Live Review: David Gilmour at Madison Square Garden • New York, NY
David Gilmour
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Sunday, November 10, 2024
Review by Jeff Elbel. Photos by Gavin Elder and Elena Bello.
The September release of David Gilmour’s adventurous solo album Luck and Strange was a welcome surprise for fans. At 78 and known to be happy surrounded by family and tinkering in his studio at home, the Pink Floyd guitarist wasn’t expected to make a wide-ranging tour behind the album. Multiple-night stands totaling 21 dates have nonetheless been performed in Rome, London, and Los Angeles, capped by five shows in New York City. As these are the only concerts Gilmour has announced to support the album, emotions were high for the final concert on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Gilmour first played at the storied venue in 1977 during Pink Floyd’s In the Flesh tour for the Animals album.
The audience roared at the beginning note of the opening song “5 A.M.” from the 2015 album Rattle That Lock. With a pealing, mournful sound, the single high note bent skyward and traveled through the hall. It was instantly recognizable. Other celebrated guitarists can play more notes, but Gilmour’s blues-infused and lyrical phrasing remains enviable and exemplary in conveying emotion and conversational tone. The guitarist stood at center stage, bathed in red light, wearing his standard uniform of black t-shirt and black pants. Ben Worsley’s acoustic arpeggios and understated synthesizer strings accompanied his meticulously phrased melody. Next came the brief “Black Cat,” an instrumental from Luck and Strange named for the Fender Stratocaster Gilmour frequently used during the concert. Songs from the reflective album were distributed throughout the set list, forming the show’s skeleton and setting the contemplative tone.
The sights and sounds erupted into colorful life with the loping boogie and bluesy title track “Luck and Strange,” built in the studio around a jam track recorded in 2007 with late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright. “It was a high time, to be sure,” sang Gilmour of younger days, embodying the nostalgia in partner Polly Samson’s lyric. The sentiment was accompanied by the wish that such a “peaceful golden age” would not be a “one-off.” Gilmour’s vocal phrases sparred with Worsley’s sly and fluid guitar licks, preparing the way for Gilmour’s mesmerizing guitar solo at the song’s conclusion.
Gilmour has earned admiration for his expressive and reedy tenor vocals, displayed with still-supple falsetto scatting in the coda to “Wish You Were Here.” However, most in attendance clearly came to hear a master craftsman on his best-known instrument. The venue was heavily populated by studious acolytes with reverence for Gilmour’s tone and touch on the electric guitar. Although the setlist differed from prior tours like the supporting runs for On an Island and Rattle That Lock by avoiding an epic like “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” the comparatively focused fare from Luck and Strange included ample opportunity for Gilmour to stretch into expressive solos with subtle improvisations.
The audience’s receptive and respectful welcome for the recent solo fare gave way to euphoria at the opening notes of “Breathe” from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Gilmour’s languid strums and flanged chords intertwined with Worsley’s woozy lap steel guitar. The Garden echoed with voices from the crowd, singing in unison with Gilmour. Another ovation arose as the sound of clock alarms heralded the deep funk of “Time.” The song featured shimmering harmonies from Louise Marshall, the Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley), and Gilmour’s 22-year-old daughter Romany. Vintage animation clips from the original Dark Side of the Moon tour played on the large cyclorama screen behind the band.
Atom Heart Mother standout “Fat Old Sun” was the deepest cut pulled from the Pink Floyd catalog. The song’s pastoral verses gave way to Gilmour’s rapturous solo performed on a weather-beaten Fender Telecaster. Familiar and improvisational figures formed an intoxicating sound that would have sent any jam band fan into a state of bliss. Abandoning their electric instruments, Worsley and Gilmour played intertwining acoustic guitars for a magical version of “Wish You Were Here” that created the evening’s peak instance of audience participation via the combined choir of voices throughout Madison Square Garden.
“Time” may have lamented the boredom of wasted moments, but Luck and Strange track “A Single Spark” laid bare the idea that every second is a treasure. “Isn’t it true that it’s all through in a single spark between two eternities,” sang Gilmour. The song peaked with cinematic strings and another excursion on guitar that was swooning and sublime.
“Vita Brevis” was a fleeting duet between Romany Gilmour’s harp and David Gilmour’s slide guitar. The younger Gilmour sang lead vocal and played the harp again on Luck and Strange track “Between Two Points,” a wry and rueful song originally by little-known but compelling British indie-pop duo the Montgolfier Brothers. “Stopped hoping at an early age,” sang Romany in the song’s expression of despair with a paradoxically inviting melody. Following the vocal section, David Gilmour’s weeping guitar continued the story.
The band’s first set concluded with the wistful backward glance toward youthful potential “High Hopes,” accompanied by a Hipgnosis video from Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell tour. As large white balloons emblazoned with the Pink Floyd logo spilled in slow motion from the back of a van onscreen, the same appeared from the side of the stage and drifted through the hall to be batted by the crowd. Gilmour’s lap steel solo faltered a bit but maintained the optimistic mood of the song’s outro section.
On that last point, Gilmour’s performance was exceptional without being wholly flawless. The rare bum note here or there was actually reassuring in a way. With his reputation for precision and rarely rivaled technique, minuscule flaws in the top line above the band’s finely tuned arrangements suggested that Gilmour was not only human but still engaged with his music and trying for fresh nuances in any given moment, rather than playing strictly by rote. More importantly, Gilmour and his nine-piece group performed with evident joy and connection. The guitarist didn’t say much but expressed warm thanks to the audience and his group. “They’re the best band I’ve ever had and a lovely bunch of people,” he said, also praising those working behind the scenes on sound and lights.
Set two began with the dramatic “Sorrow” from A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Gilmour played long, foreboding notes with a deep, growling tone and stood backlit by dazzling lasers. As Adam Betts launched the song’s sturdy drumbeat, longtime bassist Guy Pratt and Romany Gilmour stepped in time. Billowing fog drifted into the room, punctuated by slashing lasers that danced against the back of the hall.
Father and daughter sang in intimate harmony during the gentle warnings and life lessons of “The Piper’s Call.” Side by side, the pair shared affectionate glances and grins. On the large screen, Romany appeared every bit as her father’s daughter and the spitting image of his younger photos.
Gilmour and Worsley traded soaring leads atop Betts’ majestic cadence for “A Great Day for Freedom.” The song featured stirring choral vocals and grand symphonic sounds from keyboardists Greg Phillinganes and Rob Gentry. The set continued with its most overtly political statement, the heartbreaking “In Any Tongue.” An impressionistic animated video played behind the band depicting fear, loss, and anguish for both invader and invaded due to war in a Middle East village.
The political messages may have been amplified and driven home if “Us and Them” had been included in the setlist, but the nearly 150-minute performance left little room for actual complaint. Furthermore, the lineup included no saxophonist to complete the arrangements of chestnuts like “Us and Them” or “Money.”
Marshall sat at a grand piano while the Webb Sisters and Romany Gilmour gathered around with candelabra to trade the wordless vocals for Dark Side of the Moon centerpiece “The Great Gig in the Sky.” Pratt moved to upright acoustic bass while David Gilmour accompanied on weeping lap steel. The performance traded the ecstatic bombast of the recorded version for a simmering intensity.
Originally offered in memory of Wright, the harmony-laden “A Boat Lies Waiting” was rich, loving, and sad. The farewell song’s thoughts on mortality were amplified among the material from Luck and Strange. “I’m rowing right behind you,” sang Gilmour in memory of his departed friend.
The heady “Dark and Velvet Nights” was the evening’s most hot-blooded offering, musing upon the arc of romance and the committed life of a couple in love. The amorous lyric was a poem by Samson gifted to Gilmour for a recent anniversary. With its gentle Laurel Canyon vibe and Worsley’s Spanish guitar, “Sings” was a more meditative view on the topic. “Darling, turn back the clock,” sang Gilmour in a song of gratitude for years of trust and security together. The video showed Gilmour in happy times with his children as toddlers at home. The song finished with Guy Pratt’s burbling figure on bass.
The main set ended with Luck and Strange closer “Scattered,” a final reflection on mortality and the passage of time. “These darkening days flow like honey,” sang Gilmour. “Time is a tide that disobeys, and it disobeys me,” he added before an epic solo in the vein of “Comfortably Numb.”
Every seat was emptied as fans rose to their feet for a riveting encore of “Comfortably Numb” from Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Gilmour’s epic solo at the song’s conclusion sent the audience into the streets of Manhattan with starry eyes and goosebumps. Band members shared fond embraces before leaving the stage, and Pratt threw guitar picks to lucky fans near the front of the crowd.
This last Luck and Strange concert may have served to underscore a life in music that has remained consistently passionate and soulful. However, Gilmour offered some hope for more. “Good night,” he had said before leaving the stage ahead of the encore. “We’ll see you one of these days again, with a little luck.”
Category: Featured, Live Reviews
