All the greats get to play the Royal Albert Hall. From Pixies and Pulp to Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello, some of the all-time greatest artists have performed there. David Gilmour has been a staple of the stage in Kensington too, and his Live at the Royal Albert Hall performance is a delight. It’s not an official release per se, but it is a worthy show and worth seeking out a copy. He would play the venue on a few occasions for the Luck and Strange tour and even had David Bowie show up to perform Arnold Layne in 2006. It would be Bowie’s final on-stage appearance and for Gilmour it’d be another notch on the performance tally. He is an artist who has maintained such a wonderful range on stage by being sparing with when he performs and how he plays. What he chooses for the setlist is a fascinating experience too, with many of Pink Floyd’s greatest oddities featured here.
Beyond the Bowie appearance here is an appreciation for every facet of Pink Floyd and Gilmour’s discography. The Royal Albert Hall stage is not a place for a big instrumental blowout, nor is it a place where special effects can be added. Where Pink Floyd albums, particularly during the greatest years of the band, are visually striking pieces that evoke some strong ideas, it’s not essential to the listening experience. As much can be heard here, a wonderful performance that opens with Breathe (In the Air) and sets a very high standard in doing so. A few flashing lights to indicate Time as the next track is thrown in too but nothing mesmerising, just a chance to weed out those with epilepsy by the looks of things. Easy it would’ve been to just dig into the safety of playing some of Pink Floyd’s all-time greatest songs, Gilmour has a few left-field choices and solo songs worthy of this stage. On an Island is a fantastic album and the title song too is a wonderful experience.
In fact, Gilmour features many of his solo album pieces in this set. Rightly so. He performs On an Island in full after settling the audience with a few Pink Floyd teases. He even brings out Graham Nash and David Crosby for On an Island and The Blue, two staggering additions to the songs. It’s an excellent album and for those with the time to appreciate it, listening to this live rendition is a real treat. Gilmour landed a truly special listening experience with On an Island and the delicacy given to songs like Then I Close My Eyes is spectacular. After all that though the Pink Floyd hits start flowing, and inevitably so. There’s an incredible cover of Find the Cost of Freedom with Crosby and Nash on hand to help Gilmour in the encore. But it’s High Hopes and Shine on You Crazy Diamond that’re the best of the bunch.
Instrumentally impressive work is not a surprise where Gilmour is concerned yet his ongoing, high standard in adapting these songs remains an impressive facet of his on-stage work. Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb are incredible songs, absolutely, but adapting them appropriately and still hitting that high bar and so consistently is extremely impressive. Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a spectacular occasion. It may be better known as Remember That Night but, considering only two songs from the show are available on certain streaming services, it’s better to hunt this performance down on YouTube. Or below. Just a staggering piece of work from Gilmour who clearly has a lot of love for his work with Pink Floyd. Rightly so. Infighting may have turned the mood of the band sour, but it doesn’t weaken or worsen their greatest hits, of which there’s many to choose from.
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