By Andrew Bansal
March 28th 2016, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hollywood CA: To music lovers worldwide, the name David Gilmour needs no introduction. The Pink Floyd guitarist/vocalist and legendary guitar icon is back in the spotlight as a solo artist, with the release of his fourth full-length solo effort ‘Rattle That Lock’ in 2015, and the subsequent live performances that have followed. Gilmour is currently on a North American tour, during which he and his band has already played shows at the Hollywood Bowl and The Forum in the Los Angeles area. Last Monday March 28th 2016, after his triumphant return to LA, Gilmour played a free outdoor mini-concert in the El Capitan Theatre parking lot in Hollywood, to be filmed for a broadcast on the national television talk show ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’. Fans that could not afford tickets to the big concerts (or even those that did) were beyond excited at the chance of seeing Gilmour up close in this intimate setting, and all was in readiness for a special, albeit brief evening of timeless music.
Fans that were able to reserve free tickets on the online platform 1iota.com, lined up hours before the scheduled check-in for the event, and at around 5:30, were granted access into the JKL back lot. The audience was not subjected to watching the studio portion of this JKL episode, which was unusual, and despite it still being bright overhead, the concert started as early as 6:15. Gilmour and his band played five songs in total, three off of ‘Rattle That Lock’, and two Pink Floyd songs ‘High Hopes’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’. The beauty of being a rock/metal fan in Los Angeles is not only the opportunity to attend such events for free, but also the possibility of witnessing certain songs being performed live twice in succession, whereas most people would dream of hearing it just once. Because of some minor mishap in the first take, ‘High Hopes’ was played twice, much to the delight of the fans, as was the new song ‘Today’.
Based on this performance, Gilmour clearly still remains to be the god of the guitar tone, and to accompany his genius on the instrument, his singing voice has aged most gracefully. Besides his signature conventional electric guitar, as a bonus treat for the audience he also played the horizontal slide guitar for one of the songs. Even though this 45-minute mini-concert was sans the visual production that typically enhances a David Gilmour live performance, this one was all about pure musicianship, and turned out to be its own unique experience because of it, the kind of experience the ticket holders for the big concerts wouldn’t get. That being said, a full-fledged David Gilmour concert would certainly be worth the admission and then some, and readers who already have tickets to the upcoming shows (most if not all of which are already sold out) should consider themselves fortunate, because watching David Gilmour in concert, even at his age, is nothing short of a privilege.
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Set List:
01. In Any Tongue
02. High Hopes
03. High Hopes
04. Today
05. Rattle That Lock
06. Wish You Were Here
07. Today
Remaining U.S. Tour Dates:
04/04 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
04/06 – Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre
04/08 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
04/10 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
04/11 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
04/12 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden