Rattle That Lock is what I consider a weak album. In my dreams I was hoping to listen to older solo material like "There's No Way Out Of Here" or "Blue Light", but it didn't happen.
The organisation was a bit chaotic, the location didn't help even if it's not the first time that Circus Maximus is used for a concert. There I've seen Ella Fitzgerald and the Rolling Stones, just to mention a couple of artists, and if my memory doesn't fail PG's Genesis played there as well.
So once the checks were passed My wife, my elder daughter and I took our numbered chairs. The stage had a big circle on the top, something already seen of course, but everytime I see it live it gives me a particular sensation. No support artist. No radio music. Only what seemed to be a sound check for some registered sounds: the "ping" that opens "Echoes", the clocks of "Time", some sounds from "On The Run" and so on.
Guessing which songs they were from was a nice game to play, waiting for the concert to start. At 9PM in Rome there's still some light but it started punctual. When you play in a historical location you can't be late.
I was partially disappointed when Sir David opened with the first two tracks of his last album. I was expecting an intro like "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", but with a bit of surprise I realized that Those track are not that bad in their live version. Gilmour's guitar can transform even the "Quack Quack Dance" into a good song.
While Gilmour approaches the slide, I think to a friend, hard PF fan and send him a text to know if he's here, too. No. He will come tomorrow.
The first taste of Dark Side Of The Moon reminds us who is the guy on the stage. A splendid version of Us and Them, Money very close to the original studio version...it's a pity that he can't play the whole album. Each time the concept is interrupted is like somebody zapping on your TV while you are watching something good. By the way, in the same time Italy is playing the euro quarter final match vs Germany....I can't care less....
Gilmour is able in alternating old Pink Floyd's and new material, and while he proceeds I realize that Rattle That Lock is not so weak as an album. Listening with enough attention I can hear a sort of link to "On An Island", especially when he plays it. What a song!
As usual, there's not a single note outplaced and "Astronomy Domine" sends me back in time in a way that no other song can. I'm one of the few, probably, to have actually approached Pink Floyd's music from "The Piper at The Gates Of Dawn". Ages ago, I was used to study with a schoolmate who liked doing maths with the Piper in background. "Fat Old Sun" which in Gdansk was played in the "BBC" version, is executed in the studio arrangement, but the final guitar solo is extended to various minutes. I don't know for how long, but if it was for me he could have played it even for a couple of hours.
Now, you must know that my daughter was born in 1993. When she was one year old, on the evenings I was used to make her sleep with High Hopes in background and her on my shoulder, walking arond a table at the rhythm of the chorus. The first time she watched the video she cried at the end because she wanted more. Later I bought her a big teddy bear lie the one in the video...
...Few bells sounds and she was cvrying like a fountain. But now she's 23.
With High Hopes the first half of the concert is gone and the band takes 15 minutes. During this time, Italy which was below 1-0, scored the 1-1. Somebody sang the usual notes of the White Stripes which are a football anthem since 2006, but not as much as I could have expected.
The band is back and we, I think all the about 30,000 persons present, start wondering about Comfortably Numb. When will it come?
I can't mention all the songs. While time passes I'm less confident about Echoes. He played it in Gdansk, but there was some Richard Wright there. I'm right. Echoes will not come, but "What Do You Want From Me" and "Sorrow" bring back memories. I've been at the two PF tours for A Momentary Leapse of Reason and later for The Division Bell and I realize that it was about 30 years ago...
The jazzy interlude of "The Girl In The Yellow Dress", supported by a very good animated movie on the "circle" gives another point to the last album. I'm afraid I will have to rewrite my review.
Run Like Hell is a perfect closure for a concert, and for Comfortably Numb we have to trust only in the "bis".
As expected, the band is back, but the sound of clocks is a sort of bad surprise. TIME??? Can he close the concert without playing what is considered the best solo of his long career?
..."Calls the faithfuls to their knees to hear the softly spoken magic spells"...when one expects the B minor that belonged to Wright's electric piano, a different B minor comes from guitar and bass. Finally Comfortably Numb is arrived, but everybody knows that it will be the last song.
The solo is great as expected and is extended enough. About 3 hours are gone. Transatlantic is not the only band able to stay on the stage for so long. The night is mild, We have to walk for one kilometer to get a night bus. Italy is out of the European cup and I don't care at all. Probably more than half of the people walking in my same direction doesn't care of that as well.
I still have parts of solos "coming back to life" in my mind. My daughter is less hard than usual. High Hopes has opened something in her heart, who knows how long it will be so? We buy some slices of fresh coconut and proceed to the bus stop. I think to David Gilmour. Will he go to sleep? He has a replica tomorrow, then Pompeii on the 7th of July and is not a boy. Will I have the opportunity of seeing him again on stage? Will I see again Roger Waters who was in Rome with The Wall two years ago?
Who knows?
Time to change page. At the end of the month Battiato plays with Alice in the Auditorium. The tickets are still available. I only have to convince my wife...
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David Gilmour - Rome July 2nd 2016
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