Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow

Concert starts: 7:30pm

Address of venue: SECC, Glasgow G3 8YW. MAP

Website: www.secc.co.uk

The second of five nights in the UK saw David heading north, across the border into Scotland. The last time he played on stage in the country was 1974, on the Dark Side Of The Moon tour. Another acclaimed night, this time in the "Armadillo" - delighting the locals, starved of proper Floyd for over 30 years! The set list was almost the same as the previous night, with a strategic move due to the absence of one of the guests - see below for details.

The tour moves to London tomorrow for three nights, all of which are being filmed. There is talk of special guests, and indeed, Brain Damage chatted briefly with one of these yesterday - the person will be there all three nights, but we're not going to spoil the surprise for you!

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, DL

Graham Nash didn’t appear – DG said he’d had a family emergency and had had to go home, so David Crosby was on his own and maybe the reason they didn’t do ‘Find the cost of freedom’ as they had in Manchester.

While ‘On an Island’ is a great album, there’s no conceding that some of the tracks are much better than others, and in a live show, it was a brave choice to do the full thing. Judging by the movement in the audience (why would you go to such a very special concert pissed necessitating multiple visits to the toilet??) many of them weren’t exactly captivated by all of it either. As in Manchester the sound wasn’t as good as it should have been (midrange muddy), but ‘On an Island’, ‘This Heaven’, ‘Smile’ and ‘Take a breath’ were all highlights.

The second half however was like a different band. ‘Shine On’ was, of course, excellent, but there were no ‘lowlights’ at all, and ‘Echoes’ was simply amazing. The three Division Bell songs were superbly performed, with ‘High Hopes’ in particular a standout. ‘Echoes’ was faithful to the original but with exceptional power aided by the lighting effects which were sensational.

Many of the crowd didn’t realise the band had left the stage after this and it took some time before they generated enough noise to get them back out for WYWH. Arnold Layne was rapturously received but saving the best for last, DG’s solo’s in Comfortably Numb were absolutely stunning. The song was performed with huge power that resulted in the predictable standing ovation. I thought DG seemed surprised and pleased by the crowd reaction, perhaps because they hadn’t greeted the first half with the same response.

David Crosby disappointingly didn’t appear for the curtain call, but the crowd made sure the rest of the band were well applauded and cheered.

An excellent concert and I’m just glad I was there.

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributors, Angela & Ian Whyte

We were both in awe seeing David and his backing band in the flesh, as we never thought we ever would.

THANK YOU DAVID for coming to Scotland.

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, Michael Schofield

My seat was at the last row, in the very top gallery of the Clyde Auditorium so I thought this position might have made the concert a bit less enjoyable.

But I have to say the sound and lightshow was this the best concert I've seen at this venue. I had a clear view of all the stage and lights, and don't think the lofty seats made any difference.

The first half started with Breathe/Time/Breathe Reprise and then we had the whole of the new album, with Mr Crosby in attendance as Mr Nash had to call off with a family crisis.

The second half was pure Pink Floyd. I can't really say one song was better than the next, but its safe to say that Echoes was one of the best pieces of music I have ever heard live.

The encore had Arnold Layne with Richard Wright on vocals getting his fair share of applause.

All in all, a great lightshow, great sound and a great concert.

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, Nick Gribben

DG at Clyde Auditorium (pic: Joe McGuire)

Next David introduced the new album. At the beginning of the title track David Crosby came on stage, but no Graham Nash who David later said had a family emergency and couldn't make it. The harmonies were still beautifully done with Crosby staying on stage for 'The blue', during which time I noticed Polly Samson (Mrs Gilmour) wandering up and down the aisle taking photographs of the proceedings at which point she stood on my toe - what an honour!).

The rest of on an Island continued in the same format as the Manchester gig; just before 'Smile' David introduced the band and at the same time realised that he had lifted the wrong guitar, at which point he forgot to introduce Richard Wright, but being in Glasgow the crowd including Polly were quick to remind him, which Richard found very funny.

The highlight of the first half was undoubtedly, 'Take a Breath' - the sound and lighting were great as were David and Jon Carin's guitar work.

The second half started with 'Shine on' with David Crosby again taking to the stage, the sound had a bit too much bass during this but it was still stunning to hear, this was then followed by 'Whats..Uh the deal' with the sound much better and crisp as was the sound for 'fat old sun', 'Coming back to life' and 'High Hopes' followed - then it was time for 'Echoes'. Being in Glasgow the best word to describe it is 'Bonnie', with both the sound and lighting tremendous. I noticed David Crosby watching this from backstage and he really looked to be enjoying himself.

The encore began with 'Wish you were here' always a crowd pleaser, this was followed by 'Arnold Layne' which for myself along with 'Echoes' was the highlight of the second half. Then it was time for 'Comfortably numb'; I'm sure David gets better at this every time.

Then it was finished, at which point I was lucky enough to catch Steve Distanislao's drumstick..All in all it was....a 'Bonnie' night in Glasgow and I'm looking forward to going to the Albert Hall for more.

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, Paul McTaggart

went to the concert at the clyde Auditorium on the 27th May. It was my 30th birthday that day and I will remember it for the rest of my life. David and the band were absolutely phenomenal. In the 1st part of the show he played stuff from his solo album,which was brilliant, but in all honesty the 2nd part of the show was the highlight of a great night. To hear the likes of Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb, High Hopes, Arnold Layne and the monumental Echoes was just superb. The light show was quite impressive too.

All in all a great night - thanks David!

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, Joe McGuire

And what a fantastic gig it was! The finest guitar player in the world mesmerizing his first Glasgow crowd in 30 years, with note perfect renditions of classic Floyd and classic new stuff as well. Glasgow hasn't seen anyone this good since that last time PF were here (before my time).

Bit unfortunate though, that such a Rock Ledgend playing in the city for the first time in years and I can find nothing in the local papers (except that Franz Ferdinand like a curry????)

Never thought I would hear Arnold layne Live - looking forward to Wednesday at the RAH.

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, unique

I was in the middle of the front circle a few rows behind the mixing desk. Upon entering the auditorium, I found the place to be pretty full of smoke from smoke machines, so obviously there was going to be some kind of light show and lasers. Smoking is now banned in public places in scotland, which has made gig going a lot more pleasant, and the "armadillo" is a pretty nice venue, more like a cinema inside, it's certainly the upmarket side to the SECC, the larger arena venue next door, where ironically the Australian Pink Floyd played recently, with far more people than the real Gilmour and Wright played to!

So, nice venue, nice atmosphere, a far cry from the hugeness of Live8, my first Floyd experience, and to be honest you couldn't really ask for a better first Floyd gig, unless you were young enough to be there in the 70s (I wasn't a huge fan of the late 80s/90s "expanded" line up).

The show kicked off with the first couple of tracks from DSOTM, a great start to the show, sounding just like the record, the night was all about the music, rather than "the show", which I think was too prevailent in the shows in the past 25 (count em!). Next up was the full On An Island album, which sounded great. David Crosby guested on backing vox, but unfortunately Graham Nash wasn't there due to a family emergency, so that was a shame, but it didn't seem to affect the quality of the performances, David Crosby certainly added to the sound in a worthwhile way, there were no female backing singers on this tour.

After the full new album, there was a break of about 20-30 mins, after which the band came back on and kicked off with a great version of Shine On, and played a number of other classics including a great version of Fat Old Sun. A full 20 minute version of Echoes was perhaps the highlight of the show, with the lights and lasers creating a psychedelic strobing effect that must have had all the epileptics dancing in the aisles. No video screens, and compared to Floyd shows the lights were pretty stripped down, but compared to most bands the lights were pretty cool. Arnold Layne was another great choice, unfortunately no Money or Run Like Hell, but Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb were great, with pretty faithful versions like Live8 (but a bit different).

with the band, it was almost Pink Floyd, but in a smallish venue, with great sound and comfortable surroundings. Shame nick wasn't there...

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, David Bruce

Amazing show. Maybe just because I was actually there, but it sounded much better than the other shows I've heard from this tour. Graham Nash was absent (family emergency), but "the walrus" David Crosby (as someone referred to him last night) was there and doing his part well.

Whole band looked like they were enjoying themselves. I'm sure I even caught Jon Carin breaking a smile at one point! During the band introductions, Gilmour "forgot" to introduce Rick, and egged the crowd on into a chant of "Reechard, Reechard" before finally letting the man take his applause with two fists to the sky. Wish I had a picture of that.

Rick seemed much more confident in his singing than the BBC concert and other shows from early in the tour. His vocals on Time, Arnold Layne and Numb were wonderful. Jon Carin also impressed with his wide range of skills, as well as the high "sing to me" vocal during Fat Old Sun.

Highlights for me were Then I Close My Eyes, which totally came to life on-stage; Take A Breath, which required me to do so when it had finished; Shine On, during which you could almost hear a pin-drop; Fat Old Sun, which was as rocking as I've ever heard it; Echoes, which is Echoes; and Arnold Layne, which really got everyone going.

All in all, I was really impressed by how tight his band are, and just how amazing that Gilmour guitar sounds up close. And the man's voice still manages to impress!!

I also had the pleasure of singing the chorus of Vegetable Man with a friendly drunk guy called Dan as we walked down the corridor to leave the building, discussing the complexities of Waters/Gilmour songwriting and how he's "never listened to a Gilmour solo album" before. What a bizarre end to an excellent evening.