petergabriel.com

"...Bob Geldof revealed last night that he has enlisted fellow musician Peter Gabriel to find African acts for Live8, defusing a damaging row about the continent's acts being excluded from the main show.

Blur frontman Damon Albarn and broadcaster Andy Kershaw are among those who have denounced the global 2 July concerts for snubbing African performers.

But Geldof said last night that he has now spoken to Gabriel, one of the champions of world music who established the Womad festival 23 years ago."

Tina has a news and comprtition update on her pages.

Peter has announced that he will join Nelson Mandela in his journey to the Arctic Circle next month where Mr. Mandela’s latest campaigning will take the form of 46664 Arctic, a truly global music concert featuring a host of artists from both hemispheres which takes place in Tromsø, Norway on Saturday June 11.

Before reading on, and to avoid any dissapointment it's important to note that Peter will only be performing one track and won't have the band with him.

Peter said "It is appalling to watch the devastation AIDS has caused in Africa, with
the knowledge that most of it is preventable. I strongly support Nelson
Mandela's call for action, and to make sure the world doesn't ignore the
thousands of unnecessary deaths every day".

After an extended intermission the Forums on this site are now back in service.

The moon is once more ripe and full which gives all members of The Full Moon Club a chance to pick up a juicy rarity from Peter's archive. 'Feed The Flame' is a 1992 mix of a track from the US sessions in 90-91, with hint of Dan Lanois on guitar along with the usual band suspects of the period. The track was later developed in 'Downside-Up" from the 'OVO' album.

We offer you greetings on this lunar occasion and invite you to sign in and suck this strange fruit through the ether.

Just a quick note to let you know we are hoping to have the forums back by the end of the week. The weevils had got right through the hull in places, and it's taking a little while for engineering to generate the new parts, but they are on their way!

Just a quick note to let you know we are hoping to have the forums back by the end of the week. The weevils had got right through the hull in places, and it's taking a little while for engineering to generate the new parts, but they are on their way!

We are very sorry for the current lack of Forums on the site, it looks like we have another weevil infestation in some of the database core-flux modules, but I can assure you our technicians are battling the problem with the aim of bringing them back on-line as soon as possible.

In the meantime it seems this isn't the only technical anomaly to distort the site. In Tina's update we find that it's possible to be "...totally unaware" and end up "... hovering around in some virtual space". The new competition offers the chance to win WOMAD Reading tickets, so whilst we cure the forums you could keep your fingers active by typing up a 30 word entry and joining us backstage at the festival.

April's lunar zenith has reached us without the opportunity to record anything to video, however that's not to say the event is passing without notice. In a change of direction this month Peter has decided to bring you the chance to travel 'Dr Who' like back to the mid 1980s and hear the unreleased demo "This Is The Road'.

This is a 2MB MP3 download of 'This Is The Road'', the track was eventually to become 'Make Tomorrow Today" on 'OVO'.

Although it was an evening of great sadness the Tribute to Martyn on Friday 15 April at Queens Hall in Edinburgh was an extraordinary, moving and celebratory event. Opening with the Edinburgh Music School's performance of MacKay's Memoirs which Martyn wrote for pipes, clarsach and orchestra the evening unfolded with an array of very different musical moments.The packed venue was delighted with performances from traditional singers Sheila Stewart and Flora MacNeil and firey piper Fred Morrison, an emotional song from Martyn's mother, the revered Margaret Bennett and an unsheduled solo of Here Comes The Flood From Peter Gabriel. The evening ended with Martyn's widow Kirsten joining Mouth Music on keyboards and a rousing Scottish rave set from Croft No 5 of whom Martyn was a great supporter.
Thousands of pounds were raised for the Marie Curie Hospice where Martyn has been treated at the end of his life. The evening was also the launch of the Martyn Bennett Trust which will provide money to fund innovative young music makers.

Tina has an update, with some interesting entries in her lyric based competition...."I squeeze the sponge and let the cat out”

The sun is well past the yard arm on this springy day, so the maximum shine of March's moon will soon be upon us. Navigate to The Full Moon Club to watch this month's video log from Peter. Tales of parties at The Palace, flute playing, animal blood, football tickets and recommended listening can all be found in this months beaming from The Bridge.

We are very sad to announce that George Scott, one of the original members of the Blind Boys of Alabama, died in his sleep on Wednesday morning of complications from heart disease at his home in Durham, NC. He was 75.

The booming baritone voice of the group which formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in the late 1930s, Scott, along with the other remaining original members and their bandmates, travelled all over the world spreading the group's unique brand of soulful gospel music and good times. Although the band has been continuously active for over sixty years, they only recently burst on to the popular music scene, winning four consecutive Grammys for the last four years, recording with such diverse acts as Ben Harper, Lou Reed, and Ibrahim Ferrer and touring with Peter Gabriel and Tom Petty. Just last month the band won their fourth Grammy award, and performed on both the Grammy Awards telecast and the Tonight Show.

While Scott had retired from the rigors of touring in 2004, his voice was still strong and he was in fine form while singing lead on several key tracks for the band's new album ATOM BOMB. It was his last testament in a career that spanned six and a half decades.

What's this? Drinks at the Palace and hints of a new studio album are all to be found in Tina's update and competition.

Find out more on the Palace story in the informative BBC News page..."When the Queen asked "what do you do?", Queen guitarist May said that he had performed on the roof of Buckingham Palace at the Golden Jubilee concert.

"Oh! That was you, was it?" the monarch replied, before asking Clapton how long he had been playing the guitar.

Singer Geri Halliwell broke with protocol by arriving 40 minutes late."