Peter Gabriel prefaces his concert documentary, Back to Front—Live in London, with a few thoughts about masks. In Western society masks are seen as objects of concealment, but in other cultures they can be tools of revelation. He calls himself “shy, apologetic” in real life. On stage, “I want to get out of that. The mask is the means to open up.”
Filmed in 2013 by a camera crew working from many angles, Gabriel’s concert is divided in three parts. For the first he is the shy man, seated behind a gleaming black Bosendorfer piano, opening with an unfinished song (“the journey can be as interesting as the arrival”) before performing “Come Talk to Me” and “Shock the Monkey” in low decibels with house lights up. In part two, the lights go dark and the mask goes on as Gabriel emerges from behind his keyboard as a dynamic singer at the microphone. Part three is a song by song performance of So, the album that became a soundtrack for the ‘80s with such songs as “Red Rain” and “Sledgehammer.” The lavish productions that marked his ‘80s concert tours are retooled with sweeping arcs of colored light, tasteful pyrotechnics and artful rear screen projections.
Live in London features the band that played on So in the ‘80s, anchored by bassist Tony Levin.
