Peter Gabriel: Growing Up on Tour - A Family Portrait

Starring:Peter Gabriel
Studio: Lakeshore Records
Product Type: DVD

Description

Anna Gabriel's documentary film following her father on the Growing Up tour of 2002. With his eldest daughter filming, his second daughter singing and his new wife and baby joining him on the road, Gabriel juggles his lives as a musician and as a regular family man. The highs, the lows, the sublime, the ridiculous, the fathers, sisters, brothers, band members and road crew: Anna Gabriel's knowing eye reveals an inventive and intimate portrait of family life on tour. 40 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

Never Dissapoints.......2006-05-06

Peter Gabriel is legendary. This DVD is quite intimate with the insights into his tour but for me the real prize were the extras. Peter's performance at the Newport International Film Festival Fundraiser is beautiful. Alone on the piano he is magical. The video of the Barry Williams Show directed by Sean Penn is fun.

Leaves you wanting more..........2006-02-15

Few times have I been able to complain about Peter. But this will have to be one of them. This DVD was an oddly-timed release, which featured backstage, personal moments from the Growing Up tour, focusing on the personal side of Peter, his daughters (one of whom was shooting this film, while the other one sang alongside him on stage), and to a lesser degree, on the rest of his band and family. There's so much that we all could learn from Peter, but the DVD carries a little more than 50 minutes of footage that leave you wanting more. It would make a fantastic feature for a "Growing Up Live" disc 2, but as a stand alone film, it falls short. Still, I will give it four stars because (I admit it) I am a sucker for Gabriel footage and material.

Good Look at Gabriel on Tour, But Not Enough..........2005-07-27

What is presented here is a 35 minute film of Gabriel & co. (shot by Gabriel's daughter Anna) preparing for the Growing Up tour from 2002/2003. The content is fairly interesting, but longtime Gabriel fans might come away a tad disappointed in that nothing that new or revelatory is present. It is fun tho' to see Gabriel having a good time with his band and family.

The most interesting part of this DVD is also the most frustrating. As part of the Special Features, there is an 11 minute section from when Gabriel went to the Newport Int'l Film Festival to promote this film. Within this feature, we get to see Gabriel performing songs on his own with just a piano. Very exciting stuff! BUT, we only get to see mere snippets of him sounding great on songs like "Washing of the Water," "That Voice Again," "Mercy Street," and "In Your Eyes." Why the *entire* performance/appearance was not included on this DVD is truly inexplicable. But even just seeing Gabriel perform in this fashion for just a few minutes is worth it. One hopes that he will eventually tour in this kind of fashion -- just him and a piano. The other special feature worth noting is a short "making of" for the video "The Barry Williams Show," as well as the entire video.

$20 might be a bit high for this DVD considering the entire content is less than an hour, but $10-$15 is reasonable. If I could, I'd give it 3 1/2 stars as opposed to 4.

Not exactly a documentary, but..........2005-06-20

Before I go rattling on, let me say this to the die-hard PG fan-this is essential. Just buy it because it's necssary to the collection.

Now for you casual PGer's and nonbelievers. Is this a documentary? Not really. In fact, I wish someone outside of the family would have done this, but then again, the subjects would have been much more gaurded.

Some reviewer suggest that there is some kind of softening when Richard Evans remarks that during rehearsal that they had only been able to work with PG for about an hour. Then there's a quick cut to PG trying to explain that away. That doth smell a bit funny, but then again PG is not caught snorting coke in the green room or anything. It's hardly an indictment in other words. Would his daughter do a "warts and all" film? Hardly.

What we do see is the human being PG, most touching is PG the father-a role he so obviously loves. Even though he and his band are acutely aware that they are being filmed and soon we peel off that last layer of the last mask of Peter Gabriel. We see a seasoned performer still enjoying entertaining crowds (ones smaller than before), but most importantly a man who has a wiser perspective and has survived the insanity of fame and even the rock'n'roll machinery. Not a small feat my friends.

40 minutes, is it enough? As you watch it, it becomes clear that like all stars, PG is a mortal man-who at times looks awkward, old, a bit overweight and downright ordinary. Even the brightest stars in their ordinary lives are simply ordinary. By the time the film ends, we have seen enough and are satisfied.

Disappointing.......2005-05-26

While I have been an avowed PG worshipper for the last 15 years, and he and his family are obviously very likeable and kind folks indeed, this documentary clocks in at a paltry 40 minutes in length, and has something of a slapdash, superficial feel. It doesn't really deliver the depth and breadth of intimate moments promised in the description, unless you consider a few quick shots of his new family, and brief, disjointed shots of his family and band mugging and horsing around for the cameras, to be intimate and deep. Not that I expect or desire an invasion of PG's family privacy, but this is just a 40 minute string of semi-candid shots in hallways, backstage, and on airplanes, strung together in roughly chronological order. There is one moment toward the beginning in which a band member makes a comment that could be construed to be critical of PG, and then we see a clip of PG, obviously inserted later, in which he is rebutting/explaining the context of the comment, which leads me to believe that this doc was originally a lot more substantial. However, one gets the feeling that PG reviewed the doc carefully before it went out, and insisted on so many edits that he ended up gutting it. But that is merely speculation on my part. We may never know exactly why this turned out to be such a trifling bit of video. One thing is for certain: You should save your money and rent it from Netflix when it becomes available.

Peter Gabriel: Growing Up on Tour - A Family Portrait

Average customer rating:

Peter Gabriel: Growing Up on Tour - A Family Portrait
Starring: Peter Gabriel
Director: Anna Gabriel
Manufacturer: Real World Int'l
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0007PLM4G
Release Date: 2005-02-15

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Hardcore

Nazareth - Homecoming - The Greatest Hits Live In Glasgow

Charlie Chaplin - The Great Dictator [1940]

DVD: Death of a Salesman/ Private Conversations

Winterschläfer