TICKET SCAN TO GO HERE

Capacity: 5,272 (maximum; depends on configuration of seating)

Concert starts: 7:30pm (to be confirmed)

Address of venue: Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP. MAP

Website: www.royalalberthall.com

COMMENTS

It is worth noting that the six shows at London's Royal Albert Hall are the entirety of his UK performances this time around. We suspect there could be dates elsewhere announced in due course.

Tickets for this concert go on sale in two stages. Fans in the UK/Ireland pre-ordering Luck and Strange from the official David Gilmour UK Album Store will get first access to tickets, via an exclusive ticket pre-sale on Thursday 9th May through Ticketmaster UK. If you have ordered from elsewhere, there IS, however, a "No purchase necessary" option you can select at David's store to get the pre-sale code without having to cancel your existing order.

The window to qualify for the pre-sale ends at 3pm UK on Wednesday, May 8th, with all existing pre-orders from the official David Gilmour UK Album Store also eligible. Pre-sale codes will be sent out later that day.

Tickets will then go on general sale at 10am UK on Friday, May 10th, through this link at Ticketmaster UK. 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 nine of the tour (if you ignore the two dress rehearsals conducted in Brighton, on the south coast of England, last month), and the third of six nights in London. The Royal Albert Hall has long been a favourite of David Gilmour, and it is proving to be a great place to see him play again.

The set list from the later Rome shows, and the first couple of nights in London the previous evening, was unchanged (the song Sings from the new album, Luck and Strange, was added during the Italian dates). The performance throughout was superb, and proved an audio and visual treat!

From a personal perspective [Matt writing], this was the first show I'd seen since the second Brighton Dress Rehearsal show, so I had a lot of anticipation as to how the show would look and sound. Firstly, the Brighton Centre is a completely different beast to the Royal Albert Hall in almost every aspect, and with the Italian shows under the band's belt, musicians AND crew will have developed. This was definitely proved to be the case.

Those who have been to, or seen, the Royal Albert Hall will know what the performance area is like - an elliptical space, with all the seating above the floor/arena and stalls being vertically arranged. Many venues have raked seating for higher areas but that means you are further away from the stage. With the Royal Albert Hall, you are close to the action (even if you are looking down on it!). The shape means that there are unique solutions needed for the stage set-up and lighting.

Previous shows at the venue obviously proved great starting points for Marc Brickman and his team, who exploited the space perfectly, making the show a truly enveloping and involving event for all those in the audience. Lights, lasers, smoke effects, inflatable balls (more on those shortly), a large and incredibly sharp video screen, and one of the largest mirror balls I've seen. Not as big as the 1994 Pink Floyd one which opened up like a flower unfurling its petals, but still pretty much a whopper!

One slight issue early on - as Black Cat, the second song, started, it was clear that the guitar David was holding was heavily out of tune. It proved impossible for him to muddle through, so the song stopped, the Black Cat Strat was handed over, and the second attempt was perfect.

One other thing of particular note related to the inflatable balls which appear in the hall during the last part of High Hopes, mirroring the screen video. Either by accident, or design (by mischievous audience members), a couple of these rather large balls managed to get onto the stage, with one looking like it went pretty close to David!

As an experience, the show is absolutely complete. The band have gelled together incredibly well, the set list includes big, heavy hitters of songs (mixing new and recent solo material with expected Floyd songs), and this is all accompanied by a no holds barred visual feast, especially at the conclusion of the show. If you get the opportunity to catch one of the shows on this tour, please do so as none of us know how much longer David will be touring, and it's a show that finds everyone at the absolute top of their game. With even the often cynical UK press giving the concerts five star reviews, it's clear that these are unmissable!

We mentioned this in the first show review, but repeat it again here: for those interested, there were no major differences with the merchandise on offer - the normal range of t-shirts, hoodies and other accessories including tour programme. Sometimes for the Royal Albert Hall, there's been a special poster, but all there is are the t-shirts and hoodies marked as from the London shows (as seen in the previous shows in Brighton and Rome). Last night, as with previous nights, the merchandise stall was swamped with people snapping things up eagerly so would suggest those who want to get something to commemorate the show, should buy before the concert, and not after, to reduce the chance of disappointment.

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

CONCERT COMMENT and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Andres Sotos-Castello

What a fabulous gig it was!

 

 

CONCERT PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, IAN McKENZIE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!