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David Gilmour Ends US Tour With Pink Floyd And Solo Classics [Video]

By Georgia Makitalo
Published on: 01:03 PST, Apr 18, 2016

Fans of the soft spoken David Gilmour who were lucky to see him perform both solo work and classic songs from throughout the Pink Floyd era are still reveling in the magic of this master psychedelic guitar hero.

Gilmour had not toured for about a decade, yet his live solo show did not show any sort of absence. On stage he took the music of Pink Floyd and his own incredible music and made it soar with his impeccable talent.

Fans who were unable to see Gilmour perform in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York were treated to a national performance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.

First, he performed the iconic song “Wish You Were Here.” Co-written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters, this Pink Floyd song was written specifically about former guitarist Syd Barrett. In 1967, David Gilmour replaced Barrett in Pink Floyd after Barrett had a breakdown. Written and recorded in 1975 after the enormous success of Dark Side of the Moon, this album by the same name was written about Barrett, as well as Waters’ alienation with the music industry. During the recording of Wish You Were Here, Syd Barrett showed up, completely unrecognizable. He had shaved his head and his eyebrows. This shock make both Roger Waters and David Gilmour completely break down.

Over 40 years later, this song with is still modern sounding with Gilmour’s soaring vocals and haunting guitar. This fan favorite Pink Floyd song continues to mesmerize as fans wonder about the tragedy of Barrett, how it affected each member of the band, along with the melancholy music and lyrics.

“Wish You Were Here”

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTGwB6CBuX0

As with the entire tour, Gilmour also performed his own material including the song Rattle That Lock, from his latest album of the same name. This song was written by Gilmour and his wife, novelist Polly Samson. Samson has been working with Glmour for over two decades, writing and occasionally singing background vocals on both Pink Floyd and Gilmour solo works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcGju-xvcZM

Gilmour’s wish for this tour was to “create an event where people come and the moment will be cemented in their memory, partly because of the place it’s in.” With intense performances of such classic Pink Floyd songs as Comfortably Numb, this tour will indeed become permanently cemented into the minds and souls of every concert goer.


The David Gilmour Set List:
First Set:
“5 A.M.”
“Rattle That Lock”
“Faces of Stone”
“Wish You Were Here”
“What Do You Want From Me”
“A Boat Lies Waiting”
“The Blue”
“Money”
“Us and Them”
“In Any Tongue”
“High Hopes”

Second Set:
“Astronomy Domine”
“Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)”
“Fat Old Sun”
“Coming Back to Life”
“The Girl in the Yellow Dress”
“Today”
“Sorrow”
“Run Like Hell”
Encore:
“Time/Breathe (Reprise)”
“Comfortably Numb”

David Gilmour’s North America tour went through Canada with one show in Toronto, and the U.S. including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Gilmour will head out to tour Europe in the summer months, when his children are on summer holiday. Dates in Europe includes Belgium, France, and Italy — including a return to Pompei — and his tour ends with four dates in London. The show in Pompei is especially memorable, as Pink Floyd performed there, sans audience in 1971. This time will be different. Gilmour and his talented band will be performing there with an audience, performing his solo work as well as some of his most classic Pink Floyd song.

“(It) has never been used for a concert since then,” he says. “And this will be the first ever concert in that arena with an audience since they were killing gladiators 2,000 years ago. It’s amazing.”

[Photo by Matthew Eisman/Getty Images]

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