David Gilmour Live In Gdansk CD

This 2006 concert took place at the Polish shipyards were Lech Walesa and his Solidarity Movement made their first impact in 1980, and it celebrates the spirit of that revolution. It also celebrates the spirit of Gilmour's former band, Pink Floyd. The show opens with Gilmour leading his band through a batch of tunes from Floyd's classic DARK SIDE OF THE MOON before launching into his most recent solo album, ON AN ISLAND, in its entirety. The second disc returns to the Floyd catalog, cherry-picking Syd Barrett-era psychedelic gem "Astronomy Domine," prog-rock epic "Echoes," and staples like "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb." LIVE IN GDANSK also ended up as an unintentional elegy to Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, who joins Gilmour here, and died days before the release of this, his last recorded performance.

This 2CD/2DVD set is the first live album from Pink Floyd's singer/guitarist, and captures the magic of his concert held in front of 50,000 people in the Gdansk shipyards, the final performance of his critically acclaimed 2006 On an Island tour. It also features the first ever recording of selected Pink Floyd classics performed with an orchestra, the 40-strong string section of the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zbigniew Prisner. Sidemen in the band include Richard Wright, Phil Manzanera, Guy Pratt, Jon Carin, Steve Di Stanislao, and Dick Parry. Extras include Gdansk diary featurette, live footage from Mermaid Theatre, London; AOL Sessions; and Abbey Road in 2006, and Barn Jams in 2007.

Programmer: Jon Carin.

Audio Mixers: Damon Iddins; David Gilmour; Devin Workman; Andy Jackson.

Audio Remasterer: Doug Sax.

Personnel: David Gilmour (vocals, guitar, saxophone); Guy Pratt (vocals, guitar, bass guitar); Phil Manzanera (vocals, guitars); Jon Carin (vocals, lap steel guitar, keyboards); Richard Wright (vocals, keyboards); Steve DiStanislao (vocals, drums); Dick Parry (saxophone, keyboards).

Additional personnel: Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Gilmour coolly reestablishes his credentials as British cosmic blues guitarist numero uno, nowhere more so than a formidable 25-minute version of Floyd's finest hour, their post-psychedelic odyssey 'Echoes.'"
Record Collector (magazine) (p.88) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "A suitably impressive backdrop for an equally impressive audio and visual extravaganza, the 2-CD set runs to nearly 160 minutes..."