Whether or not my monkey was shocked, Peter Gabriel opened Summerfest 2003 with a bang. Making his first appearance in Milwaukee in 10 years the former Genesis frontman recently ended a silence of nearly a decade with two new LPs. The first was a soundtrack to the wonderful film, "Rabbit Proof Fence." The second is "Up," a proper new LP of Gabriel songs and the basis for this "Growing Up" tour.

On "Up," Gabriel draws on the talents of many friends -- some artists on his Real World label -- like Youssou N'Dour, the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Blind Boys of Alabama and British blues guitarist Peter Green and recorded across the globe in studios in England, Brazil, Senegal, Atlanta and Singapore.

Gabriel's Summerfest show last night, gave props to the new but relied heavily on the favorites, too.

His talented ensemble opened with "Red Rain." Gabriel and his daughter Melanie rode Segways around the stage for "Games Without Frontiers," the lighted suit was back for "Sledgehammer" and a face cam brought the Marcus Amphitheater eerily up-close to Gabriel's facial features on "Digging in the Dirt."

He didn't fall back into the crowd for "Lay Your Hands on Me," in fact he didn't sing the song at all. But, instead merrily marched through the Amphitheater during "Solsbury Hill." He even brought out a huge bubble ball that he rolling and bounced around in for "Growing Up," making him look like a British pop-star hamster.

Waxing poetic and even, unfortunately politically, between tunes, Gabriel's nearly 2 1/2 hour show touched several emotions and nerves with its elaborate lightening, pumping base, funky videos and Goth-like, all black uniformed band members.

Gabriel is a perfectionist and perched behind his technology and keyboard even uttered "the technical term for that one is f*ck up," when tracking went awry during a song intro. Gabriel's daughter was strong, but had a bit of hard time matching the power of the rest of the band on "Don't Give Up" and "Mercy Street." All in all, though, her vocals worked well with her dad's.

Other highlights included a rocking "Secret World," "Shock the Monkey," the evening's second song "More than This," and a encore of "Sky Blue" with the stunning vocals of the Blind Boys of Alabama on stage with Gabriel. The Blind Boys -- who record for Gabriel's Real World label -- played their own 11 p.m. show on the Potawatomi Bingo Casino Stage.

Opener and Real World artist Sevara Nazarkhan joined Gabriel for "In Your Eyes" and the show ended emotionally with fireworks "on percussion" and in the background sky as Gabriel did his tribute to his father "Father Son." Fans wanted "Biko," but the stunning show left the nearly-full theater very happy.

Long beer lines, the NBA draft and bumping into too many friends on the way into the Ampitheater made this reviewer miss Uzbek star Nazarkhan's opening set. Her voice was gorgeous on "In Your Eyes," and my wife loved her dress, so we picked up a CD on the way out.

If you missed the show, the official concert boot leg is available here. Gabriel's tour heads to Chicago's Tweeter Center this weekend.