My early relationship with Peter Gabriel’s music was documented in this blog post. In that post, I describe how his 2002 album Up converted me from a very respectful fan, to a “holy shit, I need to explore this guy’s whole catalog” fan. Two nights of the “Growing Up” tour from Milan, Italy in May 2003 were captured for a concert film that showcased an incredible “in the round” stage design. Of that entire show, this performance of “Mercy Street” is what I go back to any time I need a quick fix of Peter Gabriel live.
Let’s be honest. If you were born anytime before 1985, you remember a time when you couldn’t watch your favorite musicians perform live, on demand, whenever the fuck you want, with a super computer that you carry around in your pocket. If you’re a music fan who remembers those dark days, the abundance of high quality concert footage available anytime you want it on YouTube is really quite unbelievable. And I’m not even talking about the crappy phone footage that the annoying guy next to you at a concert painstakingly took instead of paying attention to the show. I’m talking about multi-camera, broadcast quality footage.
To celebrate this incredible gift to humanity, I’m sharing my favorite “single song” clips that I’ve watched over and over again on the Tube. And by the way, if you don’t feel like the ~$10/month it costs to get rid of the ads on YouTube is worth it, trust me. It’s totally worth it (and I don’t get anything for saying that).