Gabriel: A ‘World’ Like No Other : Music, Theater Add Up to Powerful Show

When Peter Gabriel has a great new album, such as 1986’s “So,” his tours, too, tend to be extraordinary.

When the British singer-songwriter has merely a good new album, such as 1992’s “US,” his tours remain extraordinary.

Sense a pattern here?

In a frequently exhilarating performance Thursday at the Forum, Gabriel showed he is a singer-songwriter who doesn’t go on the road to just play his new songs. He uses live shows to combine elements of theater and music in ways that enable him to rethink his material and present the songs in new, revealing contexts.

Of all the arena-sized attractions in rock, only U2 rivals Gabriel in the ambition and power of their performances. The sense of special occasion surrounding Gabriel’s new “Secret World” tour was apparent as soon as you walked into the Forum.

Instead of the normal, massive stage set-up at one end of the arena floor, there was a somewhat smaller, square stage that was connected via a 40-foot runway to a circular stage in the center of the floor--where the half-court line would be during a basketball game.

The souvenir program also telegraphed the evening’s uniqueness. Normally, programs are merely promotional devices filled with glossy photos, a list of the artist’s album catalogue and thank-yous for everyone on the tour--from the manager to the truck drivers.

In Gabriel’s $12 program, you find the normal credits and thank-yous, but the text addresses the show’s theme and design with far more seriousness and sophistication. Gabriel not only outlines some of the tour background (including the symbolism of the twin stage set-up), but also comments on how various songs fit into the show’s examination of the tensions and joys of relationships.

Reflecting on the song “Secret World,” Gabriel also touches on the tour theme. The song, he says in the program, is “about the private world that two people occupy; the private world that they occupy as individuals within a space, and the overlap of their dreams and desires. . . .

“(The song) came out of a difficult period, many years of marriage and then a powerful relationship afterward . . . I realize that it was a painful period, but I think I am on the other side of it now. Through acceptance you get a chance to move on.”

One page of the program even slyly underscores the complications of relationships by simply listing dozens of words that incorporate the letters/symbol: “US.” They range from abUSe and amaroUS to wonderoUS.

After a colorful opening half-hour by Zaire’s Papa Wemba and band, Gabriel’s two-hour concert began with him standing in a phone booth on the square stage. The song--”Come Talk to Me”--is about trying to re-establish communication with a loved one, and he eventually exits from the booth and walks slowly down the long ramp to the circular stage. He illustrates the difficulty of the journey by tugging on the phone cord, like he’s shouldering a heavy weight.

When he arrives at the second stage, he stands alone--isolated even from his musicians.

Not everything is staged as deliberately as the opening number. Sometimes Gabriel simply amplifies the emotions of the songs through his body language, which is sometimes free-flowing and joyous, or other times stiff and cold.

Yet there are times when special staging and production touches come into play, including an especially effective moment when Gabriel switches on a conveyor belt on the ramp between the stages. This time the journey between the stages is much easier as Gabriel--like a gondolier on an imaginary boat--brings his musicians with him. (The international lineup included Tony Levin on bass, Manu Katche on drums and Shankar on violin.)

Besides music from the “US” album, Gabriel turned to some of his best-known earlier material, including the celebratory “Solsbury Hill,” the good-natured “Sledgehammer” and the striking “Shock the Monkey.”

In the end, however, it was a song of optimism and hope from “So” that both summarized the evening’s search for faith and love. After the tensions and doubts of the journey, “In Your Eyes” offered a warm, fulfilling edge.

In your eyes

I see the doorway to a thousand churches

In your eyes

The resolution of all the fruitless searches.

The “Secret World” performance didn’t have as many chilling musical moments as Gabriel’s “So”-related tour, a reminder to artists and audience that the music itself is the most important ingredient in any concert. But there wasn’t a moment Thursday when you lost track of the fact that you were in the hands of a challenging and inspiring artist.