Peter Gabriel – Live At WOMAD 1982

Peter Gabriel – Live 16-07-2025

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Rating

Introduction

Live At WOMAD 1982 is a live registration of the concert Peter Gabriel played at the first ever edition of the WOMAD festival. A beautiful recording of a unique show!

WOMAD

WOMAD (World Of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international festival for (world)music, arts and culture from all over the world, that takes place annually in the United Kingdom. The purpose is to offer a platform to non-Western artists. Gabriel: “…stuff made outside of the mainstream, music that wasn’t getting on the radio and was even harder to find in record stores…”. The festival was (co)founded by Peter Gabriel in 1980 and premiered in 1982.

WOMAD turned into an annual festival, not just in the UK, but also in Adelade, Australia (where the festival is called WOMADelaide). Also, there have been several editions in countries like Spain, Chili, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and Greece. The festival is a success drawing in around 40,000 visitors each edition.

Gabriel has publicly stated his love for international artists and musicians throughout his life. Besides may collaborations, he also founded the label Real World Records and the Real World Studios. The WOMAD artists are presented with the possibility of recording and releasing their own music.

WOMAD 1982 line-up

WOMAD 1982, the first edition

From July 16 to 18, 1982, the first WOMAD festival took place at the Bath and West Showground in Somerset. More than 60 artists performed, including The Drummers of Burundi, Pigbag, Salsa De Hoy, Simple Minds, Musicians Of The Nile, Echo And The Bunnymen, Prince Nico Mbarga, Rip Rig and Panic, Robert Fripp and The Beat.

Unfortunately, the first edition was too expensive, attendance too low and the company Gabriel had founded for the WOMAD festivals now faced enormous financial difficulty. When Gabriel was asked by English magazine NME whether or not the festival had earned enough money, he replied: “In a word…no, but we’ve shown that there are people who want to hear other music apart from rock. Even if we can’t carry it on, somebody else will.” But it was worse, Gabriel’s involvement with the festival yielded him not only debts, but also angry creditors and (death)threats, not only aimed at himself, but at his family as well.

Genesis / Peter Gabriel reunion 10/02/1982

In an attempt to help Gabriel, Genesis organized a reunion show with Gabriel on October 2, 1982, at the Milton Keynes Bowl, a day the rain poured down 24 hours straight. Genesis performed with Gabriel and all proceeds were donated to Gabriel’s WOMAD festival.

Some of you may be wondering what we’re doing here. But actually, this is a sequence from a previous event by the name of WOMAD… a great event that lost a pile of money. But I’m very lucky to have a group of people [here] who support these ideals, so in return for your cash we’ll give you what we think you will like from this combination.

Peter Gabriel, 02-10-1982

After the show Gabriel’s company was saved, the debts could be paid and the WOMAD festival could go on free from financial problems.

Although they are often portrayed as very unhip, exploitative capitalist men of the rock world, it’s entirely down to them [Genesis] that the WOMAD movement can move, or struggle, or crawl forward, and they didn’t get anything out of it.

Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel – Live AT WOMAD 1982

Live At WOMAD 1982

On August 8, 2025, the live album Live AT WOMAD 1982 was released. It’s a rendition of the full show Peter Gabriel played on the first day of the first WOMAD festival. The show isn’t just special because of the occasion itself, but also because Gabriel and band played with the Afro-Caribbean dance and drum company Ekomé. And, no less than 7 songs were premiered that night, songs that wouldn’t be officially available until September 10, 1982, the day the fourth Peter Gabriel album was released.

I remember this gig well. We played a mix of old and brand-new material. I would normally be very nervous about playing some of this stuff for the first time, however my mind was very preoccupied with the running of our very first WOMAD festival and the potential financial disaster that it was heading towards. Two years earlier a wild idea I’d had on a train had led to my hustling a group of people interested in the music of other cultures, and now our dream was very much becoming a reality – an artistic triumph and a financial disaster.

Because WOMAD was unique in its focus on music and art from around the world, and mixing it with up with rock and jazz, no-one knew how many people might turn up and we had seriously overestimated our appeal. But those that had decided to check out WOMAD and its weird and wonderful lineup were open-minded, bold and curious – a great audience.

We performed inside in the Showering Pavilion in the Royal Bath and West Showground. It was also the first time I had performed with Ekomé, the wonderful Bristol-based drum and dance group, and although we had a bit of a rhythmic train crash in Rhythm of the Heat it was a thrilling collaboration.

It was a landmark and edgy gig for me both personally and musically and brings back lots of memories. I hope it works for you.

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Peter Gabriel, 08-08-2025, petergabriel.com

On July 29, 2022, a compilation live album, also titled Live At WOMAD 1982, was released, a compilation of highlights from the festival. The album contained two songs stemming from the Peter Gabriel concert. This is the first time the full show has been made available to the public (streaming services only).

Peter Gabriel – Backstage WOMAD 1982

Review

I truly love the Peter Gabriel live album Plays Live. A lot of the songs on that album are also featured here, but in different versions. For recordings that have been laying around for all those years, the sound is remarkably good, clear and dynamic. Gabriel is on fire, sings beautifully and dares to take risks. Not only does he integrate guest musicians, he also debuts no less than 7 songs (out of 9 songs in total). The audience had never heard those songs before, but that doesn’t get in the way of a wonderful experience. Live at WOMAD 1982 is a wonderful release.

Songs

All songs written by Peter Gabriel.

• San Jacinto
• The Family And The Fishing Net
• I Have The Touch
• Lay Your Hands On Me
• Shock The Monkey
• I Go Swimming
• The Rhythm Of The Heat
• Kiss Of Life
• Biko

Peter Gabriel – Rehearsal for 07/16/2025

Musicians

• Peter Gabriel – vocals, keyboard
• David Rhodes – guitar
• John Giblin – bass
• Larry Fast – synthesizer
• Jerry Marotta – drums
• Peter Hammill – guitar, vocals
• Ekomé (“the wonderful Bristol-based drum and dance group”) – drums, percussion

In closing

What’s your take on Live At WOMAD 1982? Let me know!

Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Peter Gabriel – Live At WOMAD 1982. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.