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| David Gilmour of Pink Floyd |
Last night was the second show David Gilmour performed at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA. (David Gilmour was the former guitarist and lead vocalist for Pink Floyd.) With a ticket that had a face value of $95 and a seat about 20-25 rows from center stage, my expectations were high. And luckily, Mr. Gilmour didn't disappoint.
The other musicians on stage with Gilmour included:
- Richard Wright - Pink Floyd’s original keyboard player
- Phil Manzanera - Roxy Music guitarist and co-producer of ‘On An Island’
- Guy Pratt - bass player with Pink Floyd and Roxy Music
- Jon Carin - keyboards and longtime player with Pink Floyd
- Steve DiStanislao - drums, recently played with Crosby & Nash
Now the question that kept running through my head was 'how much are these backing musicians getting paid?' Specifically, regarding Richard Wright... I can't imagine he's being paid the same amount as the other musicians. And if he's on tour with Gilmour, where was Nick Mason, Floyd's original drummer? Scheduling conflicts? Not enough money? Too old to hit the road again? Or was it that if Nick Mason joined up with Gilmour, David wouldn't be able to get top billing throughout the tour and properly promote his new album, "On an Island"? If that's the case, why add Rick Wright to the line-up at all? Surely, Gilmour didn't need Wright in order to sell-out the entire tour. And yet, there Rick Wright was on keyboards and backing vocals and yet his name didn't appear in any of the show's billing. Whatever the arrangement, the band sounded fantastic with the Paramount's extraordinary acoustics.
I also met a hard-core Floyd fan who attended the show the night before too. This guy paid $850 for a front row seat, and $750 for last night's second row seat. The guy was a nut. He was driving down to LA for the next two shows later this week too. He also mentioned something about London too, but at that point, my mind was starting to wander as he kept talking.
On to the details of the show! There was no opening band, and Gilmour played for nearly 3 hours straight -- including a 20 minute intermission. I have to say that the live version of his new album is much better than listening to the CD (even though the CD is growing on me.) The second set was what the entire audience was waiting for -- Floyd material! The highlights included the 20 minute jam session of "Echoes." And also "Arnold Layne" made its' first appearance in a live show since the Floyd toured in the 60's.
Overall, a fantastic show!
