Capacity: 20,000
Concert starts: 7:30pm

Address of venue: 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, New York 10001. MAP

Website: www.msg.com/madison-square-garden

COMMENTS

A return for David to the legendary Manhattan venue, Madison Square Garden in New York City, for his limited run of 2024 concerts.

Tickets for this concert go on sale May 17th at 10am local through this link at Ticketmaster. We are sure that demand will be high for these special concerts.

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!

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

Night twenty-one of the tour, and the third of five (non-consecutive) nights in at the iconic Madison Square Garden, in the midtown part of Manhattan, bordering Hell's Kitchen. The addition of A Great Day For Freedom for the previous two shows was again dropped for this show - a silent comment on the re-election of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections which had taken place the previous day?

The performance throughout was yet again great, and proved an audio and visual treat! One slight difference seemed to be at the point in High Hopes when the back of the onscreen car opens to release the balls, which then sees the balls released in real life in the auditorium, that sees the slide guitar solo start. This didn't seem to be ready; cue some padding from the band while David got to the slide guitar and got it prepared, checking the controls before starting.

The audience were still a bit subdued in their ovation at the end of the show proper - Scattered - which made things feel a little awkward. I guess it doesn't help that despite an incredible song live, with a great solo, it has a quiet ending. And, being a non-Floyd set closer which was recently released, maybe it isn't as well known. The audience levels raised significantly when David stepped to the microphone to bid us all goodnight.

The band and crew now have two, well-deserved days off, before returning for two final shows. This necessitated removal of all the lighting, the musicians' equipment, the sound system, the seats, etc., for the events which were filling in the gaps. Incredibly the first of the two events "filling in" between David's shows was an ice hockey match, which explained the chilly floor (boards covering the frozen surface, with seats on top of them). This was then changed so that the venue could host a basketball game the following day, which was then replaced with the return of the full concert set up. Hat's off to all those who are involved with such an amazing change-around of the venue and its facilities.

We'd love to know in more detail how the concert went. Did you go? Let us know what YOU thought!

CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, DAVE BASSETT

My wife and I had a great few days in New York. Partly to celebrate my 70th birthday, but mainly to see David Gilmour at MSG actually on my birthday. I had got what I thought were some special tickets, they were called Platinum, but it seems that is just a con via Ticketmaster. The seats were fine, not special, but very expensive. Still worth it though. Five days in New York, spoke to loads of Americans from various states, who had travelled for the gig, and not one mentioned the election. In fact, I did not hear one person mention it the whole time we were there. Mid 70s Fahrenheit all day and night, every day. Fantastic!

Plenty of talk about music though. The concert was very much along the lines of earlier reports, just the odd tweak here and there. Some footage of David playing guitar with one of his then young children, which was very sweet.

I was expecting a bit of a raucous crowd, but by and large they were very well behaved. The songs, mostly which were new to people, did not encourage the sing along types, although Comfortably Numb and Time, in particular, was a bit like being at Glastonbury. The sound and David's singing and guitar work more than drowned out the crowd in any case. Fat Old Sun was possibly the highlight, with a great solo and all the band getting going.

Between Two Points from the new album is particularly good in my opinion, and gives David a rest from singing duties. His voice was in good shape all night, and the evening moved on in stately fashion. Not much chat, but then again, that is not what he does.

Guy Pratt gave his pre concert talk about not using phones. The chap in front of me started filming within minutes. I tapped him on the shoulder, and he put it down, and did not use it again. About fifteen minutes in, he turned round and urged us both to enjoy the show, but for me not to tap him on the shoulder again or he might break my hand. I had actually felt a little guilty as I was a bit quick with my initial reaction, and he had not used it again. At half time I leaned forward and apologised. He and his wife had come from Brazil. We spent the next ten minutes reminiscing about Pele and the 1970 World Cup. They were a lovely couple, and we had a long chat at the end of the gig as well. Just goes to show.

The Great Gig in the Sky has never been one of my favourites, the album version is fine, but live versions in the past have not done it for me. The new approach with the girls around the piano, David very much on the periphery, Guy Pratt on double bass, and a more mellow approach to the vocals was the best version I have heard. Linking in with A Boat Lies Waiting was a very pleasant little interlude, very cool and relaxed.

Very well put together set, and some great memories. Hopefully it will not be his last tour, but his songs are now about mortality and age, and so maybe retirement is in the back of his mind. (I am just about to!) At the moment though, he still seems to have what it takes, and the crowds love him.

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!