LIVE IN GDAńSK

There was a time when Pink Floyd was probably the most exiting live experience on our planet and many galaxies beyond. Umma Gumma, Pompeï and countless live bootlegs from around 1970 are the testimony to that. Then, the live output fell silent till they cashed in with the good but rather overblown live albums Delicate Sound of Thunder and Pulse.

But now, finally, there is a worthy follow up to the Pink Floyd live heritage from the early 70's. David Gilmour got him self surrounded by his buddy Richard Wright and a nice selection of musicians that make the big PF sound come alive again but manage to avoid the high levels of hollow pomposity that DSoT and Pulse suffered from. Also Gilmour's voice sounds more hoarse and passionate then it ever was.

It starts off with a small selection of songs from Dark Side of the Moon. Too bad they didn't do the entire album with this group, as the versions of Breathe and Time here are the best I've ever heard. Alas, that pretty much sums up CD1 for me. I thought Gilmour's last studio album quite the snooze fest and the live renditions of those songs haven't convinced me otherwise yet. It's no problem really, there's another disk crammed with Floyd classics!

So, flash forward 10 songs and we have the first of the 2 surprises that makes this set essential for me. Sure, we all have heard about 15 live versions of Shine On Your Crazy Diamond already but here this song finally works for me. Really, I had always enjoyed the instrumental bits of it but never liked the vocal lines all that much. Here, Gilmour takes an entirely different approach to the verses and chorus and it does magic. This is it, much more intimate and genuine, this is Shine On as it always should have been. Perfect.

The second treat is of course Echoes, not that the remainder of the set isn't excellent but because we can finally enjoy a live rendition of this masterpiece again. Apart from the Pompeï version, which stayed close to the studio version, I have only heard 2 disappointing performances (sound wise) from bootleg recordings. One from 1972 and one from the 1987 tour. But here it is and it is astounding. Not all that different from the original but still a few new touches left and right. Especially the ending section is very nice.

Next to Umma Gumma, this is the second live from the Floyd (yes it says David Gilmour on the cover but do you really miss Nick Mason here?) that is absolutely essential in my opinion. However, until Gilmour's solo tracks have grown on me, this will have to do with 4 stars.