DAVID GILMOUR IN CONCERT DVD & VHS
(Click on picture to the left for a large version) On 23rd September, 'David Gilmour in Concert', the DVD and VHS, is released on Capitol Records. Filmed live at his critically acclaimed Meltdown Festival concert at London's Royal Festival Hall in June 2001, with additional footage from David Gilmour's three concerts at the same venue in January 2002. It also includes guest appearances from Rick Wright, Robert Wyatt and Sir Bob Geldof. The 130 minute DVD/VHS captures the magical performance given by David Gilmour and illustrates why these concerts won universal rave reviews. "David Gilmour in Concert" comprises 16 songs performed by Gilmour, his semi-acoustic band rich in talent and the exquisite gospel choir led by Sam Brown. The set is tantalising in its sheer diversity - from Pink Floyd classics such as Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb and High Hopes, to Syd Barrett's Terrapin and Dominoes as well as a performance of Je Crois Entendre Encore from Bizet's opera The Pearl Fishers which one critic described as an "unlikely triumph..." and a new song Smile.
Where did the idea for such a musical departure come from? Gilmour explains: "Robert Wyatt was the Meltdown Festival's curator for 2001. He rang and invited me to play and my immediate answer was "yes". While Robert was still on the phone, an idea came to me, God knows where from. I thought: just a double-bass, a cello and a small gospel choir. Then I put down the phone and started to panic..."
That initial panic led to Gilmour being credited in the Daily Telegraph, with inventing a "whole new genre....a sound that is warm, richly textured and genuinely different...ensemble music of the highest order." The Meltdown performance went so well, David Gilmour decided to come back to the Royal Festival Hall a few months later to perform the show three more times. As he explains, "It seemed rather daft putting that amount of effort into it for only one night. So I thought maybe I'd do it again for fun. Just for me really."
And now, with the release of "David Gilmour in Concert" on the 23rd September, the concert can be shared and enjoyed by many more.
The DVD will also feature more than thirty minutes of Special Features. These include home video footage of David Gilmour rehearsing at home with the choir, six guitar solos in "close-up" so that guitar enthusiasts can watch him play his solos in detail and there are three bonus songs recorded at other times.
- Technical Specifications, Track listing and DVD extras
The entire concert performance is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and 24-bit stereo LPCM.
Total running time is approximately 130 minutes.
Track listing:
1. Shine on You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5
2. Terrapin
3. Fat Old Sun
4. Coming Back To Life
5. High Hopes
6. Je Crois Entendre Encore
7. Smile
8. Wish You Were Here
9. Comfortably Numb
10. Dimming of the Day
11. Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 6-8
12. A Great Day for Freedom
13. Hushabye Mountain
14. Dominoes
15. Breakthrough
16. Comfortably Numb
The band consists of the following acclaimed and respected musicians:
Michael Kamen - piano and cor anglais
Chucho Merchan - double bass
Caroline Dale - cello
Dick Parry - saxophone
Neill MacColl - acoustic guitar
Nic France - percussion
Gospel Choir led by Sam Brown
DVD Extras:
Home Movie - This mini DV footage shows David in his home studio rehearsing with the gospel choir.
High Hopes - choral version performed by the choir at the Royal Festival Hall.
Lyric Sheets - lyrics for all of the songs performed in the concert.
Spare Digits - six guitar solos from the main performance focusing on David's fingers, showing in detail his famed soloing. "For all the guitar anoraks out there who want to follow my fat little fingers at work," says Gilmour.
Miscellaneous - Three bonus songs recorded and shot at various different times: Don't, I Put A Spell On You, and Shakespeare's Sonnet 18.
PRESS QUOTES
"David Gilmour seems to have invented a whole new genre. Best described as chamber rock, it's a form of music that uses predominantly acoustic instruments and vocal harmonies to create a sound that is warm, richly textured and genuinely different... ensemble music of the highest order."
David Cheal, The Daily Telegraph
"Rendered in stark fashion, Atom Heart Mother's Fat Old Sun is revealed as a fantastic song, rich with melody."
David Cheal, The Daily Telegraph
"Just like Pink Floyd at their best, with all the intricacy and maturity and none of the pomposity"
Tim de Lisle, Mail On Sunday
"One unlikely triumph is an aria from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, Je crois entendre encore, in which Gilmour's tenor is buoyed to unexpected heights by the cello of Caroline Dale."
John Bungey, The Times
"Reinvented rock god shines on as 21st Century folk hero"
John Bungey, The Times
"Seconds later, he's proving that the liquid bends of Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part 1 can translate from electric to acoustic guitar quite beautifully. The speech bubble above our heads reads: "We are not worthy." "
James McNair, Mojo
"It's almost as though the notes of Comfortably Numb's guitar solo are his tear-ducts, his blues roots meaning all they should and more."
James McNair, Mojo
"More challenging than anything Pink Floyd have done in decades."
Alexis Petridis, The Guardian
"An evening of music that effortlessly veers from bombast to modesty and back again."
Grant Moon, Classic Rock
"This was never going to be a Pink Floyd greatest hits package (much to the chagrin of some), but the end result was far more satisfying, and very, very entertaining."
AB, Making Music
"Beautifully performed and extremely diverse, the set was based on personal choice rather than any desire to quench the audience's thirst for Pink Floyd's back catalogue."
Christopher Barrett, Billboard
"The most popular moments included a new track Smile and old Floyd favourites Wish You Were Here, High Hopes and Comfortably Numb (on which Wyatt provided the vocals to the verses despite not making it on to the stage)."
Christopher Barrett, Billboard