Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
As a performer there is nowhere to hide when the music starts, as the focus of the event the world suddenly becomes smaller, expansive as the imagination runs riot and the ideas take on epic proportions, but perhaps more intense, sharp, extreme and passionate as the eyes stare at you, imploring for beauty to be revealed, for a secret world to be understood. There is nowhere to hide, not even In The Big Room.
Recorded on November 23rd 2003, the sense of powerful forces combining in a space that had already had so much history woven into its very fabric, the sense of the intimate and concentrated firmly established itself as a one-off became the stuff of legendary talk amongst fans who were proud to be invited to the event, and spoke of it in open hushed tones to anyone who would listen to the secret unveiled; this was Peter Gabriel, an assured knight of the Progressive realm opening the doors and baring his soul without lights, exposing his thoughts without the spectacle of the enlarged stage.
Capturing the essence of the man to whom was a primary force alongside his band mates in Genesis of the Progressive movement would arguably be an ask of infinite proposition, however, In The Big Room the essence is abundant, the rawness is complemented by the scope of each song with no distraction for the listener, there is no fear of having missed out on the visual spectacle for it is all about the timing, the notes, the connection between everybody in that space and time.
Joined by the ever-impeccable Tony Levin, David Rhodes, Ged Lynch, Richard Evans, Rachel Z and Melanie Gabriel, the man behind albums such as So, Scratch, Up, and the soundtrack of Passion brings what was recorded that day into the home, and the live album does not disappoint, it rings with truth, ambition, perhaps a shyness that is compelling, a reveal of the inner spirit of the man at a period when the Growing Up tour was consuming him. This is an album with grace, but without the conquest of elaboration; what is heard is the whole point, there is no need for embellishment or ornament.
With songs such as Burn You Up, Burn You Down, Games Without Frontiers, the haunting Mercy Street, the brutal and definable anger of Digging In The Dirt, Shock The Monkey, In Your Eyes, and Secret World all adding distinction, resonating with a kind of pure heart, and beating with solemn ferocity, the event captured two decades ago is fresh, illuminating, and exhilarating for fan and lover alike.
In The Big Room there is no hiding place, but there is a confession of unadulterated brilliance to be observed.
Peter Gabriel releases In The Big Room on March 13th.
Ian D. Hall