Peter Gabriel: Back to Front - Live in London Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Peter Gabriel: Back to Front - Live in London Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 19, 2014

Note: For those wanting a more budget friendly version of this release, there's a standalone Blu-ray featuring just the concert (see setlist below for Disc One) available here: Peter Gabriel: Back To Front - Live in London.

Would Peter Gabriel be the lionized figure he is in contemporary music had So not been such an overwhelming success in 1986? It’s a question that’s at least debatable, for while there’s absolutely no denying the fact that Gabriel has sold millions of records (even excluding So, his most commercially successful album), when one peruses his chart history, there’s a rather amazing lack of consistent activity in the upper echelons of various sales databases, especially in the United States. Part of this can be attributed to Gabriel’s famously meticulous recording process, where it can take years (sometimes up to a decade or so) to release new product. And despite mid-level success in his pre- and post-So discography, it’s still that epochal 1986 album that most people think of when Gabriel’s name is mentioned. Perhaps bowing to the inevitability of his legacy, Gabriel hasn’t run from So’s rather imposing shadow and has instead embraced it, typically working in several of So’s songs into many of his concert tours. If “some” or even “several” aren’t quite enough for some fans, Back to Front’s centerpiece is a live performance of the entire So album, a gambit which is bookended by a nice aggregation of older Gabriel tunes along with newer ones (including an unfinished song that at the time of the concert he was still working on). The Back to Front Tour began in 2012 and as of the writing of this review is still continuing globally, though this new Blu-ray release is culled from two nights that Gabriel and his band performed in London’s immense O2 Stadium before cheering throngs. Gabriel reunited with some of his original touring band from circa 1986-87 to do this tour, giving a nice career spanning feel to much of the music. But the So elements of Back to Front are not mere “recreations” of the studio sound, and Gabriel and his cohorts reinvigorate that album’s songs, as well as the other tunes in a longish set, with some inventive new touches along the way.

Gabriel is noticeably paunchier and a bit raspier than in days of yore, but he’s still rather unexpectedly charming as well, as evidenced by a funny moment starting out the complete concert where he talks to the audience about performing a song that isn’t finished yet. He avers that since he hasn’t finished the lyric and will be making it up as he goes along, his wife had warned him to tell the audience, lest they think he sound drunk. It’s a sweet moment and unfortunately one of the last really unplanned, spontaneous feeling elements in an obviously strictly choreographed affair. Those who like their concert production values slick and flashy will enjoy Back to Front, but neither the concert nor the film culled from it (presented on the second disc in this set) are particularly innovative, something that perhaps at least a little surprising given Gabriel’s au courant perspective on music.

The concert (and to a certain extent, the film) is broken into three different elements, with a nice "unplugged" set starting out the show, before the ostensibly "complete" So (and some wrap up tunes). What anyone perusing the set lists from the two versions included on this set will instantly see is that rather weirdly the film version omits several songs from So, certainly an odd choice for a tour which trumpeted the very fact that all of So would be performed. This choice is made perhaps even more problematical by the fact that the film relies on the hoary device of interstitial interviews and voiceovers, and at several junctures, those intrude into the actual songs. For that reason, my hunch is many Gabriel fans are going to more appreciate the unfettered concert experience found on the first disc.

Despite some silly elements like frankly ridiculous three step “dances” that Gabriel and his stagemates do in a couple of songs, Back to Front is a visceral experience musically. The band (Manu Katché, Tony Levin, David Rhodes, David Sancious, Jennie Abrahamson, Linnea Olsson and a cameo from Daby Touré) performs with fantastic vigor and Gabriel sings with passion if at times not quite the finesse he sometimes musters on his studio recordings. Director Hamish Hamilton does some visual “call backs” to iconic Gabriel concerts of yesteryear, including using wildly swinging light trees. There’s a bit too much emphasis on video bells and whistles, though, along with typically hyperbolic lighting and projection designs, that actually can distract from the superb music that Gabriel and his band perform.

The set lists for the two versions are:

Disc One (The Full Concert Film):

• 1) Daddy Long Legs
• 2) Come Talk To Me
• 3) Shock The Monkey
• 4) Family Snapshot
• 5) Digging In The Dirt
• 6) Secret World
• 7) The Family And The Fishing Net
• 8) No Self Control
• 9) Solsbury Hill
• 10) Show Yourself
• 11) Red Rain
• 12) Sledgehammer
• 13) Don’t Give Up
• 14) That Voice Again
• 15) Mercy Street
• 16) Big Time
• 17) We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)
• 18) This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)
• 19) In Your Eyes
• 20) The Tower That Ate People
• 21) Biko

Disc Two (Theatrical Film With Interviews):

• 1) Daddy Long Legs
• 2) Shock The Monkey
• 3) Family Snapshot
• 4) Digging In The Dirt
• 5) Secret World
• 6) No Self Control
• 7) Solsbury Hill
• 8) Show Yourself
• 9) Red Rain
• 10) Sledgehammer
• 11) Don’t Give Up
• 12) Mercy Street
• 13) We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)
• 14) In Your Eyes
• 15) The Tower That Ate People
• 16) Biko

Peter Gabriel: Back to Front - Live in London Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Back to Front: Peter Gabriel Live in London is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision (an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment) and Big World with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The press materials accompanying this release tout the "Ultra High Definition 4K technology" utilized to shoot the performances, and the results here are often spectacular. Though the lighting design once again uses the seemingly inescapable deep reds and blues, this release exhibits none of the typical issues like posterizing. Colors are accurate and nicely saturated and black levels are very deep and convincing (important because when the show isn't providing overwhelming light shows, the stage can go nearly dark). About the only area of concern here is some noticeable banding, especially when, for example, the cameras are upstage looking directly out toward the audience and simultaneously directly into a battery of stage lighting. Otherwise, though, this is a sharp and stable looking presentation.

Peter Gabriel: Back to Front - Live in London Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Back to Front: Peter Gabriel Live in London has both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and an LPCM 2.0 track, and both present crystal clear accountings of the music. The 5.1 mix is obviously the better choice, and though it offers a much more present and aggressive low end, the mix is really well done so that neither the low nor midranges sound muddy, and vocals are always forward and clearly heard. The 5.1 mix is beautifully spacious, offering a nicely directional recreation of the instruments on the stage. The film version also offers the interstitial interviews and those sound excellent as well.

Note: Subtitles are not available on the full concert, but are on the film version and supplemental features.

Peter Gabriel: Back to Front - Live in London Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Limited Edition comes housed in a handsome DigiBook which features pages (on card stock) full of photos and quotes, as well as complete track listings and production credits.

Disc One:

• The Visual Approach (1080p; 6:13) features Gabriel and director Hamish Hamilton discussing the staging for the concert.

Disc Two:

• In Your Eyes (1080p; 12:03) is a fun mash up of various performances of the song through the years.


• This is the Picture (Fan Cam) (1080p; 4:15)

Two CDs of the Entire Show

Code for "studio quality 24-bit download" of the Concert

Peter Gabriel: Back to Front - Live in London Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Taken on purely musical terms, Back to Front: Peter Gabriel Live in London is a fantastic career retrospective, capped by an invigorating reading of Gabriel's still resonant So album. While the concert and film are immaculately produced, that may be part of the problem—everything seems overly cautious, predictable and almost (if I may be permitted to coin a descriptive phrase) Big Hair Band excessive in its production values. This Limited Edition is handsomely produced itself, with an enjoyable DigiBook presentation that also includes CDs. Recommended.