Concert Review- David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall

In mid October David Gilmour played the Royal Albert Hall for a week of sold out shows. This was the first time I’d managed to get tickets to see David and I was not disappointed.

The limited tour, in support of his latest album ‘Luck and Strange‘ was to play Rome, London, LA and New York so tickets were tight. I was lucky to see him twice in the week and so here is my review of David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall.

Royal Albert Hall Set List

The Royal Albert Hall set list did not change from night to night and I expect it’s the same for all the shows. It included a great mix of early Pink Floyd with later post Roger Floyd with a lot of David’s most recent solo work.

• 5 A.M. (Rattle that Lock)
• Black Cat (Luck and Strange)
• Luck and Strange (Luck and Strange)
• Speak to Me (Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon)
• Breathe (In the Air) (Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon)
• Time (Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon)
• Breathe (Reprise) (Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon)
• Fat Old Sun (Pink Floyd Meddle)
• Marooned (Pink Floyd The Division Bell )
• Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here)
• Vita Brevis (Luck and Strange)
• Between Two Points (The Montgolfier Brothers cover) (Luck and Strange)
• High Hopes (Pink Floyd The Division Bell)
• — Intermission —
• Sorrow (Pink Floyd A Momentary Lapse of Reason)
• The Piper’s Call (Luck and Strange)
• A Great Day for Freedom (Pink Floyd The Division Bell )
• In Any Tongue (Rattle that Lock)
• The Great Gig in the Sky (Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon)
• A Boat Lies Waiting (Rattle that Lock)
• Coming Back to Life (Pink Floyd The Division Bell)
• Dark and Velvet Nights (Luck and Strange)
• Sings (Luck and Strange)
• Scattered (Luck and Strange)
• — Encore —
• Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd The Wall)

Royal Albert Hall Review

This wasn’t a sweaty rock fest, but more of a sedate, seated evening with David, his band and his family. The Royal Albert Hall is an iconic concert venue, a bonafide London music landmark and that was part of the evening. This was David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall! – not a cover band at Wembley Arena, or some other soulless venue.

Before the tour David had hinted that the set list would not contain much ‘Waters era’ Floyd tracks, so no Animals, no Run Like Hell and certainly no Final Cut! The ‘old’ Pink Floyd we got was the wonderful ‘Fat Old Sun’ from Meddle and Wish You Were Here.

The first few tracks of Dark Side included another attempt at ‘Great Gig in the Sky’. This latter track is something, I feel, that is pretty unique and live song track that has never lived up to the album track. But it framed a nice intimate part of the show which included ‘A Boat Lies Waiting’ from ‘Rattle that Lock’.

There was a better showing for the post Roger Pink Floyd tracks covering tracks from ‘A Momentarily Lapse of Reason’ and ‘the Division Bell.’ From the former we had a wonderful ‘Sorrow’ a real highlight complete with stunning lasers beaming out into the venue.

For me it was the Division Bell tracks that had me most excited. It is one of my favourite albums [full stop] and it was a treat to see david play High Hopes, with the original music video and ‘Pink Floyd balls’ that came bouncing out into the arena. They didn’t quite reach high enough for me to bop but never mind!

But this wasn’t just a Pink Floyd show, this was a David Gilmour show and it was full of love. That became evident when he introduced ‘Coming Back to Life’ and how it was a song he wrote for Polly. If ‘Learning to fly’, from ‘Lapse’ was a metaphorical reference to finding himself professionally and personally, ‘back to life’ was him confirming his personal direction – toward s Polly and a bright future together.

So these gigs were almost the culmination of this personal and professional relationship. Polly grew to understand David’s thoughts and feelings and how to convey them into words.

This combination yields beauty. I mentioned ‘A boat lies waiting, whilst ‘In Any Tongue’, is powerfully brought to life on stage with a thought provoking animation. Is this a story of a soldier, or the challenges of communication with your kids?

And for me the highlights of this concert became his latest work, where Polly’s words match David’s sound and feeling, giving us magic. From the whimsical look back at the past on the title track, to the playful ‘The Piper’s Call’ we saw a relaxed David surrounded by his family, sharing these wonderful tracks with us.

And family… this album and tour is a family affair. Polly provided lyrics, photos and support. Their son Gabriel sings on the album and Romany Gilmour sings lead on a full track, their version of ‘between two points’ which has rapidly become a fan favourite.

These concerts did not disappoint. As the encore of ‘Comfortably Numb’ rang out I felt this was a great great show.

I was in the Royal Albert Hall surrounded in love, with a ticket bought with love from my daughter to remember not one but two incredible nights with David Gilmour. Yes it was great to see the classics again, but this concert, this tour is so much more than a greatest hits show.

Memories and Merchandise

Just like the album packaging, the concert ticket and programme were of a very high quality. The physical tickets included the iconic ‘Luck and Strange’ outline.

The concert programme included more great photography of David and the band, taken by Anton Corbijn, and Polly. There is also a great interview with David, and a full page dedicated to each of the band members and collaborators.I didn’t buy any of the t-shirts (although you can buy them online) but what I do have is a fitting memento for two wonderful nights.