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| CD Cover | CD Back | CD Tray |
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| CD Inside Cover | Booklet Pages 3 & 6 | Booklet Pages 4 & 5 |
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| CD 1 Label | CD 2 Label |
Artist: | Peter Gabriel |
Title: | A New Perspective |
Date: | August 25th 1978 |
Venue: | University Great Hall, Lancaster, England |
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Personnel | |
| Peter Gabriel | Lead Vocals, Keyboards & Percussion |
| Tony Levin | Bass Guitar, Stick & Backing Vocals |
| Sidney McGinnis | Lead Guitars |
| Larry Fast | Keyboards |
| Timmy Capello | Saxophones & Piano |
| Jerry Marotta | Drums & Percussion |
After the worldwide success of his debut album and tour as a solo artist in 1977, Peter Gabriel wasted no time in getting to work on his second LP. A couple of the new tracks, 'On The Air' and a basic version of 'Indigo', had already been tried out during his first tour, but further developments at the writing stage and new arrangements truly gave these songs a new life and sound. Gabriel's penchant for dynamic rhythms, bizarre time signatures and strange soundscapes (already present during his days with Genesis) began to flare up with greater intensity at that point in time, shades of things to come on subsequent solo efforts. These singular rhythm and soundscape experiments, although still a far cry from the stunning achievements of his third and fourth albums, nevertheless offered some of the best musical moments on the second album, such as 'A Wonderful Day In A One Way World', 'White Shadow' and 'Exposure'. Gabriel's rockier side also found a place on the album with songs like 'D.I.Y.', 'Animal Magic' and 'Perspective', while his more reflective and softer side was exposed in the superb 'Mother Of Violence'.
The second album to bear the title 'Peter Gabriel' was released in the summer of 1978. Gabriel and his new band immediately embarked on an extensive world tour that would run from August 23rd to December 24th of that year, with three further dates added in the spring of 1979. The show that PRRP brings you now was taped from the audience at the University Great Hall in Lancaster, England, on August 25th, 1978, the third show of the tour. This recording comes from a different and much better source than the one currently available in the collectors' trading circles, making it a must for all Peter Gabriel fans. There is an interesting story behind this recording and we're going to let our friend Craig Wood, who provided us with this tape, reveal all now:
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To begin with, I wasn't at the show, so I can't help with personal anecdotes there. What I can do is let you know how I came by this recording and a little of why it's taken so long to circulate. The tapes have been in my collection since the mid 1980s due to my connection with a well known, although not highly rated, 'rock writer', if you will. It was through him that I was introduced to 'Fred', the eminence grise behind the “White Shadow” fanzine and I suspect, although my memory cannot confirm this suspicion that the tape originated from him. It's more likely, given his northerly location at the time, than coming from someone who studied in Bedford… There isn't any good reason for not having circulated this recording, other than I hadn't realised it wasn't already in circulation. After all, the PG shows I recorded in April and September 1977 have multiple sources, as does the Genesis January 10, 1977, so why not this? I should have checked, really. It's also possible I was asked 'not to trade' this, but after getting on for thirty years in the cupboard, that argument's a mite pointless. Nothing new of comparable quality/rarity value I going to appear now…and I have no truck with that attitude, anyway. You want it? You got it. The story I was told about how this tape was made is as follows. Apparently, it was common practice at LUSU to 'reserve' balcony seats for Student Union members, An enterprising young soul, in possession of this information, and gaining the support of twenty friends in an early variant of the 'flash mob', occupied the front row. The recorder was placed in the middle, and the two mics ran out to the sides for best separation. Given the distance from the audience below, there was minimal sonic interference. No-one talking next to the taper here! The transfer of this concert was between two professional type machines, Technics and Denon if memory serves, with no additional NR or EQ. If the NR referred to in the technical notes is present, it was there from the upstream copy and may have been present on the master. Transfer to CDR was Maxell XLII-S > Technics RS T22 (heads adjusted for best playback) > Audacity (track splits and minor surgery) > CDR. Evidently, the original levels were manually controlled, as at times during the recording they were often quite drastically altered. For example, the beginning of “Mother Of Violence” disappeared completely for a couple of seconds as both faders were inexplicably yanked down.. I rebuilt the intro from the repeated guitar figure; it's not that noticeable now and serves to enhance the listening experience considerably. Anyway, we really should just be grateful that such a fine recording exists, if only for the 'Boring Old Farts' National Anthem' (aka a 'punked-up' A Whiter Shade Of Pale) which precedes the 'Knocking the glass of water into the piano' incident… Both Mr Gabriel and the band are in fine form, rising to the resulting challenge and the organ versions of previously piano-based songs are, if not exactly as nature intended, at least impressive in their inventiveness. Who'd have thunk it? Not me, that's for sure. I had copied it onto two Maxell XLII-S 60s to preserve it as best as possible. I guess the original was on a 120, given the tape split, but I have no way of corroborating this. It's entirely possible this was a copy off the master, but my memory isn't going to help me there either. Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to read anymore of my ramblings. Suffice to say, this is a great performance, so sit back, relax, and enjoy. Craig Wood, January 2008 |
As Craig says, this is a classic show which finds Gabriel and his band in fine form and overcoming technical difficulties with good humour. It's a fine representation of the concerts on the second album tour where material from the new album was mixed with a choice selection of the finest songs from the first album, along with the odd cover version here and there. Also of note is the introduction of a brand new number, 'I Don't Remember' (its lyrics still being developed at the time, as you will hear), which would appear on his ground-breaking third album in 1980.
As on his first solo tour, Gabriel elected to save his lone Genesis song inclusion for the encore, where a quite heavy version of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' now replaced the previous year's 'Back In N.Y.C.'. Sadly, after this second tour, he would never again include a Genesis song in his set list.
PRRP Staff
The origin or lack of complete understanding of the origin of this recording is outlined above. Once received in digital, CD Audio format, the remaster process began. The first obvious problem was the fact that peak crackle was present throughout the show. Meticulous techniques were used to minimize this as much as possible. Dynamic filters were used to attenuate the harsh sections of the show and even out the tonality. Clicks and pops were removed where found, particularly during the beginning of the show. The channel balance was eschew due to auto-record level adjustments and needed to be corrected as well. Dynamic adjustments were then made where necessary. Finally, the show was tracked according to standard references. No speed correction or gap patches were necessary.
PRRP Staff