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UNPLUGGED GILMOUR.

The acoustic face of Pink Floyd.

 

January 16, 17 and 18. David Gilmour performs solo again at the Royal Festival Hall  in London after the success of his semi-acoustic concert last June as part of the Meldtown summer festival 2001. This time it is a mini-tour that  a week later for another three nights will pass through a small Parisian theater.

With Pink Floyd almost finished, Gilmour is preparing to relaunch his solo career 18 years after the publication of the album "About face". At 56 years old and with one of the largest British fortunes, his life passes peacefully in his house in the middle of the countryside,

Watching their offspring grow. When asked about a new Pink Floyd album, he answers bluntly that the last thing on his mind is embarking on another odyssey like starting up the Floyd giant again, for which he does not feel sufficiently motivated.

The band that accompanies him is basically made up of the same musicians as in last year's show with the addition of a new member in the choir. The repertoire would not suffer major changes either, simply adding a theme by Richard Wright  and swapping Terrapin for Barrett's Dominoes.

My first night in the city is cold and humid, the typical climate of these lands, I go to the Royal  Festival Hall in an old London taxi after chatting for a while with his driver who tells me who has been spending the summer on the Costa Brava for many years.

The Royal Festival Hall is an auditorium with a capacity for 2,500 seats; located within the South Bank complex, on the banks of the Thames right next to the gigantic Ferris wheel erected there  como  celebration of the new millennium.

There are a couple of hours left  for the concert and a few fans are already crowding at the service entrance of the venue in search of the photo or autograph. There are people from everywhere; Australia, Brazil, USA, Canada, Mexico, France, Italy......, while I wait I chat with a fan from Texas who tells me about the fact that only 4 months after the 9/11 attacks it is not easy to venture to cross the ocean, but the occasion well deserved it. We soon see Gilmour accompanied by his wife Polly  Samson  in an advanced state of pregnancy. "No autographs," Gilmour gestures, we're all left with a span of noses, there are those who have spent hours with the ticket in one hand and the pen in the other, some  desperate with a backpack full of records, another with a guitar, and there are also those who simply live from the roll and know that if they get a couple of autographs that night they will be able to get a good dough. The hour approaches and another limousine arrives; It's Mama Gilmour, she can barely walk and with the help of the escorts they get her into the auditorium.

I hurriedly enter to situate myself in my locality  and I observe that the venue is an authentic marvel completely covered in its interior with wood with unbeatable acoustics  recently rehabilitated.

I note that, as in the 2001 concert, several cameras  are installed at different points in the auditorium. The announced DVD edition of last year's concert is delayed and new recordings of these concerts are going to be used for the final production, which currently has no release date.

It's 8 o'clock y  after the performance of the Sparklehouses, a local group made up of classical musicians and female choirs à la “Corrs”, David Gilmour appears, the venue breaks into applause until the first notes guitar, the order of the songs is as follows:

SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND (IV)

Surrounded by a bunch of guitars arranged in a semicircle, he grabs and we are introduced to  in Shine On. I am surprised at how simple and at the same time direct he makes the  version of the song performed solely by him and in the final part by his friend Dick Parry on sax.

FAT OLD SUN

Now with the entire band, he brings us this beautiful ballad from the album de la vaca, well yes, 32 years later it is still fresh and gaining many integers with the female choir voices. Just reproach him that he could have marked the final sun just like in Atom Heart Mother.

COMING BACK TO LIFE

The first of the three Division Bell songs that he would perform during the night is going to be painted for the occasion with some outstanding choruses.

DOMINOES

"Do you recognize it? It's a song by my friend Syd!" Gilmour tells us, it belongs to his old friend Syd Barrett's second album, it really sounds surprising, with a touch of jazz it is the little tribute of the night to the soul of the Floyds.

HIGH HOPE

The Division Bell introduces us to the first piano notes of the theme, Michael Kamen  would star towards the end with the english horn, then the choir would resume the theme with a short a cappella version that the public would reward with  a big round of applause.

JE CROIS UNDERSTAND ENCORE

From the French opera "The Pearl Fishers" by Bizet accompanied by cello and choirs, Gilmour's voice is really in shape, it is a classical and intimate theme that fits wonderfully into the repertoire.

SMILE

This is a new song that I already presented at Meldtown last year, it is a ballad written by him and his wife Polly accompanied by their acoustics and with the slide in the background.

BREAKTROUGH

Here comes the surprise of the night when suddenly the first guest introduces us, nothing more and nothing less than Rick Wright, I think the ovation is as or more intense than for Gilmour himself. The keyboardist sits at the electric piano, puts on his reading glasses and begins the song that belongs to the last solo recording “Broken China”. Too bad Richard doesn't measure up, his voice isn't up to par and he gets lost between the first lyrics, David gives him a hand and for what was missing Dick  Parry leaves the stage half solo Thinking that it was over, people get upset and Gilmour also takes it jokingly, luckily the guy finishes it off with an electric solo to suck that off.

WISH YOU WHERE HERE

 Also accompanied by Wright, the years go by and the theme improves like good wine, simplicity, emotion and nostalgia.

COMFORTABLE NUMB

Another of the stellar themes of the concert with Robert Wyatt singing from his wheelchair at the foot of the stage. Gilmour closes the number with a much shorter solo than usual but with a new air.

DIMING OF THE DAY

Beautiful theme by Richard Thompson with Gilmour again to the  acoustic. The lyrics tell us how to live in an old country house that collapses on you, very folky and appropriate for the night.

SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND (VI-IX)

This may be another of the best of the show, with the intro of the wind, the cello, the guitar, bass and percussion entering until Gilmour

Seated with a small electric mandolin as a slide, he closes the show.

A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM

After several minutes of applause and due to the impatience of the public, the entire band appears again to interpret the encores, the first being this theme by Division Bell that would not really contribute anything new except the beauty and novelty of interpreting it in a more "unplugged" way. ”

HUSHABYE MOUNTAIN

This is the last theme of the night, it is a song taken from the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", it is actually a lullaby that, according to Gilmour himself, he used to play for his little ones at home, until one day he realized that the subject could take him to direct. A beautiful, simple and delicate way to close the concert.

I hurry back to the backstage exit. It is clear that Gilmour will come out late  or sooner, the expectation is even greater than before the show, almost two hours later there he is, visibly relaxed, he attends to us as normally as he crowds, while I approach Polly Samson and I give her a copy of the latest issue of ANIMALS PINK FLOYD MAGAZINE so she can send David "Sure, don't worry!" she exclaims. Half an hour later Wright shoots out in a 4x4 with  the logical disappointment of those present to get some signature.

It's getting late and it's time to go back to the hotel happier than Easter, because the concert has really been memorable, I've seen Gilmour in person, a couple of autographs, a complete mini-disc recording and tomorrow I'll do it again but this time from the first row.

The second night would be even more intense since despite having the same set-list, he could enjoy the concert from the front row, a privilege thanks to the purchase online several months before. It was also allowed to take pictures without flash, so I took the opportunity to take some accounts as you can see.

Quite damaged and distant Bob Geldoff would be the guest of the night in “Comfortably numb”, the truth is that his voice did not contribute anything new, but  because of who he was, he had his appeal.

In short, no paraphernalia, no special effects, no thousands of watts, simply, the simplicity and intimacy of a guitarist, his music and that of his band that does not leave you indifferent and that acquires a totally renewed and valid new dimension of the acoustic face of Pink Floyd.

 

SET LIST (95 min.)

 

1. SHINE ON YOUR CRAZY DIAMOND (IV)

2. FAT OLD SUN

3. COMING BACK TO LIFE

4. DOMINOES

5. HIGH HOPE

6. (REPRISE) HIGH HOPES

7. JE CROIS UNDERSTAND ENCORE

8. SMILE

9. BREAKTRHOUGH

10. WISH YOU WERE HERE

11. COMFORTABLE NUMB

12. DIMMING OF THE DAY

13. SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND (VI-IX)

14. A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM

15. HUSHABYE MOUNTAIN

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