DAVID GILMOUR : THE LUCK AND STRANGE CONCERTS

DAVID GILMOUR : THE LUCK AND STRANGE CONCERTS

Disc One (60:31)

5 A.M.
Black Cat
Luck And Strange
Breathe (In The Air)
Time
Fat Old Sun
Marooned
A Single Spark
Wish You Were Here
Vita Brevis
Between Two Points
High Hopes

Disc Two (76:14)

Sorrow
The Piper's Call
A Great Day For Freedom
In Any Tongue
The Great Gig In The Sky
A Boat Lies Waiting
Coming Back To Life
Dark And Velvet Nights
Sings
Scattered
Comfortably Numb

Label : Sony Music

Venue : Brighton Centre, Brighton, UK + Circus Maximus, Rome, Italy + Royal Albert Hall, London, UK + Intuit Dome, Los Angeles, California, USA + Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA

Recording Date : September 20, 2024 - November 10th, 2024

Release Date : October 17, 2025

Review (Written In Music) : ‘Vreemde’ titel toch voor dat vijfde soloalbum van Pink Floyd-man David Gilmour. Na negen jaar hier een man die volop terugkijkt op zijn geluk en heel die behoorlijk vreemde tijd die hij zegt samen met alle babyboomers te hebben meegemaakt in de naoorlogse periode. Over zijn bevoorrecht momentum dat hij heeft mogen ervaren in een tijdspanne van zoveel positieve ideeën, in het vredige gouden tijdperk waarvan iedereen dacht dat ze het mensdom vooruitstuwden… Luck and Strange. Het is sowieso een fraai album en je hoort ook dat het met het grootste spelplezier is gemaakt. Gegroeid uit de lockdown is het bovendien een ontroerend familiewerkstuk geworden, van Gilmour samen met zijn vrouw-tekstschrijfster Polly Samson en de kinderen Gabriel, Charlie en Romany die zich her en der met de zang, instrumenten of lyrics inlieten. De familiale euforie over het resultaat zit hem evenwel vooral in de dynamiek die werd geïnjecteerd door het extern aantrekken van een jonge producer als Charlie Andrew van Alt-J. Waarmee met dit album Gilmour ineens een sparring-partner tegenover zich kreeg die een van de grootste nog levende rockiconen onbevangen en onverschrokken durfde uit te dagen met hem zelfs onbekende speeltechnieken. In zijn making-of-video ontboezemde Gilmour in se altijd al – ook solo – een teamspeler en een deel van een groep te hebben willen zijn, zelfs zonder enige leidersambities. Hij ziet zijn nieuwste ‘soloprestatie’ nu het dichtst bij zijn ideaalproject van met volle overgave positief samenwerken eindigen en het voelt voor hem persoonlijk daarom ook aan als het beste werk dat hij heeft geleverd sinds The Dark Side Of The Moon uit 1973, meer dan een halve eeuw geleden geleden. In alle geval is het minstens de allerbeste van al zijn soloplaten. De vertrouwde Gilmour die, naar eigen zeggen, enerzijds er alles probeert uit te rocken, maar anderzijds, gepusht door Charlie Andrew, er dan toch zijn melodieën uitgooit op een lichtjes andere manier. Van vertrouwd gesproken. Het album bijt af met het ongedwongen Black Cat. Al bij al een mooie toonzetter, maar toch een al te korte piano-prelude, vooral omdat er al onmiddellijk een van die heerlijk nevelige Floydiaanse gitaarsolo’s in wordt losgelaten waarop alleen Gilmour het patent heeft. Met het meditatief langzame titelnummer Luck and Strange komt dan de eerste grote, perfecte song op gang en hé, je waant je onwillekeurig weer in Wish You Were Here-sferen. Luck and Strange was oorspronkelijk een jam uit 2007 waarop zijn het jaar erop overleden Pink Floyd-vriend Rick Wright nog meespeelde. In de nu volledig herwerkte song hoor je toch nog de nog steeds gemiste toetsenist op zijn eigen individuele manier zacht op elektrische piano en Hammondorgel. Op cd is die originele bijna een kwartier durende zeer interessante jazzy Barn Jam van 2007 trouwens bijgevoegd. Voor de uiteindelijke versie bracht producer Charlie Andrew ook keyboardspeler Rob Gentry aan. Gilmour schrijdt gepassioneerd door de song met zijn typisch gitaargecreëerde bluesy ruimtelijke sound en, verbazend, nog steeds met die karakteristiek hooguitdeinende klare stem van hem die voortdurend met de eigen gitaar in duel gaat. Alles wordt vermengd met lekkere, etherische orgeltonen en hemelse achtergrondzang van dochter Romany Gilmour. De toon is somber, met de Gilmours die hopen dat hun ‘donkere gedachten in het duister’ niet bewaarheid worden en dat het dus niet bij die ene tijdspanne van ‘luck en strange’ blijft, bij die ‘eenmalige, vredige gouden eeuw’. Single The Piper’s Call opent sierlijk met folky ukelele, reverb-percussie en vibrafoon. Een song die ook hier weer de geest van Syd Barrett ademt, vermits de titel lijkt te verwijzen naar zijn The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, terwijl Gilmour in de lyrics waarschuwt om niet in een faustiaans pact te trappen om de ‘eeuwige jeugd’ te kunnen houden. Een sublieme song, traag akoestisch inzettend, die getrokken door Gilmour’s bloedend slidewerk ritmisch opklimt naar zijn adembenemde elektrische finale. In het deemsterende A Single Spark kijkt het echtpaar Gilmour filosofisch neer op hun levens als nietige vonk tussen twee eeuwigheden van duisternis. Een veelkoppig orkest met koor wiegt waardig mee met het emotionele verhaal dat haast start als een nachtelijke slowsong van Richard Hawley. Maar de stermusicus Gilmour breidt er uiteindelijk uiteraard weer een weldadige gitaarsolo aan. Vita Brevis is net als Black Cat opnieuw zo’n kort, transcenderend interludium met synths, Gilmour op slidegitaar en dochterlief Romany op harp. Tweede single, het zeer eigentijds klinkende Between Two Points dan. Een vrijwel onbekende lievelingsong van de Gilmours uit de nineties, van Britse The Montgolfier Brothers. De kwetsbare tekst wordt nu zacht en relaxed gebracht door een excellente Romany Gilmour op harp en zang. Pa Gilmour zou pa Gilmour niet zijn als hij ook hier niet nog een fraaie, bedwelmende gitaarsolo uit de mouw zou weten te schudden. Dan springen er ineens tonnen enthousiasme en vuurwerk op uit de kronkelende op-en-neer-rocker Dark and Velvet Nights, de derde single, ruig voortstuwend, met opvallende percussie van Steve Gadd. Verder ontspannen mijmeren over sterfelijkheid en het onmogelijke verlangen om de loop der tijden te vertragen vervolgens in het emotionele Sings, song die 25 jaar geleden al in de steigers stond. Schitterende zang van de kwetsbaar croonende Gilmour, sereen ondersteund door sfeervol orkest. Met halverwege in de verte een vaag stemfragment met de toen 2-jarige zoon Joe die zijn gitaarspelende pa ontwapenend “sing daddy sing daddy” toeroept. Langste song, het epische Scattered zwermt het sterkst met Pink Floyd weer helemaal de ruimte in. De aanhoudende hartslag à la The Dark Side Of The Moon trekt je stapsgewijs de song binnen. Met opvallend virtuoos pianospel van Roger Eno en Rob Gentry, naast het orkest, in een uitmuntende wisselwerking met een grootse Gilmour op zijn vurige gitaren. De schitterende, pakkende folkwals met zijn eclatante melodie Yes, I Have Ghosts als bonus, is een puur geschenk. Met een akoestische Gilmour en dochter Roma in een stijlvol duet. Past zeker ‘in de geest’ van het album. Luck and Strange is een ongrijpbare najaarssoundtrack geworden die, samen met de enkele blues- en folkrockpassages, groots voorbijschuift in prachtig gelaagde Floydiaanse texturen en anthems. Daarbinnen de zwevende zang, de weergaloze zuivere gitaartechniek en de solo’s en slidings die emoties, schoonheid of dreiging oproepen. Wars van enige misplaatste nostalgie of oubolligheid vloeit alles eruit met de elegantie die we van de als steeds aimabele Gilmour verwachten. Een hoogst expressieve klasbak van 78 met pretoogjes die ondanks zijn jaren zijn scherpe focus en zijn onverminderd temperament heeft behouden en alleen nog bezig blijft uit gedrevenheid voor de muziek. Een Gilmour ook die op die manier in het geluk van de loutering zijn vrede vindt. Zijn donkere dagen, als hij ze heeft, vloeien zacht als honing. Dankzij zijn familiale verbondenheid kan hij zijn existentiële onderwerpen als veroudering en sterfelijkheid nog allemaal zo prachtig uiten en muzikaal etaleren in dit nieuwe eclectische kunstwerk. Een artistieke verbondenheid die hij in het mythische Pink Floyd wel helaas voor eeuwig zal moeten missen. Neen, als we ons het laatste hoogoplopend conflict met ex-bandgenoot Roger Waters van 2022 herinneren, waar naar aanleiding van standpunten over Oekraine en Israel alle etterende wonden weer aan de orde waren, vinden we in lichtjaren wel geen deur waar ze nog samen doorheen kunnen. Vóór het echt helemaal donker wordt moet Gilmour tot plezier van heel velen evenwel perfect in staat worden geacht om met zijn huidig team verder te gaan op zijn élan van hervonden frisheid. Intussen is Luck and Strange een parel van een plaat om als vanouds heerlijk in te verdwalen en blijft David Gilmour de zessnarige meester onder een uitdijend heelal.

Review (Brutally Honest Rock Album Reviews) : Last month a friend bought my wife and I tickets to see David Gilmour’s Live At The Circus Maximus in IMAX. Just before the concert film began, there was a clip where Dave looks at the camera and says “I’m David Gilmour and I’m a f*****g legend”. And friends, I didn’t take it as boasting or arrogance or conceit – I took it as a simple and incontrovertible statement of fact. Because that’s what it is. Now David Gilmour live is always a treat, but I was unexpectedly blown away by the concert film – I’d been kind of underwhelmed by 2017’s Live at Pompeii compared to 2007’s far superior Live in Gdansk, so I was expecting Maximus to be another step down, especially since I didn’t much care for any of the songs on Luck and Strange. But Dave really brought the goods – sure, he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, but at 78 the guy was every bit the guitar god he’d always been. I mean think about it, that’s a 78 year-old man up there, and he’s as lyrical and melodic and fluid as ever. It’s amazing, that shouldn’t be possible. I highly recommend Live At The Circus Maximus, it’s a truly stunning concert film. I was kind of expecting the audio-only live release to just be the Circus Maximus concert, but The Luck and Strange Concerts pulls tracks from various performances, and that’s a plus, because more live David Gilmour is always a good thing. You may be wondering after Gdansk and Pompeii how essential another David Gilmour live album could possibly be, and my response would be: absolutely essential. And here’s why: There will never be another David Gilmour, and just getting one more chance to hear him do his thing on stage is reason enough for this album to exist. There wasn’t a single song I cared for on Luck and Strange, and my review of the album reflected that – but I am glad it exists for the solos alone, because while there have been plenty of faster guitar players, and certainly more groundbreaking guitar players, there has never been and probably never will be a guitarist with such an amazing sense of melody in his solos. Now of course, I am armchair lead guitar playing here, I am a dismal guitarist in spite of my best efforts, so take my criticism here with a grain of salt, but I think most lead guitarists are pretty hopelessly bogged down in one of two ruts – they either hew too closely to the melody of the song in their solos to avoid some melodic redundancy, or they fall back on worn out patterns and licks that have been overplayed to the point of irrelevancy. It takes a special kind of guitarist indeed to create solos that are a work of art unto themselves, they aren’t merely derivative of the melody already inherent in the song, or that aren’t just a standard lick we’ve all heard a gazillion times that is thrown in with little thought. Perhaps more than any guitarist who ever lived, David Gilmour creates guitar solos that are thoughtful and intelligent – in the sense that they are well-thought out melodically. Take the solo to the original version of “Comfortably Numb”, one of my three favorite guitar solos of all time (the others being “Stairway to Heaven” and Gilmour’s own “Fat Old Sun” from Live in Gdansk). Gilmour actually played a number of solos on the original multi-track tape for “Comfortably Numb”, and faded in the best bits of each to create the solo we all know and love. That sense of care and craftsmanship is rare in construction of a guitar solo, and Gilmour’s sense of melody in his soloing in unparalleled. As is his ear for tone – few guitarist have a guitar sound so distinctive, individualized and readily identifiable as David Gilmour. Both his amazing gift for melody and his peerless construction of guitar tone are in abundant evidence on The Luck and Strange Concerts. And there is something genuinely moving about hearing a guy with almost eight decades behind him playing so masterfully that is downright life affirming. My hell, people, this is a 78 year-old man we are talking about performing these breathtaking feats of guitar wizardry. That all by itself makes this album a milestone – how often are you ever going to get an album with this kind of musicianship from a person of that age? Surely this sets some kind of record for best musicianship by someone in their late 70s. Because I am not exaggerating in the least when I say I hear no difference in the quality of his musicianship from his playing fifty years ago – the guy is still every bit as good. Credit where credit is due, that is a Herculean feat of musicianship. But even setting aside the mere fact that this is the legendary David Gilmour kicking out the jams like he was fifty years younger, there are some unique things about this album that make it more than the obligatory live album we get from every tour. Personally, I think this album has the greatest version of “Marooned” ever. The guitar bursts out of your speakers when it comes in, it hits hard, I don’t know who engineered that, but it’s remarkable. Of course, Dave’s performance is also absolutely spellbinding. “Time” explodes when the guitar comes in after the chimes and the ticking clock as well – with both of these songs I was surprised by the power of Dave’s guitar when it comes in. This album sounds fantastic, it is remarkably well recorded and engineered. And while “Time” may not be appreciably different than all of the other versions out there, but it does have a substantially different solo, and this one is pretty cool, even if it doesn’t carry the same nihilistic, despair-ridden, angsty existential crisis-inducing heft of the original. Like most songs on the album from Luck and Strange, “Between Two Points” is not and never will be a great song, but it’s got a phenomenal solo, and it’s cool to hear Dave performing with his daughter Romany. I was surprised to see on Maximus that she is a talent in her own right (I don’t doubt the power of genetics, but musical genius is rarely passed down to descendants in the world of rock, as Jakob Dylan and James McCartney and Sean O-No-One-Would-Have-Ever-Heard-Of-Me-If-I-Wasn’t-The-Son-Of-a-Beatle Lennon and Nancy Sinatra and so many others so amply demonstrate). Romany has a nice voice, it blends well with her father’s, and she displays some impressive musicianship on the harp on”Between Two Points”. She has superb stage presence, I thought it was kind of fun seeing her perform with her dad, and she had good reason to be there besides simply her good luck in being born to the guitarist of Pink Floyd. Like most songs from Luck and Strange, “A Single Spark” is not a song you would ever feel the need to hear again, but as a performance it is absolutely sublime, particularly when Dave whips out a jaw dropping solo. This holds true for “Sing” and “Scattered” and their other Luck and Strange compatriots – we get sterling performances of painfully mediocre songs, but all with absolutely sublime David Gilmour solos. As noted in the review for Luck and Strange, if I merely think of these songs as a delivery mechanism for stunning Gilmour solos, I can sit through the rest of the song contentedly as long as I know those phenomenal solos are coming. I can despise “The Piper’s Call” as a song, and still respect the quality of the performance – and still thrill to the Gilmour guitar fireworks at the end. “Dark and Velvet Nights” isn’t any better than the others as a song, but it does have the advantage of a couple of interesting elements other than the solo. That intermittent three beat pattern is kind of cool, in the concert film it was fun to see the members of the band pump their fists whenever that three beat pattern popped up. The backing vocals on this one are pretty cool, and it’s got a nice chord progression there at the end of the chorus. But as a song? Yeah, it still mostly sucks. I’ve always thought the solo on “Fat Old Sun” on Gdansk was the perfect distillation of everything that makes David Gilmour one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and it still gives me chills every time, even after hearing it dozens of times in my life. The “Fat Old Sun” solo on Luck and Strange Concerts is markedly different, but also gave me chills the first time I heard it. It is another breathtaking display of peerless guitar solo virtuosity, and I also like the organ solo that precedes Dave’s whirlwind solo, it’s a nice touch. Maybe I still prefer the Gdansk version, but I’m glad to have this one too. “Wish You Were Here” is the loosest version I’ve ever heard of the roughly six gazillion live versions out there. It’s nice to have a version that breathes a bit, and while I’m generally no fan of jazz piano, it works in the later sections of this version. Not my favorite version, but if they are going to put yet another version of “Wish You Were Here” on the album, at least it’s one that is a little different and distinctive from all the others. I may prefer the original version of “The Great Gig in the Sky”, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the understated beauty of the version on The Luck and Strange Concerts. When you think about it, we didn’t really need yet another version with some female vocalists belting their guts out in a vain attempt to best Clare Torry, putting a new spin on the song makes all the sense in the world. And I think it’s absolutely lovely – quiet, solemn, and reflective. Dave’s voice does get a little rough in places – it’s most noticeable, I think, on the songs that were performed on Pulse for some reason. Maybe because I’ve listened to that album so much, and it’s such a favorite of mine, that it sets a frame of reference. Singing the final verse of “Sorrow” is probably the moment Dave most shows his age on the album, it’s pretty much muted in comparison to the version he did 30 years earlier. But those “yeah his voice is showing its age” moments are extremely rare on the album – for the most part he doesn’t sound any rougher vocally than he did on Pulse. And the versions of “A Great Day for Freedom”, “High Hopes”, and “Coming Back to Life” still outshine the ones on the The Division Bell, which I always found rather staid and stilted compared to their live counterparts. The holdovers from Rattle That Lock are outstanding – I’ve always loved “In Any Tongue”, and he sings the chorus with such fire and passion, this is quite easily the best version of that Gilmour post-Floyd classic. And I find Dave’s tribute to old pal Rick Wright, “A Boat Lies Waiting”, pretty moving, and I for one am glad to have another version. Dave’s guitar work on the song is, as it always is, purely exquisite. Dave Gilmour has done a lot of versions of “Comfortably Numb” over the years – but he’s never done one when he’s 78. The fact that this version is just as good or better than all the other live versions is pretty remarkable really. The guitar solo is just as emotionally resonant as ever, and I kind of dig the way you can hear the audience sing along with the chorus on this version. This may well be the most triumphant live version of “Comfortably Numb” ever, in that it is a 78 year-old man playing his most widely loved song with his most widely admired solo every bit as well as he has at any other time over the past almost 50 years. And that, my friends, is a testament to the incredible, undimmed musicianship of Mr. Gilmour. Really, I only have one gripe about the album, other than I don’t really like the songs from Luck and Strange – I was hoping for a live version of “Yes, I Have Ghosts”. It is quite possibly the best song David Gilmour ever wrote outside of Pink Floyd, and seeing him perform it live with Romany would have been something. Ah, well, you can’t have everything, and what we get with this album is still pretty special. Are there live David Gilmour albums I like better? Sure. But am I glad I have this one? Absolutely, and I consider it indispensable. I have to take a point off the rating for filler – all those lame Luck and Strange songs require it – but I feel kind of bad doing it given the supernal guitar work the album gives us from a man still bringing the goods at an age a good two decades after anyone ought to be able to. Perhaps Dave will surprise us and this won’t be his last live album – he is, after all, “a f*****g legend”. But if it is, it would be a fitting conclusion to one of the most remarkable careers in all of rock, by one of the most gifted, unique and melodic guitarists to ever walk the planet.

Review (Bourbon And Vinyl) : David Gilmour, erstwhile guitarist/vocalist for the legendary band Pink Floyd, has released a new live album culled from the brief tour (21 dates) he did in support of his latest solo album, Luck And Strange. There is also a film, IMAX I believe, to go along with it but as usual for B&V purposes I’m only interested in the audio version. Coincidentally, his old bandmate and arch nemesis Roger Waters (bass/vocals) has also released a film and live album from his latest tour (which has stretched on for a few years now). Maybe because I listened to the Waters’ live album and was left unimpressed, I had low expectations for David’s competing live album. Those guys don’t get along very well, but it’s amazing how similar their solo careers have been. Over the forty some years since they finally went their separate ways, they’ve both only put out a handful of solo records. And now, at the exact same time, they’ve released concert films and soundtrack live albums to go along with it. Maybe they’re competing or maybe they just share similar instincts, I don’t know? Having spent some time with The Luck And Strange Concerts, I have to say, in a year where we’ve had a number of great live albums from Sting to the Pretenders to Sammy Hagar, this may be the live album of 2025 (Well, that’s not from the vaults). And you know how much we love live albums around here – whether double-live or single-live. Gilmour puts on what amounts to a two hour and 16 minute Ted Talk on how the lead guitar should be played. It’s sublime. His guitar playing here can only be described as majestic. I am frankly surprised how much I loved this record. I believe the concert film is Live At the Circus Maximus in Rome. I don’t know if this live album is strictly from that show, but the title would imply the performances were taken from several different shows. He only played New York, Los Angeles, Rome, London and Brighton. I wish I’d been lucky enough to see this but I live in “flyover country.” Gilmour has said this is the best band he’s ever played with. He’s joined by Guy Pratt (bass), Greg Phillinganes (keyboards) who used to play with Clapton, Rob Gentry (keyboards), Ben Worsley (guitar), Adam Betts (drums), with Romany Gilmour (his daughter), Louise Marshall, and the Webb Sisters (Hattie & Charley, who were with Tom Petty on his final tour) on backing vocals. I will say, most of the band sing backing vocals and a few different players sing the Waters counterpart on different Pink Floyd tracks but this is the best sounding vocals of any Pink Floyd-related solo live record I’ve heard. I would never compare Floyd to CSNY, but the three principles all sang, only drummer Nick Mason didn’t. My favorite tracks from Pink Floyd, are when Waters and Gilmour both sang, like on “Comfortably Numb,” the same way I always liked Who songs where both Townshend and Daltrey take turns at the mic. Gilmour’s lead vocals have gotten a little deeper and gruffer but he still has a whiskey-like smoothness to his singing. And I’m not sure which keyboard player is on piano, but whoever it was (I suspect it’s Phillinganes) deserves kudos for superb work. The two supreme bands in the early to mid-70s were Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. If you weren’t into those bands, you simply were not cool. Zeppelin came on like a blitzkrieg. Jimmy Page and John Bonham were here to melt your face off. Pink Floyd rocked with a vengeance but they were a little more cerebral. They were going to grab the frontal lobes of your brain and elevate it into the air… maybe flip it upside down. I assume most of the guys who were older than I was in high school were all smoking pot, but I can guarantee most of the pot smokers were listening to Floyd. Much of what you hear on this album is a little laid back, but it rocks with a simmering intensity, like Floyd. It’s not mellow by any stretch of the imagination. I love the song selection here. While Waters relies heavily on Floyd tunes for his show (only a small number of his solo tracks make the setlist), Gilmour divides it pretty evenly between his solo stuff (especially between Luck And Strange and Rattle That Lock, his most recent discs) and Floyd material. I am also pleased that he plays a number of tracks from the post-Waters Floyd albums A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and The Division Bell. Although I know there are Floyd purists who think of those albums as nothing more than glorified Gilmour solo stuff in disguise. Purists… sigh. The album starts off with a couple of instrumentals, “5 A.M.” and “Black Cat,” and I’ll admit I could just sit and listen to Gilmour play guitar all day. After a rousing version of “Luck And Strange,” we get our first taste of Floyd with the Dark Side Of The Moon tracks “Breathe” and “Time.” The Luck And Strange tunes really come alive in a concert setting, especially “The Piper’s Call.” Gilmour then goes all the way back to Atom Heart Mother for “Fat Old Sun,” which I did not remember and I suspect thrilled my old roommate Drew. Gilmour seems more willing to play those pre-Dark Side tunes than Waters. Alas, no “Arnold Layne” this time out. Gilmour then plays the instrumental “Marooned” from The Division Bell, and it’s one of my all time favorites. The guitar is so plaintive and sad. Gilmour’s playing is so distinctive – I don’t care if he’s playing on a song by Kate Bush, Pete Townshend or Paul McCartney – you know it’s him. I think “Marooned” won a grammy. It’s a true highlight. Other highlights include the title track from 1975‘s Wish You Were Here. “Wish You Were Here” may be my favorite Pink Floyd song (and album for that matter). After the instrumental “Vita Brevis,” which features his daughter Romany on harp, she takes lead vocals on “Between Two Points,” as she did on Luck And Strange. She’s not bad – I dig female lead singers, I just posted on both Chrissie Hynde and Patti Smith – but I could see skipping this track were it not for Gilmour’s guitar solo. To me, the emotional heart of this album are the two tracks that come in just under 10 minutes and just over ten minutes. “High Hopes” from The Division Bell is a stunner. We get a little guitar/piano coda that’s perfect. The next track is the epic rocker “Sorrow” from Momentary Lapse. It’s always been one of my favorite riffs and Gilmour turns it up to 11 here. He plays the solo like he’s mad at the guitar. It’s just spectacular. It’s one of those underrated amazing Floyd tunes. “In Any Tongue,” from Rattle That Lock, is probably my favorite Gilmour solo track. It’s an anti-war track about the damage done by warfare and when he sings, “I hear “Mama” sounds the same in any tongue,” if it doesn’t grab you there’s something wrong with you. All the back up singers take on “The Great Gig In The Sky,” which is great. There’s a great tribute section to Rick Wright, Pink Floyd keyboard player and close Gilmour friend, with “A Boat Lies Waiting,” (written about Wright) and then “Coming Back To Life,” which was originally sung by Wright on The Division Bell. “Dark And Velvet Nights” is another highlight. And of course, Gilmour ends with his signature guitar solo on “Comfortably Numb.” This may be the best live version of the song I’ve heard since Waters and Gilmour split. It’s always the perfect ender. This is a great live album, not only for Floyd/Gilmour fans but fans of electric guitar and rock n roll. It’s a shame this tour was a limited engagement but Gilmour has reached a stage of his career where he’s no longer chasing fame or fortune, he’s already attained all that. He’s playing for the sheer joy of playing. That comes through on his guitar. I have to say, he might be right about this being the best backing band he’s ever had. This one surprised me but it’s a must have for all you rock n rollers out there. Of course, we always had a saying back in high school, “Never trust a chick who likes Pink Floyd,” they’d likely break your heart. So you might listen to this while your wife is at the market. We’re clearly creeping up on the holidays, as there is a glut of great new stuff coming out for your Xmas stockings… I’m trying to keep up but with stuff like The Luck And Strange Concerts, I may be lingering over certain rock n roll for a bit… Cheers!

Review (Glide Magazine) : To celebrate his 2024 sold-out Luck and Strange tour, David Gilmour is releasing his third solo live album, titled The Luck and Strange Concerts. Gilmour was feeling reinvigorated this tour as he played the new album in its entirety, along with a host of his Pink Floyd classics. The live album offers up 23 songs captured from various dates throughout the brief tour, during which Gilmour played only 21 concerts in Rome, London, Los Angeles, and New York. The compilation release is designed exactly as the show was presented with the songs played in the same order. The album’s pristine audio is part of Gilmour and company’s appeal, as every note rings clear. Supporting Gilmour on this tour were Guy Pratt – bass, backing vocals, Greg Phillinganes – keyboards, backing vocals, Rob Gentry – keyboards, backing vocals, Ben Worsley – guitars, backing vocals, Adam Betts – drums, Romany Gilmour – backing vocals, harp and lead vocals, The Webb Sisters – backing vocals, Lousie Marshall – backing vocals, piano. The newer offerings fit in well with Gilmour’s well-worn classics. The instrumental “Black Cat” uses a spacey, languid groove that melts into the tour’s title track, with Gilmour poetically reflecting on the cosmos and strong backing vocals before going high with his singing and cutting guitar playing to close. “A Single Spark” uses another dreamy patented solo, Romany takes over lead vocals winningly for “Between Two Points” while “The Pipers Call” starts acoustic, ends rocking, and is the best of the new offerings. Gilmour uses the same trio of songs from the studio album, “Dark and Velvet Nights”, “Sing”, and “Scattered” as a finale on this live record (pre-encore), and they are unfortunately the dullest run of songs presented here. Most fans desire the classics, and efforts like “Breathe”, “Time”, and “Wish You Were Here” will all scratch that itch, as the crowd at times is louder than Gilmour and company, singing with gusto. Division Bell sees quite a few songs played, with the piano and guitar showcase “Marooned” solid as Gilmour’s solo soars, while “High Hopes” never fully comes alive, dragging throughout. However, the monstrous version of “A Great Day for Freedom” is a showstopper and a major highlight of this offering. The theatrical song starts sparse before choir vocals add grace and heft while Gilmour’s melodic playing, combined with Worsley’s inspired riffing, climbs to a huge, soaring, pristine climax. The encore of “Comfortably Numb” showcases Gilmour’s best-known and still vibrant playing, while a deconstructed “The Great Gig in the Sky” proves that Gilmour is willing to try new approaches. This version of “Sorrow” is also worth hearing as a pulsing electro undercurrent gives way to some meaty jamming. Fans of David Gilmour who couldn’t make the concerts, as well as those who attended the shows, will eagerly embrace this release as a great souvenir of this era of the legendary guitarist’s performances. For those less obsessed, The Luck and Strange Concerts is still a fine offering of a talented artist hitting a late career high, and while far from must own, it is a fun spin all around.