment of the stupidiy of nationalism has lost none of its relebvance, on fact right now it is probably more relevant than ever, sadly!

Downside Up and Mercy Street nicely bookend two of Peter's more restrained and emotional performances. The former features an amazing vocal performance from Melanie Gabriel and when she is joined by her dad, the proceedings reach new heights of emotion. Emotion is the name of the game with Mercy Street one of Peter's best songs. A whispered voice with more emotional power than any shout, never fails to make me shiver and when you have the combined voices of Peter, Melanie, Tony and David at intervals throughout it, well it just gets even better. Simple and effective this will always remain one f Peter's most powerful songs.

Darkness is a primal scream of fear and paranoia a soul in torment's plea for help. Gabriel's gift with words is nowehere more evident than here, every single word carefully placed for maximum effect, there's no hiding from the emotion on display here. The same can be said for Digging In The Dirt, as we are forced to face our own hidden demons in one of the most powerful songs Peter has ever committed to record.

I never understood the Ovo project, and didn't go to see the show at the O2 Arena back in 2000 and so The Tower That Ate People leaves me rather unmoved I'm afraid.

Disc Two gets under way with the majestic and emotional San Jacinto. I still have vivivd memories of seeing this for the very first time at the orginal WOMAD Festlval in 1982. Unless you were there, or unless you have seen Peter perform it since, it really is impossible to describe the depth of emotion which it draws out not only of Peter and his band, but also us as the audience, we all undergo an initiation of sorts during the performance and emerge emotionally and spiritually cleansed.

Shock The Monkey is a curious song, even by Peter's standards but it still works well in concert. Contrasting that with the raw emotion of Signal To Noise which has always been one of my favourite tracks from the UP album. Even using the recorded vocals of the late, great Nusrat Ali Fateh Khan reduces nothing of its power and even on this recording it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!

Secret World is announced with no fanfare. It doesn't need any. Always a crowd pleaser, it does what it says on the tin on this recording, smooth, funky and yet deeply passionate another classic cut delivered superbly here.

I'm not sure if the next two tracks comprised encores or if there may have been at least one other track which has not been included here but next we get Father, Son, the touching homage to Peter's own late father before the album closes with the classic In Your Eyes, it really doesn't get better than this I'm afraid its a perfect way to end a show.

This is a no frills performance, very little between songs chatter from Peter but the audience don't need that, the music speaks for him and here we have a fine selection of some of Peter's best music another excellent addition to any PG collection and an equally good introduction to some of his best songs.