Capacity: 12,650

Concert starts: 8pm

Address of venue: Arenastrasse 1, Oberhausen 46047, Germany. MAP

Website: www.koenig-pilsener-arena.de

COMMENTS

David's 2015 tour of Europe arrives in Germany, and the only modern venue on the schedule. Having opened in 1996, the arena is a part of the CentrO leisure and shopping centre.

Tickets went on sale Friday, March 6th at 10am UK time, and the DavidGilmourblog.co.uk presale started Wednesday, March 4th for those quick off the mark. For the main sale of tickets, you can use this link: Eventim although please be aware that demand is incredibly high so you might need to be patient and keep retrying, as they seem to be adding tickets for sale progressively.

Our thanks to Martin Geyer for sending over the picture of the very attractive ticket, which you can see in more detail by clicking the thumbnail to the right.

UPDATE, 23rd April: Some great news for all of you who were hoping to see David Gilmour's upcoming concert in Oberhausen, Germany, on September 19th, 2015, which is part of his ten date - and sold out - tour, to coincide with the release of his new album (which is as yet untitled, and no firm date of release is available at the moment). Due to finalising of the production design, a limited number of seats have just been made available for the Oberhausen show, via this link to Eventim.de. Tickets will be in the top price bracket of €100 (Euros) and the third price bracket of €75 (Euros), and are subject to booking fees.

There will be a limit of 2 tickets per person/purchase. As with other venues, and in an effort to cut down on ticket touting (the selling of tickets for vast profit) the name of the purchaser will be printed on both tickets, so the purchaser will HAVE to attend the show. Please note: tickets are not transferable, returnable or refundable under any circumstances. Terms and conditions apply.

Sales will be open to the public from 10am on Friday morning (April 24th), so please place your order now if you want to attend this show.

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!

Do not read on if you don't want surprises to be spoilt, regarding what the band played!

David's 2015 European tour seemed to be bringing the weather with it, with reportedly rain striking the area but with this being a modern, indoor venue, this didn't affect the show. Mr Screen made a welcomed return, with Oberhausen having a stronger roof allowing the 13.5 tons total weight of Mr Screen to be flown from the ceiling.

Initial reports note just how strongly certain new tracks are being received in the live setting - A Boat Lies Waiting and In Any Tongue in particular seem to get an incredible reaction each night of the tour so far.

The setlist from Firenze and Orange was used again for Oberhausen - the set we've been used to, with the addition of Coming Back To Life. With the album now released, will the shows that follow in London feature a revised set, making more of the album, and performing it in order?

However, let's not leave Oberhausen yet. We'd love to know what you thought about it - how was the concert for you? Let us know what YOU thought!

CONCERT COMMENTS by BD CONTRIBUTOR, HENRIK
High points: Rattle That Lock, an emotional A boat lies waiting, an almost 8 minute long version of In any tongue, a very intense version of Astronomy Domine and probably the best version of Sorrow ever.
Disappointments: a shortened solo in High Hopes and unfocused on the acoustic at the end. A short version of Money, had expected that the other musicians would contribute to a jam session (in the style of Then I Close My Eyes from las tour). Girl In A Yellow Dress is perhaps a nice song but doesn't suit a concert like this, and the end solo on Comfortably Numb could easily have been 1.5 minute longer.

There were many fans waiting all day at the back entrance to the venue. The band (uncertain if DG came with the others) arrived in black VW buses with tinted windows at around 15:30. The soundcheck started at around 17:00, according to the stage builders. Some of us saw Guy Pratt walk away talking on the phone and then disappearing. The two singers also left at the back entrance and went towards the tram station/shopping mall, that's where we lost sight of them. At around 18:30 Steve DiStanislao came out to the fans to talk a little and sign autographs, he was very nice. Gilmour and Samson apparently went to a look out tower nearby, some fans tried to get near but the tower was shut off by guards.

CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, JOCK ROSS
So from the Theatre Orange, we headed up through France and on towards Germany to the town of Oberhausen. Just like Orange in France, this was a fairly small town but we were only here for two days so no big issue.

The Arena was your standard arena style venue situated 20 mins walk from the centre, but next door to the huge American style mall which housed hundreds of shops and restaurants which gave us plenty to do in the lead up to the concert.

After grabbing a T shirt and a programme we took our seats just in front of the sound desk, dead centre - perfect.

The same set list as Orange but this time with the screen films showing and the added bonus of being able to have listened to the album on the train from France all day the previous day. In Any Tongue really comes across to me as an instant classic, my favourite of the new songs for sure. Like other reviewers, I'm not sure The Girl In The Yellow Dress is right for this type of gig, I like the song but the concert just slightly lost its energy and buzz with that song.

Something I noticed in Orange France was a lighting mistake right at the end of Sorrow, just as Gilmour goes back into the distorted fuzzy solo: the spotlight came in a few seconds early, as it did tonight in Oberhausen? Maybe it's not a mistake, but certainly looks odd to spotlight Gilmour when the full band are at full throttle.

The light show again during Astronomy Domine was breathtaking, it has you transfixed on the stage and tonight the middle jam seemed to go on forever and ever, which is a good thing.

Anyway, another fantastic show and Comfortably Numb has never sounded better, maybe it was my great seats, maybe it was the band/crowd, but the energy coming off stage during the final solo was amazing, so loud and so good. The crowd loved it, as did we. Next stop, London.

CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, JULIEN PISCIONE
Yesterday, we were at the Konig Pilsner Arena in Oberhausen Germany, for David Gilmour on his Tour 2015.

It was a fantastic evening. The new album is just superb, melancholic and with lot of guitar; we love it. People seems to come from a number of different countries for this only date in Germany. We came from France, but we saw people from Belgium, Holland, Spain, etc.. We were really lucky to have a good place for the show, in the 6th row.

At the end of the show, it was full of emotion, because, I tell myself maybe it's the last time to see David on a tour. I am hoping for new dates in Europe in 2016.

CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, HANS-JUERGEN MULLER
After an almost 4-hour-drive, I met with my friend Bernd near the arena at a giant mall with a lot of parking sites, where we could easily leave without a traffic jam after the show. We wandered around the mall, meeting other fans and friends and finally got something to eat to be prepared for the gig.

We entered the König-Pilsener-Arena at 6:30 pm (including a check of the ID card) and looked for the merch first. I thought about a black t-shirt with Dave and his guitar and the tour dates on the back, but decided to buy it after the show together with 2 tour books (which never happened, as they were sold out after the show!). So we wandered around the arena and Bernd took some photos from various points of view.

After taking an intense look at the stage and the mixing desk, we came to our seats in block 1, row 10, right in front of Phil Manzanera. Perfect seats for a complete view of the whole stage, but also to see all the details.

It was 8:02 pm, when the lights were dimmed and a journey through the musical life of Gilmour and Floyd started. I won't recite the well-known setlist (this time again with Coming Back To Life after Fat Old Sun in part 2 of the show), but will pick out some interesting things.

Settling the typical Gilmour/Floyd-feeling with 5 A.M., the next song Rattle That Lock made clear: this will be a rock show with superb and overwhelming (and breathtakingly loud) sound with Gilmour at his best, regarding his guitar-playing and singing. And this song was perfect for the return of Mr. Screen: the video of this song was shown!

Concerning the videos on the round screen: for me, they distracted me in parts from the music, so I decided to concentrate on Gilmour and the other musicians instead. Besides the video for In Any Tongue, all others are already known (some for ages as Money and Us And Them), so I didn't miss too much!

Talking about the visuals of the show, you can probably say, that Gilmour increased this in comparison to the On An Island tour some 9 years ago. There were stunning effects combining the screen lights and also from the sides and above the stage. 2 spotlights were handed manually by two stage-hands (hopefully free from giddiness), who were floating on both sides of the stage. Astronomy Dominé had a psychedelic rush of colours with a really intense sound and Run Like Hell (with the band wearing sunglasses) offered a storm of colour effects to an audience going wild.

Gilmour himself seemed to really enjoy the show and even danced on one occasion some seconds on stage. He was relaxed and handled the vocals perfectly (with only the chorus in In Any Tongue leaving to the background singers). And his guitar-playing - well, what can I say? It never seemed to be better!

The highlights for me were, besides the visual aspects, on the musical side: to my surprise, even the new songs, what I didn't like so much on the new album (A Boat Lies Waiting and The Girl In The Yellow Dress) were fine for me. The jazzy The Girl In The Yellow Dress had quite an interesting video, that is included in the bonus material of the new album. The best song from Rattle That Lock is (besides Faces Of Stone) without any doubt In Any Tongue (you could easily say Comfortably Numb part 2), that is THE perfect LIVE song.

From the "old" stuff, especially High Hopes (with the acoustic ending), Fat Old Sun with a furious guitar-solo at the end and Sorrow with David turning your stomach upside down with his guitar sound, were really impressing and worth every single second.

During the final song Run Like Hell, the fans were on their feet and rushing to the stage, but the security still tried to get everyone back to their seats. After a standing ovation form the audience, the band came back to start the clock intro and video for Time and Breathe Reprise.

Could there be a Gilmour show without Comfortably Numb? No, of course not! So the final song of the evening was this tune, for which his name will be written into the golden book of unforgettable musical moments of glory in last 50 years. What a song, what an emotion, what a guitar-solo! I was really moved, seeing pictures of Syd and Rick before my eyes and also of my dear friend Ingo, a long-time Floydian collector, who died in 2011. I had tears in my eyes to be honest ...

Summing it all together, I have to say: This was a perfect day, with friends, old and new, and a incredible show, that I will remember for ever. An emotional journey, that makes it hard to come back to real life.

CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, VLADO MARCINEK
Seeing David Gilmour was a dream come true. My first memory of him goes back 20 something more years ago when Pink Floyd played at the Earls Court in London. His voice and distinctive guitar style and sound appealed to me immediately. I've watched the Pulse video cassette(!) dozens of times, but had never seen the live performance. Until yesterday.

The Oberhausen show was simply magical! My friend and I flew from Prague and have enjoyed this trip very much. The set list didn't change from the previous venue and here's what the band played: First set: 5am, Rattle That Lock, Faces Of Stone, Wish You Were Here, A Boat Lies Waiting, The Blue, Money, Us And Them, In Any Tongue, High Hopes.
Second set: Astronomy Domine, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Fat Old Sun, Coming Back To Life, On An Island, The Girl In The Yellow Dress, Today, Sorrow, Run Like Hell
Encore: Time / Breathe (reprise), Comfortably Numb.

The sound was terrific and the visual part astonishing as you would expect. David and his stellar band gave everything and have played their hearts out! Words like excellent or perfect are still too far from how great it really was!

With the new album released just the day before the concert took place, David funnily said: "Imagine how lucky you are" as a reaction to the fact we can listen to those songs first, before the official release.

The new songs were accompanied with well known old bits and received a fantastic reception by the audience. It's impossible to point out any highlight of the night as standing ovations were present almost after each song. Plus, all remained standing after Sorrow until the complete end to support the band with clapping and singing throughout the last four pieces. A shivering atmosphere!

Also, there were several little things that resonated and attracted my attention for some reason, for instance that David didn't sing the chorus in In Any Tongue and let his backing singers do the job, which Bryan and Louise did perfectly well! But he actually was whistling the opening melody himself. Then, Guy Pratt's jumping during Sorrow as he did on the original Pulse DVD, David's funny little dance during Fat Old Sun, Jon Carin's great singing on Comfortably Numb (remember his excellent performance of Dogs on Roger's In The Flesh live DVD?) and of course David's "There is no pain..." which I was waiting for 20 odd years to hear again...

Plus, seeing Mr. Screen on stage again with the well known animations was a nice surprise and it was kind of like going back to where it all had started for me.

To conclude, David is my guitar hero and I truly love his music. There are thousands of guitarists out there, but only few can create an atmosphere. And there's only one who's the best at it - David Gilmour, the voice and guitar of Pink Floyd. Seeing him was a dream come true. Thank you David!

The pictures here were taken by my friend Martin Slavik.

CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, DAVID BENJAMIN RUIZ HALL
The end of a circle.

Many years have gone by for many as we, the younger generation, those born between The Wall and The Final Cut have been slowly coming to age.

In this sense, we were never around when David started performing solo, we were never there at the end, we were never there while they were touring with the Delicate Sound Of Thunder….and so on and so forth….and hence, in our view, we were late.

We were also late while David did his first tour with On an Island, too short, too expensive for our pockets then, everything was wrong. And with this beforehand sadness, we met Roger, who, after many years of not touring, started with the DSOTM tour and then, The Wall, and yes, we caught a glimpse, but David was elusive once more.

By 2012, many of us had seen Roger for a couple of times (in my case and my best friend's, four: Barcelona, Atarfe, Milan and Düsseldorf), and by then, there was only one thing left, wait, wait for David, wait for that one time to redeem our past and have a taste of what it had been, of what it had felt to be there back in the days, however, nowadays, without Rick.

We had our own piece of travel by the time we reached Oberhausen last Saturday; we had already been to Paris the night before to watch Steve Hackett, we had our luggage lost, then found, then moved from France to Germany and there we were, Düsseldorf airport, three years later since we had last seen Roger's The Wall at the Sprint Arena, and now, the time came to watch David.

We took a car and went past the Sprint Arena, one more time, now closed….there was nothing for the weekend…and then, on the road to Oberhausen.

Close to the venue, we spent some time at the close-by Centrum shopping mall, and then, the time right, the place was right, we had our venue waiting for us, we went, and enjoyed.

The concert list had nothing different to those venues before us, while I am writing this review, some songs and works have been added in the RAH concerts, however, I do not envy anyone, we had our David, I had a piece of my life back.

By the time we reached the concert hall, almost no one had heard the new album, released the day before, it wasn't available in France on the 18th (or at least, we couldn’t find it) and we were only able to get it on the very same Saturday 19th at Düsseldorf's Saturn, at least, on our way, we were able to listen to it via streaming, at least, we had something heard before the concert.

Then the concert started, yes, we heard Rattle That Lock, we cried - shed a tear - while hearing Wish You Were Here and fell into bliss while listening to so many songs you are all aware of; we missed Rick while we heard A Boat Lies Waiting… we missed Eclipse/Brain Damage; we will never hear Echoes by those two giants...but…there was nothing else to justify any but, it was music, it was pure soul during two and a half hours, from 5AM to Comfortably Numb and then some more…nothing left to feel, nothing left to enjoy…we had our soul changed there and then, we were no longer those who had gone there, like so many from Belgium, Norway, Italy, (yes, even after having two dates in this tour from Italy, it was packed from people from Italy)…we left uplifted…and since, for a week, listening non-stop to the album, the scenes, the sounds, we are still remembering that night, that one night in which our dreams were all together in the same place in time, that one night in which we were able to see David.

I sincerely hope to see him again, just one more time, but after nearly a decade of looking forward to this concert, I am done. Like so many there…I was there.

YOUR HELP NEEDED! We want to cover David's concerts the best we can, to share the experience with everyone, especially those who won't be able to attend the shows. We'd love to see ANY pictures, tickets scans, reviews, newspaper reports, and anything else you come across for this show - we look forward to hearing from you!