Photos and review by ALYSON CAMUS
LOS ANGELES – A rock legend, a laser show, and a state-of-the-art arena – just an ordinary Friday night in Los Angeles, right?
Morning TV talk shows warned us about the potential traffic nightmare, with sports and cultural events happening citywide. But nothing could stop the 18,000 fans who packed the Intuit Dome for the first stop of David Gilmour’s Luck and Strange tour in LA.
It was Hollywood Bowl and on to Madison Square Garden in New York for five shows starting Nov. 4.
These will be the only dates of his brief US tour. At 78, this might be his last – or one of his last – tours, making it feel all the more special to be in the audience for one of this guitar hero’s rare performances.
It didn’t feel like the end of a career though. The tour promotes his first solo album since 2015, “Luck and Strange,” but the set was a blend of his solo material – including many tracks from “Luck and Strange” – and selections from Pink Floyd’s monumental catalog, aiming for a careful balance between legacy and new material. While Roger Waters was Pink Floyd’s primary songwriter, it was David Gilmour who sang many of their songs and defined the band’s sound with his unmistakable guitar work.
When the show started, slightly delayed likely due to the citywide traffic jam, the entire arena went dark, and all eyes turned to the single bright white light on Gilmour and his guitar. You could almost recognize his sound from the very first note, that distinctive tone pierced the darkness of the Intuit Dome, captivating everyone’s attention. The crowd was diverse and while the Gen X and Boomers were well represented, I noticed plenty of younger fans, new admirers joining the ranks of those who have admired Gilmour and his work with Pink Floyd for decades.
His guitar blazed like a bright wildfire in the dark and for those first few minutes, it was all we could see. Gilmour poured intensity into the experimental guitar lines of his opening songs, beginning with the hypnotic instrumental “5 a.m.” – the first of three tracks from 2015’s “Rattle That Lock”– followed by “Black Cat” and the album’s title track of “Luck and Strange.”
Soon, the stage lights revealed his excellent supporting band: bassist Guy Pratt; keyboardists Greg Phillinganes and Rob Gentry; drummer Adam Betts; guitarist Ben Worsley; and vocalists-instrumentalists Louise Marshall, the Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley Webb), and Romany Gilmour, his youngest daughter.
Beyond Gilmour’s almighty guitar, the powerful backup vocals were a commanding force throughout the show, with Gilmour and Worsley sharing several beautifully intricate guitar interplay moments. It was truly a show for guitar lovers, a full-scale arena rock experience that might have made you nostalgic for the ‘70s and their rock ‘n’ roll glory.
These first songs felt like a warm-up for what was to come, as many Pink Floyd fans might not have been overly familiar with the new material. But the crowd erupted at the first notes of two beloved tracks from “The Dark Side of the Moon”: “Breathe (In the Air)” and “Time.” How could you not please any fan with these? The visuals during “Time” were spectacular, with the screen behind the stage displaying either song-inspired imagery or close-ups of Gilmour and the band—an especially welcome feature in a venue of this size.
Often shrouded in theatrical smoke and surrounded by a spectacular light show, the band radiated a majestic energy. “Fat Old Sun” – from the often underrated “Atom Heart Mother– might be considered a Pink Floyd deep cut, but its performance was fantastic, with a soaring guitar solo that grew like a monster
The instrumental “Marooned” – from Pink Floyd’s “The Division Bell” — followed with another piercing, tour-de-force guitar solo, proving that Gilmour wasn’t content to stick to Pink Floyd’s greatest hits alone.
Though decades have passed since these albums were released, the sounds and melodies remain timeless, and David Gilmour’s powerful guitar skills shone from start to finish. He may have missed a few vocal notes, but his weathered voice resonated with strength, rising above his biting, piercing guitar.
After a superb performance of “Wish You Were Here,” with Gilmour’s vocals going strong over the intricate work, his daughter Romany took the lead vocal and played a Celtic harp during his cover of the Montgolfier Brothers’ cult classic “Between Two Points.” Her voice was youthful and clear, and she mesmerized the crowd with a moving, folksy, and more feminine moment. The first set closed “High Hopes,” from “The Division Bell” album, as giant white balls seemed to appear out of nowhere, bouncing through the delighted crowd.
A 20-minute break gave the band a chance to recharge, but they returned with an even more epic second set. The colossal “Sorrow” from Pink Floyd’s 1987 album “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” opened the set, followed by a rich collection of tracks. Without making a difference between old and new material, the band mixed intriguing solo material (“The Piper’s Call,” “In Any Tongue,” etc.) with solid, though often-overlooked Pink Floyd songs (“A Great Day for Freedom,” “Coming Back to Life”).
Tracks from Pink Floyd’s first two post-Roger-Waters albums – “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” and “The Division Bell” sounded as strong and powerful as their celebrated ‘70s work, and, for the most part, the arrangements stayed true to the studio versions, enhanced with some extra flourishes.
One exception to the original arrangements came with one of Pink Floyd’s most beloved tracks, “The Great Gig in the Sky” from “The Dark Side of The Moon.” The four female vocalists harmonized beautifully through the number, creating a more contemporary four-part arrangement – lovely and interesting, though distinctly different from Clare Torry’s soaring operatic vocals on the original.
After the lovely and peaceful “A Boat Lies Waiting,” especially rich in vocal harmonies over keys, Gilmour dedicated “Coming Back to Life” to his wife, Polly Samson: “Now it’s time for a song that I wrote for and about my wife, lover, partner Polly Samson who has done so much for this album, for this tour, for everything that I do, so this one’s for her!”
In an underwhelming way, the second set closed with three consecutive tracks from “Luck and Strange” – “Dark and Velvet Nights,” “Sings” and “Scattered” – but the audience knew the band would return for more Pink Floyd material. The encore did not disappoint, delivering an incredible rendition of « Comfortably Numb” from “The Wall,” with a stunning laser show, something I had seen for some time. The crowd was dancing and singing, completely captivated by the spectacle.
All night, the sound was big and immersive in the best way, with the guitars dominating with incredible fluidity, while the all-woman choir, keys, and piano filled the space beautifully. Though Gilmour didn’t say much beyond a few thank-yous and introductions, he was visibly delighted to be there. Letting the music speak for itself, he treated us to an incredible array of epic, rapturous, and goosebump-inducing guitar solos, and, after many standing ovations, the crowd left happy and fulfilled.
Setlist
Set 1:
5 A.M.
Black Cat
Luck and Strange
Breathe (In the Air)
Time
Breathe (Reprise)
Fat Old Sun
Marooned
A Single Spark
Wish You Were Here
Vita Brevis
Between Two Points (The Montgolfier Brothers cover)
High Hopes
Set 2:
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
Encore:
Comfortably Numb
