various artists and Peter Gabriel

Africa Calling: Live 8 at Eden

(Real World/Warner)

Peter Gabriel

Still Growing Up: Live and Unwrapped (Real World/Warner)

Last summer, Sir Bob Geldof took his lumps for leaving black and African artists off Live 8's main stages. Thanks to Africa Calling, a 2-DVD set on Peter Gabriel's Real World imprint, it's clear the 2005 Noble Prize nominee missed an opportunity. As Live 8 offshoot, Gabriel's assemblage of Africa's hottest acts for a concert in Cornwall, UK, showcases talent with real-world experience facing Third World poverty. Despite shaky camera direction and lackluster sets from the legendary Thomas Mapfumo and Youssou N'Dour there are revelations aplenty: the mournful Portuguese Fado of Mozambique-born Mariza; the danceable, West African soul of Angelique Kidjo; and the gospel hip-hop of former Sudanese child soldier Emmanuel Jal. Still Growing Up, filmed during Gabriel's 2003 European tour, finds the aging showman parrying a different sort of fatigue. The live portion features stunning concert footage, while the second disc forms a superior tour document. Sadly, at 53, Gabriel has lost vocal range but makes up for it on hits "Solsbury Hill," "Digging in the Dirt," and "Games Without Frontiers." Best of all, wearing a jacket fashioned with lights, Gabriel breathes new life into "Sledgehammer." 2002's Up is limited to studio extras on the second disc, but it's much more fun to watch the singer shake the tree on "No Self Control," a 1988 concert extra on disc one.

(Africa Calling)

(Peter Gabriel)