Peter Gabriel Live at WOMAD 1982 is out today on CD & LP.
The 2LP is pressed to 180g black vinyl and comes in a gatefold jacket with Side D as an etching. It also has a high-res download code. 1CD version comes in mini-vinyl style gatefold packaging.
[Gabriel] was basically writing a script for the rest of the decade, with synths and samplers plus African and Latin rhythms… this is a live album that’s loaded with intent.
Classic Rock 7/10
Deft art-pop songs delivered with the aid of a crack backing group… behind-the-scenes turmoil doesn’t detract from the music here.
MOJO 4/5
An energetic set: when the Ekomé drummers thunder in on ‘The Rhythm of the Heat’… and on the anti-apartheid song ‘Biko, it is a thrilling window into Gabriel’s coming pomp.
The Financial Times 4/5
It’s exciting to hear the debut of future staples like ’San Jacinto’ and ’Shock the Monkey’… the sound of an artist taking a big risk.
The Wire Magazine
It was a simple idea; to create a festival out of all the brilliant music and art made all over the world, stuff made outside of the mainstream – music that wasn’t getting on the radio and was even harder to find in record stores…
… the very first WOMAD Festival took place at the 240-acre Bath and West Showground, Somerset over the weekend of 16–18 July, 1982. With the dream ‘not to sprinkle world music around a rock festival, but to prove that these great artists could be headliners in their own right’, the three days and five stages played host to 60 bands from over 20 countries; a line-up that included The Drummers of Burundi, Pigbag, Salsa de Hoy, Simple Minds, Musicians of the Nile, Echo and the Bunnymen, Prince Nico Mbarga, Rip, Rig and Panic, The Beat and many more…
Live at WOMAD 1982 is Peter Gabriel’s Friday night concert performance, billed as a ‘special festival set of non-album material.’
“I remember this gig well,” says Peter Gabriel. “We played a mix of old and brand-new material. I would normally be very nervous about playing some of this stuff for the first time, however my mind was very preoccupied with the running of our very first WOMAD festival and the potential financial disaster that it was heading towards.
Because WOMAD was unique in its focus on music and art from around the world, and mixing it up with rock and jazz, no-one knew how many people might turn up and we had seriously overestimated our appeal. But those that had decided to check out WOMAD and its weird and wonderful lineup were open-minded, bold and curious – a great audience.
It was a landmark and edgy gig for me both personally and musically and brings back lots of memories.”
Tracklisting:
San Jacinto
The Family and the Fishing Net
I Have the Touch
Lay Your Hands on Me
Shock the Monkey
I Go Swimming
The Rhythm of the Heat
Kiss of Life
Biko
