CCH Hamburg

Ticket scan - thanks to Berkhan Sezen

Concert starts: 8pm

Address of venue: Tiergartenstrasse 2, 20355 Hamburg. MAP

Website: www.hamburg-messe.de

Another acclaimed show, with a set list unchanged from the previous evening. Bad weather threatened to spoil attendance, but we've had few reports of problems on the night. Two shows down, and the band sound to be getting into their stride. A few days break before they arrive in Paris for two shows...

PRESS REVIEW/INTERVIEW

In Der Spiegel, 20 March 2006. Translated by Ulrike for Brain Damage

Pink Floyd is history since some time ago. But ex-band leader David Gilmour is reviving the legend with his new solo album and a tour.

In his dressing room, which looks like a sobering cell with a few bits of camping furniture, David Gilmour is sitting on a worn plastic seat and is stroking his grey stubble. In 2 hours he is due to be on the stage of the Hamburg Congress Center, wondering wether it´s worth shaving. "In former times it´s been totally irrelevant, as I´ve been performing with Pink Floyd only in stadiums, most people only could see me with binoculars anyway. But on this tour I´m much closer to the audience. That could get embarrassing. So away with the stubble."

For more than 30 years Gilmour has been in the business of the superlatives, so at first he has to get used to be thinking in smaller dimensions. Whilst enthusing over 50,000 persons in former times at once in a kind of surreal atmosphere, now he is looking for the challenge of a smaller audience.

The singer and guitarist of Pink Floyd is performing his just released new solo album "On an Island" at venues, providing with some kind of intimacy of an audience of some thousands. That didn´t hurt the success of the record at all, it is following the path of the commercial triumphs of Pink Floyd. Anyhow, the album is number one in the English charts and is also in a remarkable third place in Germany.

The reason for that is plain and simple: Gilmour´s album is sounding like Pink Floyd, and even more so than in the last works of the band. So the music with rakish guitar solos and soft electrowaves is a reminder of the dreamy bestsellers of the 70s like "Wish you were here", however without achieving their class.

Only in the firt half of his concert Gilmour is performing exclusively his new songs, in the 2nd part he is fulfilling the anticipations of his fans with a bunch of old Pink Floyd hits like "Shine on You Crazy Diamond"; "Echoes" and "Comfortably Numb".

The popularity of Pink Floyd is going on unharmed. The release of their last album is over 10 years ago, but classics like "The Wall" or "The Dark Side of the Moon" are still best sellers.

The short reunion of the band for Bob Geldof's international "Live 8" spectacle in London was seen as its highlight, and can be seen as a sophisticated preparation for Gilmour´s new work. Also the former band member Roger Waters wants to benefit from this revived popularity, and will be performing in Europe together with his own band next sumner. Why not then presenting the whole circus with the name Pink Floyd from the get go? "The burdon of the label is too powerful" David Gilmour says. "As David Gilmour I´m enjoying more freedom".

But obviously that isn´t enough for a new creative sound, also with his new solo album David Gilmour is staying consistent with this old style. "I´ve been singing on almost all of the records and have been shaping the sound of the band significantly. Why should I reinvent something new at my age?" the singer is stating. Over is over, that is Gilmour´s motto, a continuation of the pink floyd history is out of the question for him. And with him belonging to the 500 most wealthy Brits, even offers of millions aren´t alluring him to any reunion of the legendary band.

And the decision abut the fate of Pink Floyd is lying in his hands only. Since the leaving of Roger Waters 2 decades ago, Gilmour is the sole boss of the most successful rockband of music history ever. And this position had been the cause for a bitter dispute between him and Waters, regarding the name of the band as well as injured conceitnedness. For quite some time both of them have been only communicating via lawyers. Gilmour won the dispute, and Waters allegedly tried to comfort himself by looking for revenge by producing toilet paper, with the face of his ex-partner printed on.

So it´s been really quite a happening as both of them exceptionally met for Live 8. By that, the concert did not only help to improve solidarity amongst nations, but also human relationships. Since then both of them aren´t arguing any more, however they didn´t become friends again. "Relationships are ending at sometime. That´s only natural" Gilmour says. "Two bossy human beings don´t fit together in the long run."

That is coming across conciliatory and senior leniency. After touring Europe, Gilmour will be retireing to his land house or to his house boat on the Thames. He fathered 8 kids with 2 women, and for some time they are more important to him than any new songs or old hits. Actually, Pop is only a nice hobby for him. "I´m going to my home studio from time to time, but at 5pm at the latest it´s over. Then I have to be controlling the homework or caring for dinner".

Most certainly he will be shaving accurately for this small, private audience.

SHOW REVIEWS

By Erling

Hamburg... a splendid night!

Part one of the show was the new album complete. In my opinion only a few artists are able to perform the music live, better than the studio version - with less possibilities to mix, remove, sample - but David can. On An Island (the album) was given minor twists and a bit "harder" guitar - and that worked. Specially "Take a breath" was actually breathtaking - best sound and lights in the first half.

Second half... uhh... what a deal...

Opening with "shine on" in a special edition with the usual opening and the usual guitars - but the lyrics being performed closer to the Meltdown concert - very quiet, nice and beautiful - I would have come here just for this song.

"Wots... Uh the deal" a lovely song which really is somewhat actual - "and I think I’m growing old" (Happy 60th, David!)

Richard singing "his" song "Wearing The Inside Out" gave a feeling of a bar filled with smoke in the middle of the night - one of the new crooners.

Time and Breathe are always welcome, but the end was really exceptional.

"High hopes" were carried out from an acoustic guitar from David which just got lower and lower - with total silence in the CCH, making it extra enjoyable - just sheer beauty.

Echoes.... HIGHLIGHT.... Sound, number and lightshow were the best I've seen and heard since 1994 (PULSE). I would like to describe how mirrors in the lightshow were used to illustrate a visual echo - but it's getting to hard to describe - but just go there - it's worth every Euro.

Only two small things were irritating - during the show one of the right speakers did scratch from time to time when the guitar were played loud.

And... when we sang your birthday song, David, you answered in German... BUT WE ARE DANES :-) - when you don't come to us, we come to you.

Thanks for a memorable night. Even though the speaker disturbed 3-4 times I'll rate it 6 stars.

Show review by Matthias Sturner

Having not yet listened to On An Island before the show, its live rendition was quite an interesting experience for me - kind of like seeing Pink Floyd performing Dark Side in 1972 before its release. While On An Island can't be compared to Dark Side, I was rather surprised by the beauty of some of the songs. Some less than favourable reviews had already been published, so I was quite positively impressed. Especially the title track, but also pieces like Where We Start already shine upon first listening.

Having also avoided checking out the setlist of the Dortmund show beforehand, I was completely unaware of the treat to come at the end of the second set. Getting to listen to a complete live rendition of Echoes, delivered by Gilmour and Wright themselves, is something I would never have expected in my wildest dreams. But it really happened last Saturday and I still cannot believe my eyes and ears. Thanks a lot, guys! During these 20 minutes one could sense the power and atmosphere of a Pink Floyd show of the early 70s. The rest of the show paled against this masterpiece.

Wots...Uh The Deal was another very nice surprise and I tremendously enjoyed this song. Wearing The Inside Out was always my favourite on The Division Bell and it was performed extremely well by Wright.

The whole band played well and it was interesting to see them also playing instruments other from their standard ones from time to time, e.g. Gilmour on saxophone, Pratt on guitar or Carin on slide guitar.

The light show was very good and tasteful, but this is the standard of a rock concert these days and something you can expect with such high ticket prices. So no surprises there.

Some minor complaints:
What's so wrong with the second drum intro of Echoes before the vocals start? It was also left out in the few performances during the 1987 Momentary Lapse tour.

Dominoes was quite out of place in the second set. It should have been played during the first set. Also, Phil Manzanera should think of something better to play there - what he played didn't make any sense.

Even though the fact Gilmour chose to perform all of On An Island shows his pride in this album, I would have prefered if he left out some of the weaker numbers - A Pocketful Of Stones comes to mind - and played something from his other solo albums instead. I could also imagine how terribly well a number like A Pillow Of Winds would fit into the first set (or Dominoes, see above).

The new arrangement of Shine On is a very brave one. It did not seem to flow, though, but maybe I will get used to it.

There were generally some moments here and there where it became obvious that this was only the second show - the funniest one when Gilmour had forgotten to switch on his slide guitar during Wot's...Uh The Deal.

The final solo of Comfortably Numb was very short, even shorter than the Live8 version. Maybe Gilmour was distracted by the many people rushing to the stage at the end of the show? He did not seem to get into it and stopped it before it really had started.

Anyway, I'm still on Cloud 9 after this show and can't wait for my next one in Frankfurt!

Show review by Jens Libach

See my comments for the Dortmund concert - most of them apply. These are additional comments about the Hamburg show.

The venue was even better than the one in Dortmund. The seating was better and the acoustics were also a bit better. You could pick up details in the sound effects more easily than on the Dortmund show.

Many mistakes were made this night. You noticed but it didn't do anything bad to it, just added to the experience. Gilmour forgot to press pedals, he and also Rick were wrong on Echoes lyrics again. Dick Parry forgot to enter on Then I Close My Eyes, and the intro to Breathe was wrong. Guy Pratt made mistakes on High Hopes.

Show review by Chris McKay

From the first note of Castellorizon to the fade-out of Where We Start, it was breathtaking. Take A Breath was probably the highlight, excellent lights (which rivaled if not beat the 94 tour's set up). Smile and Where We Start were quite emotional and moving. The Blue was excellent, and David played an amazing sax on Red Sky at Night. The band seemed to be having a blast, and cracked hilarious smiles when they made a mistake.

Funniest part of the first half:
After Red Sky at Night, David addressed the crowd. While he was doing this, the crowd sang David happy birthday and Jon plunked the tune out on his keyboard. Afterwards David said, "ausgezeichnet" which in German means, excellent. He then said, "thank you, it feels good to be 60."

Second half: What can I say? It was breathtaking. The bluesy version of Shine On was fantastic. Hearing Wots...uh the Deal live, and Wearing the Inside Out live for the first time was fantastic. Rick did an excellent job singing lead vocals, sounded like the album version. Dominoes was great, a beautiful tribute to Syd. Breathe, Time, and Breathe (reprise) sounded basically like the album, but nothing compares to seeing it live. High Hopes was brilliant...it was interesting how Jon sang the last line instead of having a Gilmour recording like the 94 tour.

And of course Echoes blew my socks off. The lighting was best in show, and was probably the highlight of the entire performance. All 22 minutes of it were played. It reminded me alot of the Pompeii version, except no "animal" at the drums. David was having fun on this one, and it brought me to tears. Simply phenomenal. Wish You Were Here was another tear-jerker...but simply amazing. Comfortably Numb was as it always is, "genius." Simply lovely.

Funniest parts of the second half:
After Shine On, David grabbed his guitar for Wots...uh the Deal...and somebody from the crowd yelled, "Wish You Were Here!" David looked at the crowd, shrugged his shoulders and said, "well, we are..."

During Wearing the Inside Out David turned the wrong way to get to his lap steel guitar, which made him, Jon, and Rick all crack up. David smirked and gave the finger to Jon, and did a little dance before his solo.

Rick Wright missed his cue by about 1/8th note because he was setting his sheet music on his organ, but needed to be at his keyboard. He and Jon gave each other a quick smile after that.

During Wots...uh the Deal...both Phil and Guy played the wrong chord on the chorus...which got a laugh out of them and David.

And finally after Wish You Were Here, David looked at his watch and said, "ok...we have time for one more...any requests??" ...He of course played Comfortably Numb.

I loved the show, well worth the price for seeing the best concert/event ever. Life changing. I would do it again in a second...

Show review by Thomas Larsen and his four friends from Kalundborg!

We went to our hotel close to the gig, five persons from Denmark who went to Hamburg in a nice car. We were listen all the way to the new CD "On a Island" by David Gilmour and we were really looking forward to this evening which was yet to come.

We went to a nice nice Italian restaurant five minutes from the venue. When it was 7pm we walked to the venue, people were relaxed and to my suprise, many people stood there and they were selling tickets.

We found our seats close to the stage and we were just so excited about everything.

Suddenly at around 8pm the light went down and the first sounds of the album "On a Island" began. The acoustics in this venue were fantastic. You could hear every little sound and I really loved it.

From the first half: The Blue is one of the best tracks on the album and live you aren't disappointed. Before the gig, I wasn't happy with Take A Breath but now I love it. Live, there is so much power in this track. Red Sky at Night: Gilmour surprised me. I really didn't think he would play on the sax but he did and what a sound. It was awesome.

After he played Smile, there was a silence, my friend suddenly stood up and shouted "Happy birthday David". He was very very surprised, smiled and said "oohh, thank you, it was nice to say. it is nice to be 60..." And then other people went on to sing "happy birthday to you....." He seemed a little confused.

From the second half: Wot's Uh... The Deal. I just think it was fantastic after all these years to hear a track from "obscured by clouds". There were some problems with the sound but they went on and they played it so beautiful.

Echoes. Ok, this track...what can I say. A surprise. They played it just awesome. For me the highlight of this show. I could feel how it was in the 70'...when they played this live. There was so much power and energy and I was so proud to be there and have the chance to listen to it.

Everybody who is going to see Mr. Gilmour and Mr. Wright with the band - something big is waiting for you.....