Background
Gabriel spent part of 2002–2003 on tour in support of his album Up. The tour, called the "Growing Up" tour, visited 32 cities across North America and Europe. The concert video and live album were taken from the performances over two nights in May 2003 at Milan's Fila Forum, which was filmed by Hamish Hamilton with 26 cameras.
Gabriel described the idea behind the staging of the concert: "Last time [for the Secret World tour] we had two stages, a male stage and a female stage, and they were representing different things, urban, rural and this time we have moved the axis vertically, and it’s a sky stage and an earth stage. The album title had been UP, so there was a certain logic to this vertical translation onto the stage." Performing guests for the show included The Blind Boys of Alabama, Dr Hukwe Zawose, Charles Zawose, Sevara Nazarkhan and the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
To ensure that Growing Up: Live was released on its intended release date of 3 November 2003, Gabriel was promised by Warner Music Vision that they would only cover its production costs if Gabriel met their deadline. Warner Music Vision said that this release schedule was strictly imposed to ensure that they could coordinate with EMI Records to simultaneously release both Growing Up: Live and Gabriel's Hit compilation album. Promotional efforts were planned to advertise both Growing Up and Hit in both magazines and the press, although the director of marketing for EMI said that they encountered challenges with incorporating the DVD into television advertisements that centered around the artwork over their belief that the messaging became "too cluttered".
In 2019, the film was released as a live album on vinyl and music streaming platforms.
