/>
musicOMH
home | features | albums | tracks | live | classical | blog
Facebook Twitter
search:

David Gilmour

@ Royal Albert Hall, London, 31 May 2006
4 stars
On the third night of David Gilmour's Albert Hall mini residency the eyes were becoming a little misty. It wasn't the huge amount of dry ice, either: "We played here in 1968" he reminisced, "and we had great fun with a cannon each side of the stage. When we used them the whole building shook, and they banned us for life. They don't seem to have noticed that some of us have sneaked back in."

His devotees weren't so easily fooled, their substantial outlay for tickets rewarded with two and a half hours of wonderful music. Gilmour arrived to a hero's reception, inaugurating a series of mini standing ovations just three minutes in. His familiarity and total ease with the live environment lent weight to the opening Breathe/Time/Breathe, letting loose with characteristically searching and exact solos.

Having drawn first blood the complete album On An Island was next, bathed in an ambient blue glow as its harmonies evoked a warm Balearic summer rather than a rainy English one. With imperious support from Phil Manzanera Gilmour's guitar lines were intense and fluid, as was his saxophone contribution to Red Sky At Night. David Crosby and Graham Nash offered wonderfully clear harmonisation; Robert Wyatt an atmospheric cornet solo for Then I Close My Eyes.

Drawing breath at the interval, Gilmour returned with fire in his belly for an exultant set of greats, the accompanying light show pointing phaser-like darts around the hall or bisecting the upper tiers with graceful, slow moving sine waves. Magenta was the colour for an impassioned Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Gilmour's voice still a great instrument, husky around the edges. A cocksure Arnold Layne was included - no David Bowie tonight, though Rick Wright's reprisal of Syd Barrett's original vocal was hardly a short straw.

The timeless Back To Life followed, then a stately High Hopes, Floyd's last great song finishing with a semi-improvised acoustic line from Gilmour that floated on the air long after it had faded away. Mica Paris was introduced for a full-bodied if not belting Great Gig In The Sky before the tour de force of the evening - a mighty performance of Echoes, the crowd rapt in concentration.

With a river of dry ice cascading over the front rows among further heroics from the lighting department, it was quite a feat to recover for encores of Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb. At this point the night's surprise emerged in the form of Nick Mason, who provided the icing on the cake to a vivid evening of music. Gilmour at the end looked just as fresh as he did at the start. Must be that island living...


Comments


  BUY David Gilmour - On An Island

now in music
Field Music
INTERVIEW
Field Music

David Brewis on the band's latest album Plumb and side projects.
Errors
Q&A
Errors

Steev Livingstone on unexpected tweets and Mogwai connections.
more live music reviews
    1. The Black Keys @ Alexandra Palace, London
    2. Friends @ XOYO, London
    3. Astronautalis @ Clandestino, Faenza, Italy
    4. Tim Hecker @ St Giles-in-the-Fields, London
    5. Roots Manuva @ Roundhouse, London
    6. Nicolas Jaar @ Roundhouse, London
    7. We Are Augustines @ Borderline, London
    8. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins @ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
    9. Wild Flag @ Electric Ballroom, London
    10. Laura Veirs @ Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
    11. Orchestra Baobab @ Barbican, London
    12. Michael Chapman, Dean McPhee & Daniel Land @ Lexington, London
    13. Babybird @ Academy, Oxford
    14. Explosions In The Sky @ Brixton Academy, London
    15. The Dø @ Bush Hall, London
    16. Childish Gambino @ CAMP, London
    17. Bonnie Prince Billy @ Hackney Empire, London
    18. Damien Jurado @ Enterprise, London
    19. M83 @ Concorde 2, Brighton
    20. DJ Food @ Peter Harrison Planetarium, London
    21. A Winged Victory For The Sullen @ Cecil Sharp House, London
    22. Lanterns On The Lake @ Cargo, London
    23. Slow Club @ Union Chapel, London
    24. Black Lips @ Heaven, London
    25. Levellers @ Brixton Academy, London
    26. Caro Emerald @ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
    27. Death In Vegas @ Concorde 2, Brighton
    28. Kate Jackson @ Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, London
    29. I Break Horses @ Cargo, London
    30. Standard Fare @ Shakespeare's, Sheffield
    31. M83 @ Heaven, London
related articles
ALBUM: The Orb featuring David Gilmour - Metallic Spheres
ALBUM: David Gilmour - Live In Gdansk
ALBUM: David Gilmour - On An Island
TRACK: David Gilmour - Smile
GIG: David Gilmour @ Royal Albert Hall, London
VIDEO: David Gilmour - Smile
VIDEO: David Gilmour - On An Island


  more live reviews...