A warm autumnal evening in southern Europe. An open-air theatre cut into a hill, the lights of a capital city twinkling beneath. Five musicians take to the stage, five musicians at the peak of their game. A few thousand acolytes approvingly roar at their arrival. Ear-to-ear smiles are visible in every direction, both in the crowd and onstage. This is the last night of a tour. A long tour. A very long tour. We are in Athens and it’s October 1987. More significantly, it’s the climax of Peter Gabriel’s This Way Up tour, an endeavour that kicked off nearly 12 long months previously, tens and tens of thousands of miles ago. Over many, many months, this jolly caravan has travelled throughout North America and Europe, from Buffalo to Bologna, Milwaukee to Munich, Toronto to Toulouse. It’s nearly all over. And here in the Greek capital the occasion will be preserved for eternity. Though previously release as a concert film the recording has never be available on vinyl before and comes with a striking new design by Marc Bessant. The touring band captured by the recordings consists of Peter, alongside Manu Katché (drums), Tony Levin (bass and backing vocals), David Rhodes (guitar and backing vocals) and David Sancious (keyboards) with a special guest appearance by Youssou N’Dour and Le Super Etoile de Dakar. The album has been Half-Speed Remastered and cut to lacquers at 33RPM, across 2x heavyweight LPs, to deliver maximum dynamic range in the sound. Vinyl cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering, mastered by Tony Cousins at Metropolis and overseen by Peter’s main sound engineer Richard Chappell. The album also looks amazing with a wide-spine single sleeve and full colour printed inner bags. The album comes with a download card with a choice of digital download (Hi-Res 24bit or 16bit).
