David Gilmour – Sorrow (Live from the Luck and Strange Concerts) Review

A mere coincidence to see veteran guitarist David Gilmour announce his live album just days before the release of Roger Waters’ work. Another incredible coincidence between the former Pink Floyd bandmates, whose separate live works are stunning examples of their ongoing instrumental skill and ear for new direction in their very best songs. Sorrow (Live from the Luck and Strange Concerts) brings on a compilation of live efforts for those unlucky enough not to have bagged tickets to Gilmour’s most recent tour. What a loss it seems to have been, as Sorrow, the lead single of this live album, is a magnificent example of the guitarist at his very best. A twenty-three-song selection is set for an October release, but Sorrow is enough to tide dedicated fans over until then. For those who did not make it to the Luck and Strange shows, the live album is likely the next best thing.  

Sorrow does what many of the Pink Floyd live albums couldn’t. A strength to the performance which comes from both the song and its adaptation to the stage, not one or the other. True to form, Gilmour and his touring band adapt the closing song of A Momentary Lapse of Reason, filling it with the instrumental flavour that Pink Floyd under Gilmour never could. It is timing that changes the song, not the breaks and pauses of a particular performance, but the length of time since its release. Anything can look better with a nostalgic gaze. For those who did not grow up with Pink Floyd, those who did not listen to Sorrow until their first encounter with a lesser Pink Floyd album, then you may as well start here. Live from the Luck and Strange Concerts offers a much-improved rendition of the album closer. It simply sounds better here than it does on A Momentary Lapse of Reason.  

Part of that is the continued quality Gilmour offers as a live draw, but another huge reason for Sorrow sounding better from the Luck and Strange tour is that there is time to develop the instrumentals. Gilmour has had decades to think about where he wants those guitar riffs to take him, and the result is astonishing. He walks the line between well-deserved guitar genius status and fret exploitation. He manages to move further away from the latter, though, because, unlike Brian Ma,y his guitar solos serve a purpose beyond self-satisfaction. What Sorrow (Live from the Luck and Strange Concerts) also captures is the energy of the live show. Pink Floyd were never quite as convincing in their live records as this, but that is more to do with the concept of the show overtaking the fundamentals of performance.  

Sorrow may go as far as to convince listeners to return to Pink Floyd and the live albums spawned from its members. Gilmour certainly gives us reason to head back into A Momentary Lapse of Reason, with this live version a convincing take on the track. The song has certainly softened over the decades, and now that its infidelities, its broken promises, are a backdrop rather than the present, the song finds itself highlighting a crucial change to Gilmour’s style of working. Gilmour is not a lyricist; he would be the first to admit so. Sorrow still works in broad strokes, but the emotional sum of its parts is far stronger here than it could ever hope to be in the studio. It is a song tailor-made for the stage, and Live from the Luck and Strange Concerts proves as much.