posted November 19, 2002 06:07 PM            

thought I'd give you the PG concert blow-by-blow so that you might live vicariously through my concert experiences....

he played last night to a laid-back philly crowd (actually - really old crowd - I'd say that I was one of the younger ones there - speaks to his staying power that his fans are still hard-core after all these years)....

he had lots of energy and did quite a bit of running around the stage.... the guy next to me kept shouting "hey peter - how's your heart?!" I (accidently of course) spilled a wee-bit of beer on him while jumping up and down.... ooopsies!

of course, amazing theatrics - human hamster ball and he and melanie walking upside down while suspended from scaffolding marked the highlights - oh yeah - and his ultra-cool "light" jacket - an electric blazer festooned w/lights for "Sledgehammer."

the Blind Boys of Alabama opened first, and blew the house away singing a new version of "amazing grace" and other soulful classics in powerful harmony. (buy "the long walk home" - soundtrack for the upcoming movie "the rabbit proof fence" - the blind boys are a big feature on the main songs)....

next came dr. ziwese (?)(forgetting spelling) and his son, charles, from Tanzania - playing the thumb-keyboards and other instruments - the Dr.'s voice was the best instrument of them all...fantastic.... I think the power of his skill and the joy of his music and message was lost on the philly folks - no offense home-town people, but there were just too many of you going for the 7th-inning stretch during their performance.... (only 35-minutes into the concert, mind you)....

then PG entered to "Zaar" and did a heartfelt, solo "here comes the flood"...I love that song.

don't recall the exact order of the tracks played (or all of them, for that matter, because I'm not that anal), but quite a bit of the new album was presented (he played the first song off the album after "here comes the flood" and it was loud & hard, but not too energetic)....

highlights -

A song he wrote for the his children's project called "millenium OVO" called "downside up" - cool stuff - involved the inverted scaffold walk while singing.... he was working that scaffolding, I'll tell you that....

fantastic rendition of "Digging in the Dirt" - a song that never really hit me, but it definitely reached me last night.... the whole place was jumping on "this time, you've gone to far, I told you, I told you, I told you"....

Red Rain - my usual favorite - was limp - very disappointing....maybe too early in the program??

"growing up" was SO SO SO much fun...
hamsterball made quite an impact...kinda nerve-wracking....fearful of a miscalculated bounce offstage and into the front row....

lovely acapella intro to "mercy street" w/ all players (tony levin has a wonderful voice - deep and resonating)

sledgehammer - picture a 50-something goateed man w/paunch bumping and grinding in a light-up blazer - need I say more? it was fun fun fun.... (no negative comments from you, mr. peanut gallery! any 50+-year old sporting a swami look and paunch w/guts to bump and grind in front of thousands like that gets much props from me! )

of course, "solesbury hill" got everyone on their feet... a classic that had the crowd singing....

wow! encore included "family snapshot" - how often do you hear that?? I was waiting for "and through the wire"... no dice, though - but "snapshot" was a great surprise.

and "wow!" again! encore also included "father and son"... I have to say - brought tears to my eyes - made me recall my early PG days in the confines of the Tower Theater in Philly .... immersed in his sound - touching the stage - lost in the moment.... wish I could relive those days....

um - what else to share? he played other stuff - sneak peak at a new track from the upcoming album "i/o" came when the computer on his keyboard was delayed in rebooting.... he just started humming, and then the band picked up, and then he sang "melinda I'll be your man/boy (?)" - cool tune....nice surprise - NOT a harry belfonte tune.

no "biko" - think he's tired of doing that? I'll never tire of chanting "oh oh ohhhhh - oh" w/fist pumping in the air at the close of a PG concert....

hope you enjoyed these highlights....seeing him again this sunday in D.C. - will give briefer highlights on that next week....

hope touring's going well - cheers - r