Dave Gilmour, Royal Albert HAll May 2006 Options

[Saoirse O'Shea]

First sorry - this is a review of the concert televised by the BBC a week ago.

In 2006 Gilmour played a number of dates at the RAH as part of his 'On an Island' tour. The Beeb rather kindly broadcast one of these (which is also now available on a DVD called 'Remember that night'). Short of being there this was one way to experience what was an amazing concert.

Gilmour was supported by a band (Richard Wright, Steve DiStanislao, Dick Parry, Guy Pratt and Jon Carin) that included several guest musicians for some tracks including Phil Manzanera, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Robert Wyatt and David Bowie!

The set comprised classic Pink Floyd and some Dave Gilmour tracks on a concert that lasted over 2 hours. Set list as I remember it was (apologies if I've missed any/got them wrong):

1. Speak to Me
2. Breathe
3. Time
4. Breathe
5. ?
6. On an Island
7. The Blue
8. Red Sky at Night
9. This Heaven
10. Then I Close My Eyes
11. Smile
12. Take a Breath
14. Where We Start
15. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
16. Fat Old Sun
17. Coming Back to Life
18. High Hopes
19. Echoes
20. Wish You Were Here
22. Arnold Layne (featuring David Bowie)
23. Comfortably Numb (featuring David Bowie)


Some of the standouts for me were his opening with 'Breathe', and later tracks 'Shine on you crazy diamond' (Crosby and Nash on support), 'Red sky at night' (Manzanera guesting on sax)', 'Then I close my eyes' (Wyatt on cornet), 'Echoes', 'Wish you were here', 'On an Island' (Crosby and Nash on vocals'), 'Comfortably numb' (link without Bowie), 'Arnold Lane' (Bowie on vocals on both of these!), a 20 minute (!) version of 'Echoes', and 'Fat old sun' (link here) . As someone who loves classic Floyd the 20 minute 'Echoes' made me feel like I'd died and gone to heaven. It was, for me, jaw dropping, breathtaking stuff.

The concert was superb throughout particularly as Gilmour interspersed acoustic numbers with electric. That really, for me, gave the concert added depth. Gilmour's playing on both acoustic and electric was what you would expect - full of passion and soul - much of it was a master class in how to play with feel. He might not be the best technically but he can certainly play with conviction. The support band and guest musicians also played well - Bowie on 'Comfortably Numb' and Wyatt on "Then I close my eyes' were amazing. Hey - just seeing Bowie on stage with Gilmour was amazing .

Sound and lights were very good as you would expect but I have to say that I think the venue, Royal Albert Hall, just added an extra, almost cathedral like, dimension. Even on the small screen the gig was absorbing and atmospheric. The lighting and lighting effects (Marc Brickman) were well thought out and complimented the music. Sound was clear throughout and Gilmour's guitar tone was excellent.

The only small issue I had, and this is a personal thing, was that I found Crosby and Nash's support vocal a little odd on 'Shine on' (they were however great on 'On an Island'). For some reason their singing just didn't work for me- I think I'm just too used to hearing it with a Brit accent and so for me the California accent just jarred a bit. Nonetheless that's a small quibble and Gilmour's empassioned playing more than made up for me.

For anyone who likes Floyd I'd say that the DVD is an essential purchase. For anyone who was lucky enough to be there - the dvd has to be a great way to remember that night - what an amazing concert! Just Wish I Was There .

Cheers,
Tony

Edit - added second you tube vid for 'Comfortably numb' but a night when Bowie didn't perform it sadly.

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This post has been edited by tonymiro: Sep 27 2007, 07:05 PM