"We had an artistic success, but not a financial one… but that’s another story.” Peter Gabriel's 1982 WOMAD set to be released this Friday

Peter Gabriel's 1982 set from WOMAD Festival is to be released digitally this Friday.

Live At WOMAD 1982 features Gabriel's set from Friday night at the very first World Music And Dance Festival that he'd helped set up and which was held at Shepton Mallet Playground in June 1982.

Gabriel's band at the time featured David Rhodes (guitar), John Giblin (bass), Larry Fast (synthesisers). Jerry Marotta (drums) and Peter Hammill (guitar, vocals) and the set featured seven of the eight songs that would make up the album Peter Gabriel 4 (Security), an album that wouldn’t be released for a further two months, premiering the likes of Shock The Monkey, San Jacincto, I Have The Touch and more.

“I remember this gig well,” Gabriel recalls. “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.

"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. It was a landmark and edgy gig for me both personally and musically and brings back lots of memories.”

As well as Gabriel, the event featured sets from Peter Hamill, Simple Minds, The Beat, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Chieftans, Drummers of Burundi, Imrat Khan and more. The festival famously ran into financial difficulties, not least due to the lack of suitable transport to the venue.

"At the beginning, most music industry professionals told us that we had no chance of making this dream work, we had all the wonderful naïve misguided optimism of the young, and were convinced that we would prove all the cynics wrong," Gabriel adds. "However, at the end of the first festival, it was clear we had an artistic success, but not a financial one… but that’s for another story.”

At the advice of their manager Tony Smith, Genesis reunited with Gabriel for the Six Of The Best concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in October of that year to ease the financial burden of the event.

WOMAD celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2027. You can see the tracklisting and accompanying artwork for Live At WOMAD 1982 below.

Peter Gabriel: Live At WOMAD 1982
1. San Jacinto
2. The Family and the Fishing Net
3. I Have the Touch
4. Lay Your Hands on Me
5. Shock the Monkey
6. I Go Swimming
7. The Rhythm of the Heat
8. Kiss of Life
9. Biko