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...
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