Concert starts: 7:30pm
|
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester |
|
Address of venue: Lower Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3WS. MAP
Website: www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk
SET LIST
FIRST HALF: Breathe/Time/Breathe
Reprise, Castellorizon, On An Island (w/Crosby & Nash), The Blue
(w/Crosby & Nash), Red Sky At Night, This Heaven, Then I Close My
Eyes, Smile, Take A Breath, A Pocketful Of Stones, Where We Start.
SECOND HALF: Shine
On You Crazy Diamond (w/Crosby & Nash), Wearing The Inside Out, Fat
Old Sun, Arnold Layne, Coming Back To Life, High Hopes, Echoes.
ENCORE: Wish You Were Here, Find The Cost Of Freedom (w/Crosby & Nash - one of their songs), Comfortably Numb. |
COMMENTS
Well, David's tour has now
reached the UK, and the first of five nights was met with much acclaim,
going by initial reports. Special guests, which we are presuming will
be with them for all five UK shows, and a set list which brought few
surprises to those who have been following the tour.
Next stop is Glasgow, in Scotland
- a country that David has not played in since 1974, when Pink Floyd
visited the Usher Hall in Edinburgh...
SHOW REVIEW
By BD contributor, Dave M
It was everything I hoped it
would be sound wise but the lighting blew me away. It's a long long
time since I've seen lighting so sympathetic to the music.
Right from the opening sound
effects tape intro to Breathe, to the closing Comfortably Numb 2 hours
and 40 minutes later, my jaw was metaphorically on the floor with
amazement. And trust me I've seen a gig or two in my life.
The first half, apart from
Breathe / Time / Breathe Reprise was the entire On An Island album. I
really like the record but live it takes on a massive life of its own
when given the room to breathe (pun not intended).
So many great moments in the first half that when the interval came I could have gone home satisfied.
However if I had I would have
missed what is possibly (and this is a bold statement made partially
out of the euphoria still coursing threw my veins the morning after)
the greatest presentation of a set of live music I have ever witnessed.
I will not go through the second half song by song, although trust me I could.
Suffice to say in my opinion
David has now refined the perfect second half. This was the same as he
played on the last three US shows. Moving Breath / Time / Breathe
Reprise to the first half actually imrpoves the flow of the second half.
The fact he played my three favourite tracks off the Division Bell was great.
Having missed the 1994 tour to
see High Hopes live for the first time was a pure joy. This is in my
opinion an all time Floyd classic. I thought that would be the
highlight for me and it was for the 15 seconds it then took him to
follow it with Echoes.
Echoes was simply as stunning a
presentation of a single piece of music as I have ever seen live. The
lights, sound, performance and lasers meshed to make it a hypnotic
experience.
Can't wait to see the show again in London on Monday but it can't be better than last night. Surely?
Thank you David and the band plus
Messrs Crosby & Nash for a peerless example of how to deliver a
concert which after 32 years of following both Floyd and their solo
projects is as good as anything they have ever done before.
If you are going to Glasgow or London in the next few days you are in for the treat of your lives.
Enjoy!
SHOW REVIEW
By BD contributor
I went to the Bridgewater Hall concert last night.
First half was the new album,
fronted by 2 tracks from DSOTM. Good music marred by awful sound
balance; top end harsh as if the amps were clipping; and a mid-range
suck-out so the vocals were lost.
So bad that in the interval I complained to the guys on the sound mixing desk at the back of the hall.
Second half much better sound (had they done something?!) with some great early tracks e.g Arnold Layne.
Ended with a brilliant rendition of Comfortably Numb.
SHOW REVIEW
By BD contributor, Jerry
Saw him in Manchester; superlatives are inadequate. Made me cry in a nice way.
SHOW REVIEW
By BD contributor, Ken
Like everybody else you cannot
complain about the music that David chose to play on the setlist, and
the stand out song was the excellent version of echoes.
I have had the pleasure in
hearing it live before in bygone days but this truly was my highlight
of the evening, along with as always comfortably numb although a longer
version would have been even better.
My only downside of the concert
was the venue, I do not think it was suitable for this type of concert
I may be wrong and I am still at a loss to think what was missing but
the crowd did not make it to what it should have been , alas I have
been spoilt lately with seeing David favorite tribute band a lot, so a
little word in the ear of a few of your friends David and 35 miles up
the road from Manchester is a venue that I am sure would have made you
want to come back again and again.
But I don't think this will happen but as we all know pigs can fly (live8)!
SHOW REVIEW
By BD contributor, MC
Terrific show last night in
Manchester, but I have to agree about the sound in the first half. I
found myself feeling curiously unmoved by the experience - the sound
balance had virtually no bass weight or definition, the high end was
too harsh and the vocals a sort of mush. As we were in the circle, I
wondered if it was simply to do with where we were seated but as soon
as Shine On started it was obvious that they had sorted out the mix - a
great improvement.
In spite of this grumble, the
highlight of the first half for me was Take a Breath, a song I actually
dislike on the album, but which has a fantastic intensity live (helped
by a mind-boggling strobe light show). I enjoyed pretty much everything
else, but few shivers up the spine.
The second half on the other hand
was just simply fantastic, marred only by the appearance of High Hopes
which does absolutely nothing for me.
Shine On alone was worth the
ticket price but Echos was on another planet - the funky second
movement unbelievably .... well ... funky and even the whale stuff in
the middle gripped. Other highlights included Arnold Layne and Fat Old
Sun, and much to my surprise I found myself rather taken by Wearing the
Inside out, with nice vocals from RW. The vocal harmony Stills and Nash
thing before Comfortably Numb rather beautiful and the second solo on
the finale latter absolutely nailed.
The whole thing topped off my the
fact that this morning I had no tinnitus, which suggests that the
levels were about right (unlike Earls Court 1994 which was so loud the
top end disappeared into a distorted mush and I had ringing in my ears
for months afterwards!).
SHOW REVIEW
By BD contributor, Phil from Birkenhead
Hi, went to see David in
Manchester last night and i have to say it was absolutely amazing.
Echoes itself was worth the entrance money alone. I've waited 13 years
to see him live and it was one of my best experiences ever.
Am lucky enough to be sitting in
row 5 of the arena on Wednesday (at the Royal Albert Hall) and
hopefully it will get me over my Gilmour concert hangover from last
night. Can't wait for the DVD!
SHOW REVIEW
By BD contributor, Paul Wightman
It was a tremendous gig last night at the Bridgewater Hall.
The venue itself is pretty impressive and creates a nice informal, modern atmosphere inside, with some excellent acoustics.
The first half of the show was
taken up with the new Album (On an Island) as expected, but before we
heard the new album in its entirety we were treated to the tapes and
backgrounds of Speak To Me which preceded a wonderful rendition of
Breathe, Time and Breathe Reprise.
The new songs were played with a
lot of feeling and the lighting effects which add to the show, give the
music an even more mellow and contrasting appeal. One thing the Floyd
lighting buffs have always managed to achieve is a very subtle way of
sucking you into the whole experience of seeing a Floyd / Floyd related
show with incredible ease.
Second half was every bit a
spectacle starting with the wonderful Shine On and delivered in a way
which updated it whilst still keeping its sense of soul and emptiness
at having lost a great friend i.e. Syd’s departure from the Band all
those years ago.
As they say A Lost Friendship is no great freedom.
We then got a number not played
live before (as far as I am aware) Wearing the Inside Out which was a
nice surprise even if it is not one of the strongest songs on The
Division Bell album.
An old favorite of mine next Fat
Old Sun (just like myself) which gave us a wonderful acoustic guitar
reminiscent of the original before he treated us to a great solo off
his red strat (he played nine separate instruments throughout the
course of the evening – one of them a sax in the first half on a track
called Red Sky at Night.
We then got Arnold Layne played and delivered in its original form which was quite spooky to hear after nearly 40 years.
A few more classics followed off
the Division Bell titled Coming Back to Life and High Hopes and then
the finale which was Echoes which totally blew me away. It’s one of my
favorite Floyd tracks and was the reason I first started to listen to
Floyd all those years back. The lighting effects are pretty incredible
although I must say the use of the strobes at times appeared incessant
and could distract you from looking at the stage as they started to get
a little painful on the eyes to some degree.
The addition of the lasers in particular slots i.e. just before the
last verse heightened the impact even more and created a incredible
dynamic feel which bombarded the senses and left one reeling.
The tape effects at the end of
this track seemed to last an eternity and gave the band an excellent
chance to disappear from the stage without being seen and without even
as much as a thank you, kiss my butt, or anything. Something else the
old Floyd was very good at doing - adding a little frustration to their
shows.
The encores followed WYWH which
was a little out of time at the start (we let him off he’s knocking on
a bit now – just like me).
This was followed by a track
called Find the Cost of Freedom which was sung with David Crosby and
Graham Nash – a very short track with no musical instruments other than
pure vocal which was excellent to hear.
Last but not least came
Comfortably Numb – this was indeed another classic rendition but it’s
very frustrating to have a light shining at the back of Dave so he just
appears as a silhouette on stage and you cannot actually see him
picking the notes.
A great show and a great night…….
Wished I was seeing him again but alas it’s not to be – not without
paying silly eBay prices for tickets anyway.
“Shine On” Dave – especially if we don’t get to see you again in the not to distant future.
SHOW REVIEW
By BD contributor, Ian Thorley
Bridgewater Hall eh !!!! Must
have cost a lot to build. Shame they never saw fit to complete it, or
am I missing something ? Apparently, it is a concert hall, but there's
no way you'd believe it. It's a pity no one ever comes and visits us in
Birmingham, especially when we have one of the most technologically
advanced concert halls in the shape of Symphony Hall, and before you
all decry it, I just saw Chris Rea there, and it was nothing short of
brilliant, which is not what I can say about my experience in
Manchester.
I saw Animals in 1977.
I saw The Wall in 1980, and twice in 1981, and I was there on the last
ever night they played The Wall together, and went home with a brick.
I saw Gilmour in 1984.
I saw Waters in 1984 (4 times).
I saw the late 1980's tours, Docklands, Man City, etc.
I saw Earls Court in 94.
So, I feel I can call myself a fan, sometimes an insufferable one, but hey...
I saw Gilmour at Bridgewater Hall
in May this year... Sorry David, but if On An Island is the best 12 out
of 400 songs, you really have lost it, or else Polly has really taken
away your talent. Yes it was great to see and hear you play Echoes
after 29 years of never seeing it live (apart from Aussie PF), but that
was the only highlight. I had to buy my tickets on ebay, at a very
extortionate price, but even at face value price, I felt cheated.
David Gilmour in concert, well
what happened to stuff from the first two DG albums ? Yes, those that
you are re-releasing soon to fill your coffers even more. You're not
the man I used to think you were, but hey, you'll never read this, and
never take any heed of what is said, and everyone says Roger Waters was
the baddy...
David, you chose the wrong venue,
you have released the wrong album, you played the wrong stuff live (for
the most part), an you seem to have forgotten who really put the money
in the bank, it was us, the ones who gave so much, and now get so
little in return. On An Island is a poor album to start with, hearing
it live was even worse. I left and headed for the bar before the end of
the first half. As for bringing on those two jokers Crosby and Nash,
HAVE YOU TAKEN LEAVE OF YOUR SENSES ? You've lost one of your greatest
fans David. Considering how I used to go on about Britannia Row and
what a sound they created for the live gigs, you obviously found an old
Danset to play through at Bridgewater Hall.
Angry, betrayed, can't say more or I'll lose it.
Ex FAN
SHOW PICTURES
By BD contributor, Phil Van Dijk
|