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I would love to hear Politics of Love. Didn't he chnge First Stone because it was too many biblical names?

P.S. Thanks a lot Sant Caste

Ho ho ho! RE: First Stone, yes, I think so, I just didn't know how to phrase it.

Santa Caste: Gratzi for the links. Are you sure Sagrada was worked into IYE? When PG was doing his first tour for Amnesty in 1986, he stated that Sagrada (La Sagrada Familia?) was one of the songs he was working on. Another title he mentioned was "El Salvador." I think he dropped Sagrada entirely because of the Alan Parsons Project's "Gaudi" album (1987) It's great to read the stories and memories here. Keep 'em coming!

Great to hear your stories and about your collections. Also many thanks for your links Caste! Ended up listening to several of your posts whilst I was at it especially White Shadow. When I got ‘So’ I remember driving my partner mad with it because I kept the arm on the record player up so continually repeating it. I think it was then he bought me a cassette player with headphones! If I recall correctly the vinyl (or LP as we called it) did not have ‘This is the picture’. Saw PG’s So tour in Birmingham NEC – never had been to a big arena before and it was overwhelming in more ways than one. It was made even more special by the fact my little sister and I went together. A wonderful setlist starting with San Jacinto and ending with Biko. My sister’s favourite was and still is Mercy Street but that night my favourite was the song PG had just finished! We were miles away from the stage and there were so many people there – but it was completely absorbing. We were stunned by the performance and I remember sitting in a kind of daze on the train home. I was already a big fan back but I think that was the first really theatrical performance I’d seen him do. By the way what a fantastic programme for that tour. I still have it and it really is a work of art. Shows so many of PG’s interest including Anne Sexton’s poetry, Amnesty International, WOMAD, some wonderful photography and illustrations. Does anyone remember the t-shirt with chickens on it – a la Sledgehammer video? Each time I washed it another bit of chicken fell off!

i remember So. i think the year was 1986. thanks for sharing, caste. here's the best tourography that i was able to find on that world wide web thingy. http://users.libero.it/the.intruder/live/live.htm on the rockola: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQJfLULUAQ4 don't break this rhythm

Hi Caste, The Champaign gig was on Saturday, November 15, 1986. I was living in Minneapolis and Peter at that time had yet to play in Minnesota. He always played our neighboring state Wisconsin and I could have seen the Security tour in Milwaukee but alas, at that time, I didn't have the money for the travel and hotel expenses but there was no way I was going to miss the So tour, regardless of the money or where or how far I I had to travel. When tickets went on sale for Champaign, there was some trepidation at putting out the money for the gig as there was no guarantee we could even make the show! Minneapolis to Champaign is a 9 hour drive at minimum and winter roars early in the midwest, especially in Minnesota. There could be bitter cold, blizzards and highways closed but we took are chance and bought six tickets. We left at 8am on that cold blustery day, 6 of us pack tight into a car. We figured we would pull in to town around 5pm, check into the hotel, change clothes and get to the gig with plenty of time for some, ummmm...relaxation.. There was plenty of mushrooms to go around... Well darn it. We ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. It took 2 hours for the driver to hitch a ride,get back, and get us back on the road again. The trip took us over 11 hours and we just barely made it to the gig in time. Needless to say, for the stress and adrenaline pumping, I did not partake in the shroooms...... The show was amazing. It was very raw I felt. The most poignant part for me was when Peter sat on the edge of the stage, legs dangling over the side and he sang, with no accompaniment, Don't Give Up. It was so moving and the tears started to well in my eyes, spilling over. At first I kept brushing them away but soon the flow was too much and I just allowed them unabated. I could sense someone was watching me so I turned and looked to my right and sure enough, this man was staring at me. It suddenly struck me- What is more difficult, to allow the tears to come, to show the emotions or is it more difficult to watch someone have those emotions! It was a strange moment. So the live recording I have of the show, was recorded by a guy sitting right behind me. He had 2 long, 8 inch microphones he was just holding up in the air, recording. After a bit, a security guard of the theater came over and told him to put them away or he would be excused from the show. Well, all he did was lower them and he recorded the whole show. When the show was over, I asked him he would please send me a copy of the show, and he did! I still have it though I no longer have a cassette player! SO thanks for reading!

Oh, the programs are so cool. The first leg of the tour the program was black and had the 2 blue arrows pointed up and the words- This Way Up on the cover. The inside is beautiful. The second leg I saw was in Milwaukee. That tour program is white with the cover of SO on it. The inside was the same.... The size of the two programs was different though. The black cover was much smaller that the white cover...

What lovely stories! . . .thanks Caste (ehm. . .Santa Caste?) for links, wow!! Duddy: my husband was at concert of SO (. . also in Arena of Verona, argghhh. .. .), and he says he was impressed like your sister about Mercy Street, he says he cried (not only he but many people!) , because Peter sang this song huddled himself up (. . sorry i hope it's right way to describe, i am not sure. . .), and it was a very exciting moment, no other artist can sing like Peter in the history of music!!

That is a wonderful memory Dolce. I could write about every song but yes Mercy Street and that plaintive crying PG did. Such a lump in my throat...and with San Jacinto too. Loved these simple but eloquent gestures and movements which you could see right across the hall and which now we know so well. And the lighting even when very simple was so dramatic. It was over far too soon!!

One tip for "So25" and "POV": I think the best live performance from this era is that one Amnesty gig in the Giants Stadium ("Conspiracy of Hope"), I thin from June 1986 featuring "Red Rain", "Monkey", "Jacinto", "Hammer", "Snapshot" and "Biko". A mind blowing performance. How about adding this live performance to that "So 25" package or "PoV"-DVD extra ?