David Gilmour in Concert

A good lecture must begin approaching some very interesting subject, or a joke, to catch the attention of the audience. I believe the same principle applies to the opening of a concert. In this regard, David Gilmour almost spoils a great concert with an awful presentation of the wonderful "Shine on You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5", with a very cheap and boring lonely solo. In this moment, I was completely disappointed with the DVD. Fortunately, he seems to be only warming-up for a great presentation.

Listening to the songs of Syd Barrett, and the most of the classics of Pink Floyd sang in the soft and beautiful voice of David Gilmour worth the show. I loved also Caroline Dale, magnificently playing the cello. The singers are efficient as usual in a Pink Floyd concert, only in a higher number (twelve, I guess). I personally did not like the narrative of "Confortably Numb" made by a guy in a wheelchair, in the Melldown Concert; and Bob Geldof reading the text, in the Royal Festival Hall Concert 2002, disappointed me a lot. I am Brazilian and I know the lyrics by heart, and the guy needs to read them? Further, lasting the arrangement of the song, extending the compass to change the guitar to an electric guitar is also very unusual in a live presentation. David Gilmour singing in French is also weird. The DVD has lots of Extras and I believe no fan will be disappointed with its content. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "David Gilmour in Concert"

I bought this DVD on faith in one of my favorite Guitarists in the world. At first I was taken aback. The concert starts with David, standing alone on stage noodling around on an acoustic guitar, and he works his way into Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part 1. OK, at this point I was enjoying the show fine, but it wasn't what I expected. Then the sax player came on stage and put goose bumps down my back. Not only is Mr Gilmour awesome, but every musician that appears on stage with David throughout this show is incredible.

The concert starts mellow and soft, builds to the climax (With Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part II) then ends with a very mellow Hush-a-bye Mountain. High points include the George Bizet tune and the home video on the extra's portion of the DVD.

This is not a renter - if you're a David Gilmour fan, buy it and watch it over and over again.

I picked up this concert video by mistaken identity. I miss-took this for a live performance of a solo project that included the Hit song "There's no way out of here"(which was a big hit for David Gilmour)that he recorded between Pink Floyd records. The shock that I had was instantly replaced with total Awe! This wonderful moment of guitar playing and song, captured in time for us to enjoy shows right from the beginning that David Gilmour could easily entertain us with just his guitar and a few electric gadgets. But it doesn't stop there! As guest musicians slowly enter this sonic arena one by one, we hear old classics like "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" and the all time classic "Comfortably Numb" done to perfection live! As I was watching and hearing, my mind put to rest any left-over notions that old "die-hard" Roger Waters disciples used to throw out saying "Pink Floyd is a fake without Roger in the band". As a true Pink Floyd fan I would never try to doubt Roger Waters importance to Pink Floyd's unique blend of Music with his cynical, sometimes twisted lyrics and unique bass guitar lines, but I think this Video proves that both David Gilmour and Roger Waters were sharing a parallel vision of music through Pink Floyd's Music. Maybe more then some would like to admit. This is a must own for even the most modest Pink Floyd fan, especially the die-hard David Gilmour version! The only thing that I could possibly say remotely negative about this video would be how easy he makes it look with his skillful playing and that, as always, it could have included so many more Pink Floyd Classics. That said, this is a masterpiece!

This is my favorite music DVD and one worth some discussion whether you are a Pink Floyd/David Gilmour fan or not. I don't know that there has been a concert enjoyed my so many of our friends who have never listened to much of Pink Floyd. So, even if you don't care much for Pink or you haven't listened much to Pink... you can still appreciate this DVD concert.

The guitar pickin'... use of the varied instruments, the choral group, and the relaxing style of music make this a must have DVD in my opinion.

The video quality is just okay... nothing spectacular, but the camera work is done very well.

The sound quality is where I believe this DVD shines... it is nothing short of awesome in DD 5.1, however a stereo track is available for those who would rather listen in stereo.

I'm giving this a 5 not because it was mediocre per se, but rather because compared to the Pink Floyd I know and love it was very disappointing. I was all ready to enjoy a different kind of experience from the great Gilmour when about 2 songs in I realized something was wrong. He was taking awesome music and making it depressing. The whole wonderful point of Pink Floyd was to create a feeling of being mesmerized by the delicious sounds of the unique band. Mellow music in some cases, on the fringe of sadness at times, but never boring or generic. Of course there was some fun in seeing him perform some of the classics, but it almost always ended up leaving me cold. I also wasn't impressed by that French song and even the special features were at best mildly interesting. Sorry, but go ahead and pick up the Pompeii disc instead, you'll get much more of what you really want.