David Gilmour: Live in Gdansk

The limited-edition 5-disc set of David Gilmour's "Live in Gdansk" is an amazing fusion of audio and video. Is it worth the money, though? I suppose that depends on how big a fan you are of the guitarist/vocalist and/or his former band, Pink Floyd. Being a fan of both, I find this set to be very compelling. On the two main CDs, Gilmour offers up 148 minutes of music, nicely balancing work from his 2006 solo album "On an Island" with older, classic Pink Floyd material. CD 1 features all ten tracks from "Island," including the lovely "Smile," the harder-rocking "Take a Breath" and the wistful "A Pocketful of Stones." The four Pink Floyd songs are all from "Dark Side of the Moon": "Speak to Me," "Breathe," "Time" and "Breathe (Reprise)." CD 2 finds Gilmour reaching back into the Floyd canon for some early stuff, including his take on Syd Barrett's "Astronomy Domine," plus his own "Fat Old Sun" from "Atom Heart Mother," plus some more recognizable stuff such as "Echoes," "Comfortably Numb" and "Wish You Were Here." The two DVDs offer the following: 1. Video of the Gdansk concert itself, including "Castellorizon" and all the other "On An Island" songs plus versions of these Pink Floyd songs: "Astronomy Domine," "High Hopes," "Echoes," "A Great Day for Freedom" and "Comfortably Numb." Disc 4 is the other DVD, offering video performances from other stops on the "On an Island" tour, and some other goodies: For one, it has three "barn jams" of Gilmour playing with the late Rick Wright and other musicians. For another -- and this is one of the collection's gems -- a DVD-Audio only section with a complete 5.1 mix of "On an Island"! Altogether, the two DVDs offer 289 minutes of material -- nearly five hours. Disc 5 is a bonus CD of audio tracks from the 2006 tour, and includes "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," "Coming Back to Life" and "On the Turning Away." The lavish packaging also includes some photos and tour memorabilia such as a replica of a backstage pass, but honestly, I hardly glanced at the stuff. The audio and video content here have been my focus, and will continue to be for quite some time. This is a collection to savor, and to return to, again and again.

Here is one very satisfying concert if you are a Pink Floyd fan. David Gilmour truly shows of his great "guitar man" finesse here , and he's joined by a great supporting cast of musicians including Richard Wright and Phil Manzanera. And not only do you get a great double-CD album, but you also get much of the concert footage on a great DVD! It is a recording of the final show of his "On an Island" album tour in 2006, where he played to a huge audience at the Gdańsk Shipyard in Poland, to celebrate the founding of the Solidarity trade union. The "On An Island" album is certainly featured here, but there is much more in store for Floyd Fans. There are some great renditions of some of Pink Floyd's best stuff from many of their albums. One which I particularly liked was "Astronomy Domine", which actually goes way back to the Sid Barrett days! On a more solemn note, this is considered to be the last PInk Floyd-related recording which features Richard Wright. Sadly, though it was recorded in 2006, it was not released until September 2008, which was one week following Richard Wright's death.

Oh, man is this something!!!! Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show! Really good, with a really fine band; all top-notch musicians, and an Orchestra that sounds lovely. Very nice, indeed. Comes with a 2nd DVD: a show in London, some rehearsal songs, and a couple of jams in his converted Barn on his estate. All of the songs are spot-on, no mistakes, and this was Rick Wright's last performance before he passed away. Gilmour dedicated the finished product to Rick. A nice booklet with comments and pics, and two audio CDs. Very nicely packaged and sounds superb in High-Def. Not to be missed, and highly recommended! If you love guitarists like I do, you'll love watching a master at his very best. Just can't say enough good things about it. Wonderful!

Amazing concert, both audio and visual! Gilmour always sounds amazing. My package came quickly and packed great!🔥🍀🤘🏻

I have been a David Gilmour fan for a long time. Got into Pink Floyd back in the late 70's not long after he put out his first solo album (which is now 30 years old as I write this). Followed him through all the years of Floyd, his solo albums, and all that. When I heard he was putting out a live album, I wasn't terribly sure I was going to get it. Live albums are a mixed bag with me. If you saw the tour a live album came from, then it's kind of a must purchase. But if you weren't, you're essentially buying the same songs again. So I kind of waffled. Then I saw the track listing, and it was quite varied. Went into the ancient days of Pink Floyd (60's era), and hit the usual Floyd hits. It also had quite a few songs from his third solo album. If there was any disappointment for me, it was that there were not any tracks from David's first two solo albums - there's a lot of good stuff there (mostly on the second), but that wasn't a major deal. The selling point for me was Rick Wright. As one of the founders of Pink Floyd (Gilmour was not), it kind of felt more like a Floyd album with two of the guys there, so I pre-ordered it. Then Rick Wright died before it was released. It kind of turned into a tribute because of that. The music itself was quite good. It was recorded on the final date of the tour for his On an Island album. It was in Gdansk Poland - in the shipyards made famous by Lech Walensa (sp?). The track selection was pretty good, had some stuff I was not expecting (Astronomy Domine, Echoes!), and I did enjoy hearing live version of his third solo album. So yeah, I enjoyed it. I'm not terribly sure it's for everyone though. This does have a unique feel in that there's an orchestra playing. Lots of bands do that now, but this seems to fit the music more than most bands who just go "Oh, here's an orchestra, too". A bit of a note here. There were MANY different versions of the thing. David Gilmour's site details all of them, but I bought the 2 CD / 1 DVD version myself.

Great performance and recording quality.

I have only watched the DVD and still have not heard the CDs. However, the DVD alone is worth this great package. It is incredibly refreshing for someone who has followed Pink Floyd and its members artistry from the beginning of their magical unification. David Gilmour transformed Pink Floyd since Syd Barrett left the band in the 70's and up until now he remains one of the greatest musicians of all time. What makes artists great is their unwillingness to compromise to comercialism and to remain faithful to themselves, to satisfy themselves first and then to hope that others will like their art. Visually speaking this concert does not have much to offer, however, watching young generations that weren't even born before Pink Floyd says a lot about how transcendent Pink Floyd and David Gilmour's music is across present generations and others to come. Musically speaking, it is an outstanding concert that will take your breath away.

It is one of the best concert one can enjoy not just because it is Pink Floyd but because of David Gilmour and the other two members of the band but also the Orchestra, the drummer. Everything isfantastic. The bundle has also de CDs to enjoy it in the car. High quality video and sound