UPDATED June 18th WITH PICTURE GALLERY

Since the unique collaboration on May 25th which saw David Gilmour performing with the very well-respected Malian husband and wife musical duo of Amadou & Mariam, in London in aid of Crisis, the homelessness charity, we've had a number of emails from other lucky attendees of the show.

In addition to our original report on the concert, we are now collating these other attendees thoughts, reports and pictures on this page, which also includes a taster for you of what the performance of David's 1978 song "No Way" sounded like in their hands. More are due to arrive shortly, but any additional reports and pictures most welcome...

Report and collage by BD's Kevan Porter

"Cest n'est pas bon" is still running through my head this morning after the promise of Amadou and Mariam's gig with David Gilmour was fully delivered last night at Islington's Union Chapel.

Despite pre-gig reports to the contrary, David played the whole 70 minute set with Amadou and Mariam's band, from the opening "Welcome to Mali" through to the unplanned encore of "Dimanche à Bamako".

Appearing to be fully enjoying himself, David's intense concentration was evident, facing into his fellow (temporary) band members for cues throughout most of the set which is mildly amusing as, generally, it's David's band that faces him for musical direction!

The whole band played wonderfully together, with David swapping effortlessly between rhythm and lead roles on his signature black Strat'. With the exception of a couple of thank you's all vocals were handled by Amadou and Mariam, even during the unexpected surprise 'tribute' performance of "No Way" from David's first solo album.

After the gig, David kindly signed a few autographs for those few that had waited patiently at the stage door, before bidding Amadou and Mariam et al a fond farewell. And with that we all disappeared into the night. Cest n'est pas bon maybe, but actually, it was good!

PS: I noticed last night that the gig was filmed and I also saw a couple of audience mics above the stage. Maybe there might be a release of some kind in the future?

PICTURE GALLERY BY BD REGULAR, ANDY WILLS

Report and picture by BD regular, Sue Nightingale

A unique performance in aid of the homeless charity, Crisis, took place at the Union Chapel, Highbury and Islington, last night, 25 May 2009, seeing David appearing with Malian singing duo Amadou and Mariam.

The seating was unreserved, so I decided to sit up in the gods, right at the centre front, from where I could survey everything. Prior to the gig, a huge crowd had gathered to the right of the stage where David's black Strat sat waiting for him. A little later it was tuned up by the sound man, much to the fascination of the crowd once again.

I'd never seen or heard Amadou and Mariam previously, but their music (sometimes called Malian blues or Afro-blues) flowed nicely, and along with David's accompaniment, turned into a massive rhythmic jam. David, who was wearing the Hendrix strap, appeared relaxed and happy and chucked in a couple of very good solos for good measure. There were no vocals from the maestro, other than a few backing harmonies here and there. The only material of David's to be played was No Way for the encore and by this time the crowd were rocking in the pews!