Peter Gabriel @ Jones Beach
Saw the Peter Gabriel concert at Jones Beach Theater last night (what a surprise, given my handle, eh?). In a word: Wonderful, as usual (alright, I can’t count).
Some differences from the show last winter, beyond the fact that Jones beach is no place to have an “in-the-round” presentation:
No Here Comes the Flood, or Family Snapshot. But, they did play Games Without Frontiers, Shock the Monkey, and Come Talk to Me (Actually, they might have played Shock the Monkey last time as well, but my memory of past concerts is always a little hazy - I’ll refer you to the title of my blog). And, instead of riding around the stage on a bicycle, he zipped around on a Segway at one point. They used more of the “production props” of older tours - The old Games Without Frontiers film, the head-mounted camera during Digging in the Dirt, the phone booth for Come Talk to Me.
The band, as always, was top-notch (Tony Levin once again demonstrating why he is the God of Bass), with one exception. Sorry to say, but Mr. Gabriel’s daughter, Melanie, has a voice that can best be described as “unremarkable”. It’s cool that he has her in his band, and actually, for the majority of the show, she was fine. But when they played Don’t Give Up, she wasn’t up to it. Perhaps I’m being too harsh, because I’m comparing her to Kate Bush (who sang the part on the album) and Paula Cole (who was the support vocalist during the Secret World tour a decade ago), but I don’t think so. Maybe she just needs more experience, or perhaps the touring for the last half year has worn her out some; I don’t recall noticing her vocal as much last winter.
On the “aggravating concert goers” front, I was actually exposed to a very low Philistine quotient last night. I was a winner of the “good row” lottery – there were hordes of people moving in-and-out of their rows to pee, or get food, or put more coins in the parking meter, or whatever – but not my row, thank you very much. There were two bozos next to me, who arrived after the first song, talked through the next few (and were chastised by the people in front of them), and then they left, leaving the rest of us in blissful silence, able to enjoy the show.
This leads me to wonder: why do people pay good money for a concert ticket, and then do everything possible to avoid actually experiencing the show? Last night’s ticket was pricey to begin with, and after Ticketmaster lubed me up and sodomized me, it was just shy of $100. I’m not complaining – if I thought it was too expensive, I wouldn’t go – but why drop a C-note to just bullshit with your buddy, or to sample the wonderfully overpriced cuisine available at the show? Why not just stay home, and spend the $100 on lottery tickets or beer or something? The mind boggles.
In other news, last night was actually warm and dry, which afforded me the opportunity to drive the car with the top down to and from the show. Once again, schweeeeeeeeet.