David Gilmour – Wish You Were Here (Live from the Luck and Strange Concerts) Review

Certain songs have a magic to them that sticks around regardless of when or where they’re performed. Wish You Were Here is one such song. It could be a bootlegged Pink Floyd show or this, an official release from David Gilmour on the Luck and Strange tour, and the song still holds its magic. With fifty years of history behind it and an anniversary coming up for the album of the same name, it felt inevitable that the hit Pink Floyd track would feature on Live from the Luck and Strange Concerts. So far, Gilmour has been keen to profile his solo work with this release. Rightly so. He did so with Live in Gdansk when he performed On an Island in full, and the Luck and Strange-centric concert singles have been, up to this point, built on the strengths of Gilmour’s recent album. He was bound to push out a classic ripped from these shows. Roger Waters did much the same with This is Not a Drill earlier this year.

Never is it clearer what each ex-Pink Floyd member offers with their solo shows than comparing this Wish You Were Here rendition to the classics in Waters’ live album. Waters may not perform Wish You Were Here but his focus on The Wall and hits from The Dark Side of the Moon offers more of a social commentary than anything else. Wish You Were Here remains a love letter to Syd Barrett, but with Gilmour leading the song decades on from its release, it takes on a new form. It’s a ballad-like experience, a song for those no longer with us. Easy it may be to make such a comment, a still staggering vocal performance from Gilmour keeps Wish You Were Here alive and emotionally volatile. A song which simply gets better with age. That fractured touch of an older voice singing songs of the past, it’s inevitably touching. This’ll satisfy a bulk of Pink Floyd fans.  

For those wanting more, it means turning to the delicate instrumentals paired with this rendition of Wish You Were Here. A triumphant, softer-sounding version of a classic is what listeners have here. A recognisable acoustic lead instrumental but with some excellent percussion and a few flourishing piano moments added in for good measure. It’s a delightful alternative to what is already available. Add in the crowd singing along to a classic, and it makes for a warm moment from the Luck and Strange Concerts. That is what was missing from the contemporary material released previously. That’s neither the fault of an audience or artist, but just a fact of what happens when you throw new songs into the mix. What must have been an inevitable delight for attendees translates to home listening rather well.  

None of the live versions can quite capture the magic of the studio but Gilmour must be commended for continuing to find new routes through an old classic. He, like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, is at the forefront of trialling fresh ideas on these all-time greats. Rare it may be to see a flash of breathtaking brilliance, it’s incredible to hear it trialled all the same. A beautiful rendition with the essentials kept in place. Those additions are a lovely mix, and the crowd singing along is a nice touch. Luck and Strange Concerts feels as though it’s catering to those who were at the shows, rather than those who missed out. Relive the highlights of what was no doubt a great tour from Gilmour. Those who weren’t there can sit and grumble as they relive the memories of other people through some clean live recordings.