petergabriel.com

The lineup for WOMAD Abu Dhabi 2011 brings the finest blend of music from across the world. From reggae maestro Dr Jimmy Cliff, to the eccentric English rose with a voice to boot - Paloma Faith.

Let's get those dancing shoes on fellow WOMADians.

Peter found a moment to record his Full Moon Update for March's 'Super moon', saying of it - "...this month as well as some music updates there's another long political bit on the revolutions in the Arab world and the israeli-Palestinian conflict. Of course please let me know what you think. All points of view are welcome, but abuse gets deleted." There's news of a trip to the always fascinating 'brain food' centre that is TED and a chance to see 'Red Rain' as played by 'The New Blood Orchestra' in the recording sessions at Air Lyndhurst studios.

Following the success of last year's sell out concerts Peter Gabriel returns to the USA and Canada for a 12 date tour with the New Blood orchestra. On the last outing Gabriel redrew the works of Lou Reed, David Bowie, Radiohead....this time out he applies the orchestral makeover to his own back catalogue. The stunning musical backdrop leaves Gabriel's vocals centre-stage and bare, stripped of the usual rock'n'roll clothing, no loud guitars or booming drums to hide behind. Raw and soul-baring yet passionate and often joyous, Gabriel's classic songs here take new shape and extra meaning.

This tour is an opportunity to experience the reinvention of an iconic song selection - from Red Rain to San Jacinto, Digging in the Dirt to Don't Give Up - before the album release of 'New Blood' later this year.

"As Gabriel demonstrated so ably, there are places in the soul that electric guitar, bass and drums, for all their visceral excitement, still can't reach" - LA Times

For all our friends in Japan and beyond hit by this devastating earthquake and tsunami, we send our love and respect.

Please help via your own country's Red Cross disaster emergency funds, or alternative aid agency.

Thank you
Peter

Peter and the New Blood Orchestra are performing at the Hammersmith Apollo on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th of March, and the concert will be filmed in glorious 3D.

We have a pair of front row tickets to be won for each night which you can get your hands on by entering our competition.

But be quick - to be in with a chance of winning you must submit your answer to the multiple choice question by 12.00 GMT on Wednesday 16th March 2011. This is an extraordinary opportunity to see Peter perform classic songs from his repertoire with a 46-piece orchestra - guaranteed to be an intimate and captivating experience - and the first of Peter's shows to be filmed in 3D!

The winners will be contacted on Saturday the 19th March via email, as well as being announced by Peter himself in the next full moon video.

If you are not willing to take the risk, there are still a some tickets available for the shows via Ticketmaster.

Mr David Rhodes is on tour in Germany next week! Playing songs from his new album Bitter Sweet.

Gitarrenlegende David Rhodes, Mitglied der Band von Peter Gabriel, tourt ab nachster Woche in Deutschland. Er spielt Songs aus seinem Album "Bitter Sweet." Fur die Konzerte sind noch Karten verfugbar.

Here are the dates:
Hier die Daten der Veranstaltung:

March 6th Ampere Club - Munich
March 7th Fritz Club - Berlin
March 8th Knust - Hamburg
March 9th Luxor - Koln
March 10th Tante Ju - Dresden

Still some tickets left so go along and check out his new music!

It's all about the song. Just as with last year's O2 Arena shows where Gabriel redrew the works of Lou Reed, Radiohead and Elbow using the full-colour palette of a large orchestra, his latest project New Blood has a similar modus operandi - but this time he applies the orchestral makeover entirely to his own back catalogue.

With accompaniment from the 46-piece New Blood orchestra under the eye of master-arranger John Metcalfe and the baton of Ben Foster, Gabriel's vocals are centre-stage and bare, stripped of the usual rock'n'roll clothing, no loud guitars or booming drums to hide behind. The lyrics take on extra potency and poignancy; few concerts come remotely close to matching the intensity here. Gabriel is the lone sailor to the orchestra's ocean, the massed strings providing calm waters before rising up into dramatic swells. And recasting this classic material in this manner has created a unified whole - a suite, no less - where, as The Guardian observed, "each song whispers its secrets into the next".

Raw and soul-baring yet passionate and often joyous, Gabriel's songs here take new shape and extra meaning, guaranteed to bewitch the Hammersmith Apollo audience and create an extraordinarily intimate and gripping occasion. A night to remember and revisit.

"As Gabriel demonstrated so ably, there are places in the soul that electric guitar, bass and drums, for all their visceral excitement, still can't reach" - LA Times

Slightly later than planned, but finally here is the February Full Moon Update.

Once a month, when the moon is round, fat and full, I get in front of the camera. From what I'm reading some people would like a lot more interaction directly from me, but this is what works for me. I do love the way facebook, twitter and the website are becoming a more living thing, and I love all the interactivity, all the discussions, comments and criticisms too, so please keep it coming, it's appreciated.

Thanks a lot, and please check out The Center for Children's Happiness (CCH) orphanage as mentioned in the clip.

Peter

A couple of computer glitches are slowing down the arrival of this month's Full Moon Update from Peter, but we will have it with you as soon as the progress bars reach the other side of the screen.

The work being done by International Bridges To Justice (IBJ) is quite extraordinary. All people should have the right to justice and to legal help - to lawyers.

There can be few things more terrifying than to be dragged out of your home in the early hours of the morning and then not to be able to communicate with anyone you know or with a lawyer - to be tortured. All this can be done when people don't have access to the protection that the law can provide. The work of IBJ is urgent and unfortunately the situation in many countries is actually getting worse, not better, so please help this campaign.

This particular song was written after I'd met many people who knew this experience first hand - it's called Wallflower.

We have an exclusive pre-sale for two 'New Blood' concerts at The Hammersmith Apollo in London on the 23rd and 24th of March. These dates have been added to allow for the possibility of filming of the 'New Blood' concerts in 3D for a forthcoming release, so if you want to be part of the experience and get an early take on the best seats, follow the link for the pre-sale.

Hi there everyone, It's Peter. Welcome to the first full moon message of the year. This is for anyone who wants to check out what we are working on and up to each month.

I wanted to also say that I don't really think that my life is that interesting to be talking about it everyday and also I don't want my life to be a slave to a piece of technology. I do though make a commitment to directly communicate once a month which does work for me and I hope it will work for you too.

It's an easy way to remember you only have to look up at the sky and if the moon is getting full you know that its time to check in on what we are doing.

We have been very busy music-wise recently but things are almost finished, so at the end of this month's video you will get a taste of my 'New Blood' version of 'Wallflower'.

Have a great month and hope to see you when the moon is full again.

Peter

We've reached the last couple of days of 'The Art of the Album' at London's Gallery@OXO where last night saw a great turn out to celebrate the show. Many of the artists involved turned out, with Storm Thorgerson giving a talk on some of the work he had on display including the covers for Peter Gabriel 1, 2 and 3.

The show ends tomorrow - January 15th.

"There is a wonderful school in Cambodia called the Centre for Children's Happiness which was introduced to me by Anna, my daughter, and the founder is a wonderful man called Mech Sokha. Many orphans in Phnom Penh survive on the huge rubbish tips outside the city, sifting through the rubbish for anything they can sell or live off. Many of these children have not survived for long because of the appalling health risks. Sokha not only has rescued many of these kids and provided them shelter in the home, but set up a school to educate them. Its an amazing project, but unless he can raise some money very quickly the school is going to be forced to close. For that reason I am asking for your help in keeping his dream alive" Peter Gabriel