David Gilmour's Final ‘Comfortably Numb'? Watch the Pink Floyd Icon Play ‘The Wall' Classic in 2016
David Gilmour’s Final ‘Comfortably Numb’? Watch the Pink Floyd Icon Play ‘The Wall’ Classic in 2016
David Gilmour announced the first dates of his Luck and Strange tour last week, but he told Uncut that it’s going to be a very different tour from his previous ones because of an “unwillingness to revisit the Pink Floyd of the Seventies.” He went on to explain that he was willing to play Floyd songs from the Syd Barrett period of the Sixties, and his own era fronting the group in the late Eighties and early Nineties.
The “unwillingness” to play Seventies Floyd songs wasn’t explained, but it might have something to do with the fact a guy named Roger led the band during that time. This resulted in monumental albums like Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. Gilmour was the lead vocalist on many of the most beloved songs from this period, including “Breathe (In the Air),” “Wish You Were Here,” “Time,” “Money,” “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” and “Welcome to the Machine.” And he shares the leads of “Run Like Hell” and “Comfortably Numb.”
The songs have been at the center of Gilmour’s solo shows for decades, but relations between him and the guy that wrote or co-wrote them are not in a very good place right now. In fact, they’ve been squabbling for about 50 years, and the situation descended into an ugly legal mess in the mid-80s, but it’s never quite been this acrimonious. That likely explains why Gilmour is prepping a show where the name “Waters” may not appear on the credits of a single song.
If he sticks to that pledge, it means he won’t perform “Comfortably Numb” – even though it’s been the climax of every solo show he’s done over the past 40 years. The last one took place Sept. 30, 2016, at London’s Royal Albert Hall on the final night of the Rattle That Lock tour. Check out fan-shot video of the moment.
Gilmour’s new tour kicks off back at the Royal Albert Hall on Oct. 7, and it’s quite possible that he has a mild change of heart and decides to play one or two Seventies Floyd songs. He left himself a bit of wiggle room by saying that decades other than the Seventies will be “better represented.” If he plays just a single song from the Seventies, it’ll likely be “Comfortably Numb.” But then again, Gilmour seems determined to prove he can still headline large venues without relying on a single Waters tune. We’ll see in October if it actually happens.
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