David Gilmour
Saturday 12th October 2024
Royal Albert Hall, London
Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour released his fifth solo album ‘Luck and Strange’ on 6th September through Sony Music, his first for nine years. To coincide with the release, he has embarked on his first live tour for eight years, with a handful of select dates in Rome, London, Los Angeles and New York, including two special preview dates in Brighton on 20th and 21st September. The venue of choice in London was the prestigious Royal Albert Hall where he played six concerts on the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th of October. Gilmour’s touring band this time around featured the long serving Guy Pratt (bass/vocals) - Guy joined Pink Floyd in 1987 and has been by Gilmour’s side on every album and tour since - Ben Worsley (guitar/vocals), Greg Phillinganes (keyboards/vocals), Rob Gentry (keyboards/vocals), Adam Betts (drums), Louise Marshall (vocals/piano), Hattie Webb (vocals/harp), Charley Webb (vocals/guitar/ukulele) and David’s daughter Romany Gilmour (vocals/harp). The visuals were provided by long time Pink Floyd associate Marc Brickman, who started working with Floyd in 1979. Another long-term associate, guitar technician Phil Taylor, started working with Floyd in 1974.
Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. His joining was pivotal in helping the Floyd become one of the most successful Rock bands of all time. He took over leadership of the band in 1985 after Roger Waters left and he continued to steer the good ship until the bitter end, appearing on all their albums from 1968 - 2014 including ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’ (1968), ‘More’ (1969), ‘Ummagumma’ (1969), ‘Atom Heart Mother’ (1970), ‘Meddle’ (1971), ‘Obscured by Clouds’ (1972), ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ (1973), ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975), ‘Animals’ (1977), ‘The Wall’ (1979), ‘The Final Cut’ (1983), ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ (1987), ‘The Division Bell’ (1994) and ‘The Endless River’ (2014).
As a member of Pink Floyd, Gilmour was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2003, Gilmour was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He received the award for Outstanding Contribution at the 2008 Q Awards. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked him number 28 in their list of the greatest guitarists of all time, and he was also voted number 36 in the greatest voices in Rock by Planet Rock listeners in 2009.
Gilmour’s debut self-titled solo album was released in 1978 with his second ‘About Face’ appearing six years later in 1984. It would be a further twenty-two years before his third album ‘On an Island’ would surface in 2006. Released on his sixtieth birthday it featured contributions from his wife Polly Samson, Pink Floyd’s keyboardist Rick Wright, Floyd bassist Guy Pratt, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, as well as David Crosby and Graham Nash. Nine years passed before his fourth ‘Rattle That Lock’ saw the light of day in 2015 with another nine years wait for his latest album ‘Luck and Strange’ to hit the record shelves.
Tickets for these special shows were like gold dust with all six shows selling out within minutes of going on sale. As I failed to secure anything on day one, bagging a ticket for these shows was a major challenge! However, persistence paid off and I got lucky! Entering the majestic Royal Albert Hall, we were greeted to the pastoral sound of bird song and floating ambience. Prior to start time bassist Guy Pratt entered the stage to give a public announcement about turning the flash off on phones and encouraging us to be present for the occasion rather than staring at a screen all night! Good advice, but as it turned out it didn’t make much impact as hundreds of phones were out on display throughout the concert.
As the show ran for over two and half hours it was split into two halves with set one getting under way with the eloquently mellow instrumental ‘5 A.M.’ from the 2015 ‘Rattle That Lock’ album. The hall was dark, and smoke filled with a lone Gilmour centre stage conjuring up spicy notes and sweet phrases from his trusty Stratocaster before neatly segueing into another atmospherically tingling instrumental ‘Black Cat’ from his latest ‘Luck and Strange’ album. The other members of the band started to join in as the piece progressed. With everyone in the band present and correct it was time for the title track of the new album ‘Luck and Strange’. A mid-paced classic Pink Floyd sounding tune that allows for a satisfying vamp to develop with many opportunities for guitar jamming. New band recruit Ben Worsley got the chance to take a few succinct guitar solos before the main man proceeded to mesmerise the audience with that signature Gilmour tone and dynamic phrasing for which he makes look effortless - interestingly the album version features keyboards from the original Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright recorded back in 2005/6. Sadly, Richard passed away in September 2008.
The time came to jump back to 1973 with a few Pink Floyd songs from the classic ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ album, namely, ‘Speak to Me’, ‘Breathe (In the Air)’, ‘Time’ and ‘Breathe (Reprise)’. Keyboardist Greg Phillinganes did a fine job singing Richard Wright’s parts on ‘Time’. Tragically, Gilmour and ex-band mate Roger Waters don’t get along and relations between them seem to be getting worse by the day with several public spats being reported. There were rumors that Gilmour wasn’t going to play any of the Roger Waters era Pink Floyd tunes in his live set, but he had no choice but to backtrack slightly, otherwise there would have been an almighty uproar from the fans! Sadly, there are still a few big ones that he point-blankly refuses to include in the set such as ‘Money’, ‘Another Brick In The Wall’, ‘Run Like Hell’ and ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’.
The state-of-the-art light show was spectacular throughout with the giant circular screen at the back of the stage showing visuals just like they were renown for doing with Pink Floyd. Along with a top-notch crystal-clear sound system the overall audio-visual effect made the palatial surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall seem very intimate with every seat in the house being a good seat.
Without further ado it was back to 1970 for the glowingly buoyant ‘Fat Old Sun’ from the ‘Atom Heart Mother’ album. A laid back mellow strummed acoustic guitar beginning set the scene with delicately airy vocals from Gilmour before culminating in an almighty Telecaster onslaught! Gilmour’s vocals were as sweet as ever they were, if slightly croaky in places, but not bad for a seventy-eight-year-old! Time for another beautifully majestic instrumental in the form of ‘Marooned’ from the magnificent 1994 ‘The Division Bell’ album. Every controlled note Gilmour summons up on his trusty Stratocaster has abundant emotion and deep resonance. A jaw-droppingly awe-inspiring performance.
Time for another Floyd classic with the title track from their momentous 1975 ‘Wish You Were Here’ album, a much-loved song that had everyone singing along. It was a privilege to witness Gilmour once again perform this gem live. On stage Gilmour is a man of few words, but he did spend a bit of time introducing each band member before then introducing his daughter Romany Gilmour to the stage where she accompanied him on the harp for the short instrumental ‘Vita Brevis’ before taking the lead vocal on the somber ‘Between Two Points’. This track is a cover version of a song written by The Montgolfier Brothers. I must admit I had never heard of it before hearing it on ‘Luck & Strange’. Romany has a crystalline pure voice that has the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and sends shivers down your spine. Gilmour senior stood at the back for the most part and allowed his daughter to shine before stepping forward to finish up the song with a tasty little solo. An emotionally moving performance.
Closing the first set, we were treated to the monumental epic ‘High Hopes’ from the 1994 ‘The Division Bell’ album. One of the Gilmour led Floyd’s best compositions. The song starts with hammering bell chimes before interloping out of sync piano stabs join in between the chimes, gradually building in intensity with Gilmour’s acoustic guitar arpeggios adding much textural resonance. His haunting vocals cemented the heavy atmosphere before the piece elevated with a breathtaking lap steel guitar solo to end all solos! Large air-filled balls were let loose over the audience and as patrons began hitting the balls they danced over our heads in time to the song’s tempo. With the accompanying light show the whole experience was dramatically striking. Towards the climax of the lap steel solo the giant inflatable balls disappeared out of sight from each side of the stage and Gilmour bookended the piece with some more tasty acoustic guitar arpeggios until the song’s conclusion. Emotionally drained and with mouths agog, a standing ovation lingered on as the house lights came up leading us into the intermission.
Fully recovered and suitably refreshed it was onto the second set with the thrillingly stygian ‘Sorrow’ from the 1987 ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ album. The radiantly immersive light show just got intensely brighter with a multitude of vivaciously vibrant colours filling the smoke-filled auditorium. Together with the potent zealousness of the fervent music the whole melee manifested into a full-on audio-visual sensory overload! Yet another totally jaw-dropping experience. Bringing proceedings right up to date came the glorious ‘The Piper's Call’ from the new ‘Luck and Strange’ album. Romany stepped forward and joined her Dad up front to add her gracefully refined harmony vocals. A delightful song with another salubriously dazzling guitar solo from Gilmour.
Pink Floyd’s 1994 return to form album, ‘The Division Bell’, was well represented in the set with four nuggets being played, including another of the albums stand out songs ‘A Great Day for Freedom’. An upbeat, optimistic song about peace and oneness with the world. “On the day the wall came down, They threw the locks onto the ground, And with glasses high we raised a cry, For freedom had arrived.” A formidably sublime performance from Gilmour and the band.
Jumping forward to 2015 came one of Gilmour’s best and most poignant solo songs ‘In Any Tongue’ which features on his rather excellent ‘Rattle That Lock’ album. A chilling protest song about the barbaric atrocities of war, “On the screen the young men die, The children cry, In the rubble of their lives, What has he done? God help my son, Hey, stay a while, I'll stay up, The volume pumped right up, But not enough to drown it out, I hear "Mama" sounds the same in any tongue.” Romany provided the melodic whistling at the start of the song before Ben Worsley got the chance to share the lead vocals with Gilmour, for which he did a sterling job. A vehemently charged impassioned performance that had us all in tears.
Changing the mood slightly, it was then time for the girls to shine on a unique vocal arrangement of ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’ from the 1973 classic ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ album. Huddled around a grand piano and bathed in candlelight, Louise Marshall orchestrated the vocal arrangements and played the piano on this one. She was joined on vocals by Hattie Webb and her sister Charley Webb along with Romany. As well as cleverly blending their vocals they all got the chance at improvising a solo scat vocal. Gilmour, sat down, played the atmospheric glistening slides over the top on his lab steel guitar. A bewitchingly, elegant rendition of a beguilingly arresting song. Sticking with that stage set up and paired back arrangement came another of Gilmour’s greatest solo songs ‘A Boat Lies Waiting’, also from the 2015 ‘Rattle That Lock’ album. A very moving song written for Gilmour’s best friend and Pink Floyd’s keyboardist, the late Richard Wright. “Something I never knew, In silence I hear you, And a boat lies waiting, Still your clouds are flaming, That old time easy feeling.” The affectingly emotive vocal harmonies were divinely heart-rending.
The final track to be played from the 1994 ‘The Division Bell’ album was ‘Coming Back to Life’. Since 1994 most of Pink Floyd and Gilmour solo lyrics were written by his author/writer wife Polly Samson. However, on this song Gilmour not only wrote the music, but penned all the lyrics too, which he wrote for Polly. A buoyantly sanguine song with a steady driving rhythm and infectious groove. “I took a heavenly ride through our silence, I knew the moment had arrived, For killing the past and coming back to life.” As is customary Gilmour’s guitar solo takes it to another level of genius.
The final trio of songs were from the new ‘Luck and Strange’ album. First up was the resplendently sultry ‘Dark and Velvet Nights’ followed by the sumptuously lavish ‘Sings’, finishing with the dazzlingly splendacious ‘Scattered’. There is an obvious reference to the Floyd classic ‘Echoes’ at the start of the song with the characteristic pinging sounds and keyboard flourishes. Towards the songs conclusion we get a soaring Gilmour guitar solo reminiscent of his colossal solo in ‘Comfortably Numb’. The laser light show that accompanies the performance was gleamingly scintillating. Another standing ovation was the order of the day.
There could only be one song to end the evening’s musical extravaganza in style and that of course is the Floyd epic ‘Comfortably Numb’ from the 1979 ‘The Wall’ album. He couldn’t not play this one! Guy Pratt sang Roger Water’s parts while Gilmour covered the rest of the vocals. Romany provided the backing vocals and the crazy dancing! The cornucopia of beaming lasers were on overload and darted across the grand hall creating a multitude of mesmerising patterns. Gilmour’s soaring guitar solos dripped emotion and were stratospherically out of this world! A triumphant conclusion to a spectacular evening of mind-blowing music.
Steven C. Gilbert