Wednesday, September 28, 2011

No. 981 – Secret World


Performer: Peter Gabriel
Songwriter: Peter Gabriel
Original Release: Us
Year: 1992
Definitive Version: None

I saw Peter Gabriel live twice in July 1993, and Secret World was the set closer before the encore. The first show was at the Palace in Auburn Hills, the second at the Rosemont Horizon. I went with my brother the first time, my sister the second (although she sat with a friend and I sat with someone (a dude) I’d never met. Other than the fact that my seats were crap each place, the two shows couldn’t have been more different.

At the first show, in Michigan, the house was maybe three-quarters full, maybe less. The crowd mostly sat on their hands, and in fact, Gabriel admonished the crowd at one point for its inattentiveness and inconsideration during a quiet moment. About a week later, the Horizon was full, the crowd needed no such prompting, and Gabriel played two additional songs—Shock the Monkey in the middle and Here Comes the Flood as a second-encore show of thanks.

And then there’s the difference in the venues. The Palace is just down the road from where I lived in Grand Blanc. The Horizon is near Chicago, which meant I was on my sister’s futon for a weekend but more important I was in Chicago. This meant ritualistic journeys to my favorite places at the time: Gino’s East, Walker Bros. for incomparable chocolate-chip pancakes and my new favorite place that Jin had introduced me to earlier: Penny's Noodles.

Guess which show I liked better?

1 comment:

  1. And I'm on the blog at 981! I remember that show - we were with Timm & I forget who else. And I remember that I drove and got us out of that parking lot in record time. A fun night.

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