With the Los Angeles Dodgers in The Bronx on the last Tuesday of October, battling the New York Yankees in Game 4 of The World Series, David Gilmour was left as the main attraction in L.A. where there is always competition for top billing.
Not that the former lead guitarist and singer of Pink Floyd ever needs anyone else to step aside in order to assume a spot on a marquee. The legacy of that legendary psychedelic rock band alone, and David’s vital role therein, is more than enough, thanks in no small part to all-time-great albums like The Dark Side of The Moon and The Wall. His sold-out show at the brand-new Intuit Dome in Inglewood on the final Friday of the month—amid a maelstrom of major events across town—was further proof of his enduring stature as a live performer. So, too, are his three sellouts at the iconic Hollywood Bowl this week.
But David has never been one to rest on his laurels. He was the driving force behind the last three Pink Floyd albums, following Roger Waters’ acrimonious exit from the band in the mid-1980s. He has also released five albums of his own, including his latest, Luck and Strange, in September 2024. That record—David’s first in nine years, since 2015’s Rattle That Lock—got him back on the road at the age of 78, albeit in a limited capacity. His U.S. tour consists of just two stops: L.A. for four shows and New York City for five more. Those, on the heels of two “rehearsal” shows in Brighton, England; six full-fledged performances at Circo Massimo in Rome, and another six at Royal Albert Hall in London.
With so few stops, and such infrequent touring more broadly, every performance by David assumes its own gravitas. To that end, he and his band certainly didn’t disappoint during a brisk opening night of their run at the Hollywood Bowl. Over the course of nearly two-and-a-half hours, split between two sets, David regaled the packed house of 17,000-plus with his familiar vocals and signature silky guitar—along with some help that was near and dear to his heart.
Nearly half of the 23 songs performed were pulled from the Pink Floyd catalog. Three tracks into the first set, David and his band embarked on a run of “Breathe (In The Air)”, “Time”, and “Breathe (Reprise)” that had seemingly every attendee singing along to the words and shouting out the indelible notes of each guitar solo. That bit led beautifully into “Fat Old Sun”, from 1970’s Atom Heart Mother, en route to the wailing guitar of “Marooned,” off 1994’s The Division Bell—the second of Pink Floyd’s post-Waters releases. Befort setbreak, David had the house weeping to “Wish You Were Here”, as he split time between acoustic guitar and scatting along with his electric, and closed out with an epic turn under the spotlight for “High Hopes”.
The audience returned to their seats just in time to hear David resume his spectacular axemanship on “Sorrow”, from Pink Floyd’s first Gilmour-led album, 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason. As perfectly as David breathed life into beloved Pink Floyd classics—with some assistance from an impressive array of laser lights shot into the audience and visuals on a giant circular screen at the rear of the stage—his show was about so much more than pure psych-rock nostalgia. In many ways, it was a love letter to the future and a tribute to family.
David and company devoted the plurality of the show to the new album. Of the ten studio tracks on Luck and Strange, nine made it into the setlist for this tour. That began during the first set, after an opening of “5 A.M.” from Rattle That Lock, with “Black Cat” and “Luck and Strange”, and continued later on with “A Single Spark”.
Toward the end of the first set, David took time to introduce his band, including the Webb sisters on backing vocals, harp ,and ukulele. He then brought out his daughter, Romany Gilmour, to sing and play harp on “Vita Brevis” and a cover of The Montgolfier Brothers’ “Between Two Points”—both from the new album.
The youngest of David’s eight children, Romany stayed onstage for the remainder of the show. Her voice settled in nicely as part of the backing troupe during “The Piper’s Call” and “In Any Tongue”, and played a pivotal role in the candlelit harmony behind David’s lap steel guitar on “The Great Gig in the Sky”. He dedicated “Coming Back to Life” to Polly Samson, his second wife and Romany’s mother, and thanked her for contributing many of the lyrics on the new album. Indeed, some of the very same ones that her husband and daughter sang together on “Dark and Velvet Nights”, “Sings”, and “Scattered” to finish the second set. To end the evening, David, Romany and company re-emerged onstage for an encore of “Comfortably Numb”, with father and daughter transforming the Pink Floyd standard into a family affair.
Whether Romany assumes David’s weighty mantle as her own is a matter for another day—for fans, hopefully one far down the road. In the meantime, they will continue on together, with another pair of shows at the Hollywood Bowl before traveling to New York for their five-night run at Madison Square Garden. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates here.
David Gilmour — Hollywood Bowl — Los Angeles, CA — 10/29/24 — Partial Video
[Video: Zachary Swickey]
David Gilmour — Hollywood Bowl — Los Angeles, CA — 10/29/24 — Full Show
[Video: KAO]
Setlist: David Gilmour | Hollywood Bowl | Los Angeles, CA | 10/29/24
Set One: 5 A.M., Black Cat, Luck and Strange, Speak to Me [1], Breathe (In the Air), Time, Breathe (Reprise), Fat Old Sun, Marooned, Wish You Were Here, Vita Brevis Between Two Points (The Montgolfier Brothers), High Hopes
Set Two: Sorrow, The Piper’s Call, A Great Day for Freedom, In Any Tongue, The Great Gig in the Sky, A Boat Lies Waiting, Coming Back to Life, Dark and Velvet Nights, Scattered
Encore: Comfortably Numb
[1] Song played from tape
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