Tour items
A year on from the first live shows, I wondered which items stick out in your mind as being symbolic of David’s ‘On an Island’ tour?
If you could list no more than six ‘things’ that will forever embody the album/tour experience for you, what would you choose?
Thanks to Luis G for inadvertently giving me the idea for today’s entry with his recent reference to David’s guitar strap, which once belonged to Jimi Hendrix.
Some other memorable ‘items’ could include Guy’s ‘Didn’t They Do Well?’ T-shirt, Polly’s photos, Ian’s exquisite Glassman statue… or our very own blog.
If you’re wondering about the photo above, then that’s Igor Sklyarov, a glass harmonica player who performs with his own trio. He was spotted by David busking on the streets of Venice and was invited to perform the wine glass intro to ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ at the Piazza San Marco, which was undoubtedly one of the many highlights of the tour.
There is a chat later today. Doors open at 3PM and close at 5PM (UK). Feel free to drop in. Everyone is welcome to come and discuss their tour highlights, or whatever else they fancy.
Just please take note of the rules, written in red, on your way in. Some things are not open to discussion, for obvious reasons.
The rules will be the first thing you see when you enter the chatroom.
Here are a few more of Stevie’s answers to your questions. More to follow soon.
Which was the most enjoyable concert for you on David’s tour? (Lesley)
All of the shows were great, but I’d have to say The Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, mainly because my family was there. My Mother was literally in tears that night seeing me up there and even though my Dad had never heard of Pink Floyd (he’s a WWII vet and into Benny Goodman and Big Band music) he was totally blown away by David and the whole experience. I think it was his first real rock concert and he’s 80 years old. Now that’s a hip Dad. Also, a lot of my mates came to the show and are still in disbelief… Of course I have to mention the Royal Albert Hall shows, Vienne, then there was Gdansk and Abbey Road… It’s all just so great!
What has been the most beautiful city that you have visited during the tour? (Claudio)
I really enjoyed the beauty of Austria and the unique quality of Venice, Italy.
Dear F.Ed.,
truly all the material and the immaterial items are in such connection with each other…anyway
1.the silhouette of David Gilmour on OAI cover and everywhere else
2.the ticket PLB4-seat 91…. (so nice to give it a glance sometimes again….sigh)
3.Really the first thing also i remember of that night and that struck me about is The guitar strap, that i knew very well as i saw it many times on Mrs.Polly’s pictures through this site, with reference to the many shows. So that in that precise moment i realized where i was and I said to myself: “Here I am, here he is!”
4.The (division) bell on the stage : I loooooooove very much the song “High hopes”and the bell IS that song for me
5. the white and bright hair of Mr.Wright, under the fantastic lights, while he was playing on the keyboards of hammond organs
6.the water/wine glasses – intro of SOYCD
7.the guitars, the steel pedal, the sax, all the instruments
8.my tears of joy and deep feelings
9.this site/the blog/the news
bye/ciao
Elisabetta
OT question. The wireman logo. Was that created several years ago prior to OAI and this tour? Sorry if I’m a bit ignorant here, but I thought I saw it on Gilmour DVD release from the early 2000s. Who actually designed that?
Thanks.
Andrew
[David Macilwaine is the artist responsible, and yes, you did see his work first on David's 2003 'David Gilmour In Concert' DVD (it's on the bottom-right corner of the cover). Please click your name below for David Macilwaine's website, which is also included on our Links page. - Features Editor]
Mr. Gilmour, I would like to personally thank you for the six greatest gifts that you “gave” to me last year.
1. On An Island
2. Life threatening experience to “pause and take stock” then was rewarded by your performances in Venice after not making the RAH shows. Making life a little more worthwhile. Life is much more than money buys.
3. Castellorizo itself. Megiste. Lonely, mysterious, magnificent. Even swam “The Cave” where the sun shines in, at just the right time. I needed to take a breath after visiting another by-gone era, caught in a time long past. And the Church was absolutely breathtaking. I have to thank Polly actually for this. It was your pictures, Polly that clinched it for me. I could keep going on and on…, but. : ) It certainly helped that the weather cooperated. I would like to compare experiences with H.Bayliss. Thank you David and Polly.
4. The shows………………….well, what can you say ?
5. That significant guitar strap.
6. David Gilmour. Troubador. Visionary. Mindful. Benevolent. Maestro. One hell of a guitar player.
BTW, Ripper I was right center stage, second column, seven rows back, but got as far as 3rd as I was mingling with others. You caught Friday nights show, eh ? Cos, if you caught Saturday nights show you had to love the inclusion of ‘Arnold Layne’ between ‘Wot’s…’ and ‘FOS’.
I have cherished also every moment I get up in here in The Blog and in the chat, missed today’s (sigh). Love to all of you Gabrielle, Becky, Lucia, ‘Nix, Erin (hope you’re doing well, how’s the recovery going ?) , Penny thanks for being there for my meltdown), Rudders, Ripper, George’s Mac. & Gipe and to everyone else. Well certainly cannot forget you, FED, you’re tops in my book.
Well the laundry isn’t going to do itself so…
Peace and Love To David and Polly and ALL !!! Cazart !
http://www.davidgilmour.com and Fan Fare/Blog – without it, my personal experience would be far less intense. That was you my friends who kept my faith to get RAH return tickets, thanks again
OIA CD/Book
RAH itself what a thrill, I’ve seen so much footage from there, so many great musicians/bands,
Gdansk
Abbey Road
but the most important are: people, which I met: Melissa, Angelo, Lorraine, Chantelle, Julie, Sue, Simon Emery, David’s entourage (band/management with special thanks to FED (we have not met, but You allowed me to AR competition) and Mr. David Gilmour himself, at last that was his art that it attracted me the most to follow this experience.
Another person, which I would like to mention is Pete – Coventry, which unfortunately I have not met (Pete, we were on the same 29th of May night), he kindly send me AL single thanks again, I hope that one day we will have an opportunity to meet somewhere.
Tomasz
Well for me it has to be these six!
1) This blog. Many great people I’ve met. Everyone here should pat themselves on their back.
2) Remembering the thoughts of others after Syd’s passing. Everyone was so kind and really that to me is when this place started becoming a community.
3) The Pulse Dvd. I watch it at least 5 times a week. I have to. It’s part of my life now, and I’m thanful for it.
4) Arnold Layne with Mr. D Bowie. The concert looks amazing, and that song was an imbelement of the tour.
5) Rick Wright and David Gilmour. Two of the most influential people in my life.
6) The Abbey Road TV programme. That programme was shot on my 20th B’Day, August 29th, so it was a speacial day for all of us!
Items:
The ticket to the concert itself.
The website, especially the blog.
The black strat, with the Hendrix strap (which was I believe was originally purple but faded to its current colour).
The wireman/glassman. Symbol of the tour, the website and the blog. Wouldn’t it be neat to have a “Didn’t they do well” t-shirt with a little wireman logo?
The stage full of equipment, including the legendary strats.
The bonus DVD. The AOL Session was great, so intimate. I didn’t miss the light show. This DVD is still on reqular rotation at home.
Guy: Thanks for posting. Can’t wait for your book! I will definitely pick it up. When’s the DVD coming out?
I am not sure why Brian Ferry said what he did in to a German interviewer, but there is a difference between admiring the marketing abilities of an organization and actually supporting their ideology (which you say he does not do). For example McDonalds, Starbucks, Microsoft, etc.
There was a cartoon I saw a long time ago. Atilla the Hun is talking to someone while his hordes are wreaking havoc on a village. This someone says something like: “All I’m saying is that we’ll get better press if we support the Arts”.
Finally, my condolences to anyone affected by the Virginia Tech tragedy. We have partial gun control here in Canada, but it doesn’t stop similar tragedies and kids being shot down in the street. There must be something that we can do to end this madness, I just wish that I knew what it is.
Guy! It’s so good to hear from you and to know you are still popping in! But dude… that IS kinda cruel to drop the Gdansk bomb in here. What does that MEAN??? Hope you are finding time to rest before the next Gilmour tour… (tongue firmly in cheek)!
Tim
[Another person, which I would like to mention is Pete – Coventry, which unfortunately I have not met]
Tomasz – who knows, one day. You might not like what you see though.
Pete – Coventry
[We have to tighten the gun laws here in America. We just HAVE to!]
Marijuana, Cocaine, LSD, etc. are illegal in the U.S., however people still manage to have those drugs.
If you make guns illegal in the U.S., then the only people who won’t have a gun, are the law biding citizens who just want to protect themselves, and their families, from the criminals who will always have guns, regardless of gun laws.
A criminal is a criminal, no matter how you slice it, and they are in every country. They are encouraged by the fact that a good percentage of the population is unarmed, and if gun laws are put in place, and every citizen becomes unarmed, the criminal will be more encouraged to commit crime, with his illegal gun that he will ALWAYS have.
[David Macilwaine is the artist responsible, and yes, you did see his work first on David's 2003 'David Gilmour In Concert' DVD (it's on the bottom-right corner of the cover). - Features Editor]
Hold on, I checked out the website and it raised another question. Is there actually a wireman sculpture out there as well (in addition to glassman)?? Or was wireman just a graphic that Macilwaine did for David?
It would be pretty cool if wireman was also a lawn ornament for the Gilmour residence.
Thanks.
Andrew
[I believe David has a sculpture of Wireman. - Features Editor]
tough one fed, but at least i’ll give you what you asked for.
items, people!!! physical things that symbolise the tour, not memories, people or songs. it is clear.
i don’t know why you bother, fed.
1. hendrix strap
2. ‘didn’t they do well?’ t-shirt
3. cumbus
4. saxophone
5. wine glasses
6. glassman
to piergiorgio:
i agree with you completely. europeans are clearly more civilised and i say this because i think it’s law in switzerland for all men to own guns, but the swiss don’t go around shooting each other.
violence produces violence and war produces war.
maybe if americans knew what war is really like (and i don’t mean the wars they cause in other countries), they’d learn how to control themselves. that would be good for the whole world.
Hmmmm…as an American, I am so tempted to jump in. But I will refrain and I think I will let the “civilized” Europeans fight this one out.
Thanks.
Andrew
Welcome back Guy!I was wondering where you were; you mean you were with Bryan Ferry? I love this man, he is so nice looking and his voice is so sensual…Happy to hear from you!
Sylvie de montréal
Piergiorgio & Victor,
Thanks for your input. In our darkest moments, we americans can find comfort in knowing that more civilised europeans stand ready with a higher moral authority.
(Watched some of Gdansk with David & Polly last night, amazing!! – Posted by: Guy Pratt]
How cruel can you be? You did that on purpose you big meanie!
The Karma police will be around soon, you know.
Melissa(*_*)
1. David Gilmour tickets in Oakland Paramount Theater one year ago today…
2. David Gilmour Green Military Jacket
3. David Gilmour & Dominoes
4. David Gilmour Program
5. David Gilmour Disk
6. David gilmour B^)
The six ‘things’ that will forever embody the album/tour experience for me…
Sadly, I missed all the tour/event schedules of David Gilmour last year. Reading the post from everyone brought these tours/events alive to me. I do come up with six items though:
1. Saw the DVD “P.U.L.S.E” concert on the Public Broadcast Station where they announced David Gilmour has a brand new solo “On An Island” – went and bought it the next day – that was already in September – really being taken by each and every song on the CD.
2. Found David Gilmour official website with exciting up-to-date News, Polly’s photo gallery, On An Island, stuff and nonsense, important stuff and last but not least, the Blog.
3. Video “SMILE”, “DARK GLOBE”, “ARNOLD LAYNE” made available on the site.
4. Photo of David Gilmour and Richard Wright on the roof top in Venice; how about David photo for Rankins’ exhibition.
5. Awards and Recognitions: Grammy nomination Best Rock Instrumental Performance: CASTELLORIZON; On An Island is certified Platinum for sales in the UK. Germany and Canada (if my memory serves me well) to name a few.
6. Guitar… slide guitar… acoustic guitar… jeans… dark T-shirt… focus… silver hair… David Gilmour with his haunting vocals.
Thank you.
Best wishes for the book, Guy!
Your book will be out in the same month when the Sundance Channel begins airing the Live from Abbey Road series here in the States.
[Piergiorgio & Victor, Thanks for your input. In our darkest moments, we americans can find comfort in knowing that more civilised europeans stand ready with a higher moral authority.]
I know that my opinion could have offended some of you and I feel the sarcasm in this mail. I just felt like making you think about things from another perspective.
Things CAN change, laws CAN change. What Europe is now is the result of all the bad things of our past, even our recent past. second world war especially, that destroyed completely our continent. a continent where hate and nationalism led us to this absurd war.
And on the ashes of that we changed, we evolved. We developed the continent on new basis of brotherhood between countries.
Be aware, I think the United States helped us in that, their presence in Europe has helped to make the growing new democracies strong. But in some things we are like the pupils who get better than their teachers: we put weapons down, we canceled the death penalty and we wanted to build something new. a new order.
Someone says that if you touch the bottom you can only go up afterwards. Maybe another tragedy like the one that happened can stimulate americans to see experiences of other countries and think if these could be useful to you.
I used the example of England and bobbies without weapons as a high example of civilization. In italy even traffic wardens wear a gun, and I think this is not correct. Some english could give me an opinion about what happens in their own country. But I think that if a man stands next to me with a stick, I don’t need a gun to kill him and I am not induced (though a criminal) to shoot. violence is an escalation.
Probably this is not the place to talk about these issues but it is an international community. I ask the american friends to hear these different opinions.
The mentality has not to be the same mentioned by some of your politicians: “who is not with us is against us”. The world is much more complicated than that.
Amedeo, I assume you second the idea that if more people (staff & students) would have been armed, the killing would have stopped sooner.
There is logic in that, but I think you are gradually creating a bigger problem than a solution.
Look, if on all the cars that I have owned the last 25 years a machine gun would have been mounted on the bonnet as a standard accessory, then I probably would have hurt somebody by now, or gotten hurt for that same matter, though I am really a peaceful take-it-easy boy, who would not hurt a fly. It’s the occasion that makes the thief sometimes.
Owning a fire weapon should not be a right, but a controlled privilege. Banning them in everyday life is a first practical step to halt the spiral of violence.
And no, you are probably right, it will have no direct effect on organized criminality, certainly not in the short run, but don’t let that stop you to change your approach to violence in society.
Fellow DG-fan, you scared me there with your thoughts.
[That wasn't what I was looking for, but... - Features Editor]
I know, I know… ;^))
1.) OAI art!!! (Sums up the “feeling” rather well… Storm couldn’t have done better…)
2.) Animated Wireman!!! ( Alexander Calder would have been amazed!!!)
3.) Polly’s (Lyrics and photos!!! A++)
4.) A richer appreciation for punctuation and grammar!!! Well… ;^))
5.) The black Strat and T-shirt!!! (Simple, powerful, effective!!!)
6.) Last, but certainly not least… FE’d!!! (Purveyor of “Tough Love”).
Didn’t I do well??? Such a nice group of people here… Good show!!! Tally ho!!!
Piergiorgio, I think you bring up some good points. Many of us, Americans, know that there are problems with gun control.
However, people having guns doesn’t mean they are more likely to use them. There is a whole movie based on that topic called ‘Bowling for Columbine.’ I think a lot of the problem is how America tends to glamourize violence, in movies, TV and music.
Me personally, as an American, I think we have much bigger issues that we need to deal with. Like being in debt billions of dollars, getting out of Iraq, health care, poverty, prison system, care for our own people (Hurricane Katrina). I like to think working on these other areas in society will naturally change the amount of violence and particularly gun violence.
We, Americans, know we’ve got problems. We can only change things, as a society, as fast as we can each change indivdually.
~Erin
Piergiorgio…as one of the American’s here, I would like to say that you did not offend me. The killings offended me. I may not agree completely with what you said, but it was well put and thought provoking.
In my opinion this countries old line ‘the right to bear arms’ has been taken too literally. When that was written, it meant something entirely different. It is antiquated thinking. I wish people would stop to think what it really means.
There are too many guns. They are too readily obtainable, and the idea that the so called ‘good guys’ need to have them to protect themselves against the ‘bad guys’ is not the solution. You could be putting a gun in the hands of someone breaking into your home. More needs to be done for people before they get to the stage where life seems hopeless. There is no simple solution.
I really like your remark ‘on the ashes of that we changed, we evolved.’ I think I am going to put that on my wall at work for others to read.
Thank you to those who come here with wonderful and funny comments. With kindnesses to others. With thoughtful remarks about the world and it’s problems. Maybe blogs will be one of the ways in which we learn more about each other and maybe improve our understanding of each other. It certainly opens up a dialogue on subjects. And I appreciate all your views even if I may not always agree. You all make me think, about your opinion and sometimes it changes mine.
May you all have a peaceful evening.
luv you
jan
Ronny,
Don’t get scared, I also am an easy going guy with no intentions of hurting anyone. I just get a little annoyed when some psycho starts shooting people, the first thing everybody says is take people’s guns away.
The majority of gun permit holders in the U.S., and many other countries are honest people, that just want to protect themselves.
Look at what those terrorists did on 911, they didn’t have guns.
If we are talking about domestic problems, where a person shoots their spouse, and someone says “see, if he didn’t have a gun, that wouldn’t have happened”, then we all know that they will do it some other way.
My point is crazy criminal people exist unfortunately, and I like my right to bear arms, to protect my wife and children from them.
My apologies to all my fellow bloggers, for these posts that are not DG related, but I guess sometimes we have to say what we feel.
Now I have to go listen to something Gilmourish, you know, to relax and be happy.
Good night to all.
“I just felt like making you think about things from another perspective”
“…. we evolved”
“Maybe another tragedy like the one that happened can stimulate americans to see experiences of other countries and think if these could be useful to you”
Bosnia, riots & burnings in France, bombs on trains in Spain, bombed subways in the UK.
Your message that america should suffer more to evolve will assuage the grief and pain we apparently are lacking but must endure.
Things … must think ‘things’!
1. Wireman greeting me every time I opened David Gilmour dot com ;>)
2. The album/cd “On An Island” with it’s beautifully subtle artwork that perfectly complimented the lyrics contained within the book design. Even though I’d pre-ordered three copies of the cd from an online store, I found myself in Maui (a last-minute, much-needed vacation) on the release date so I did what any David Gilmour enthusiast worth their salt would do — I bought one to listen to right then and there while I was on an island!! What could be better? Bliss …
3. Polly’s gorgeous photos which allowed us a peek behind-the-scenes during the musical journey, collaboration and evolution of what would become On An Island. Polly’s photos took us to all of those incredible locations and performances complete with shots of the spectacular light show executed by Marc Brickman — bravo!
4. Beneath Polly’s photo o’ the day there was always FEd’s detailed description of the venue, information on where people were meeting up, concert news, set-lists, and a thousand other bits of information. While accomplishing all of this, FEd was also keeping tabs on the ‘needs’ of the Irregulars, informing us of and handling surprise events (Mermaid Theater, Leno Show, Abbey Road), helping people with ticket issues, answering many hundreds of questions (or was it one question answered hundreds of times?), and keeping people in line with threats of ‘the wrath of the pointy stick’ when it seemed appropriate. FEd has helped greatly in the formation of this community of friends from all over the planet and I thank him/her for that!
5. The Paramount and Kodak Theatre shows! The band — David in black t-shirt, black Strat being held in place by Jimi’s guitar strap; Richard in his white shirt; Phil in polka dots; Guy hoping around in his special ‘proud’ shirt; Jon musician multi-tasker; Stevie having a blast on the skins; and last, but not least, Dick Parry with the dueling saxophones! Each and every one of the musicians were totally in the groove and pulled us right in that groove with them. Added to that was the outstanding light show which was far more than I expected given the smaller more intimate venues. Thanks again to Marc Brickman for that!
6. The wild FEdmeister Surprise! A beautifully executed conspiracy that resulted in Ian’s magnificent Glassman and a certain football jersey for a special friend, all coming together with only a few scary moments here and there. This adventure was also the starting point for a lot of new friendships.
To be continued…
The NRA is fond of teling us that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. As we have seen time and again, people with guns can kill many, many people all at once. The problem in America is not that we have guns. The problem is that we are a very violent people, and too many of us have guns.
Guns were invented to kill. Every gun is a killing machine. The answer does not lie in arming even more people. The answer lies in disarming as many people as we can.
There are people who say that gun laws would take guns away from the good guys, while allowing the bad guys to have their illegal guns. At Virginia Tech, the madman used guns that he legally owned. If the gun laws were tighter, this man would not have had these weapons during his rampage. He may have hurt one or two people with a knife, but with his unfettered access to guns, he killed 32 and injured dozens more. Our gun laws made it legal for him to buy the tools he needed to carry out his evil.
Let’s apply the logic of gun advocates to a different situation. It is true that crack is illegal in this country but the criminals can still get it. Does that mean we should legalize crack so that people with “good intentions” can use it? After all, drugs don’t get high, people get high. Do you see where this is going? It’s a flawed argument, as is the argument that we should all have guns.
If everyone had unfettered access to guns in this country, the gun makers would soon start rolling in the money. But there would be many, many more shooting rampages. That is why we have to stop.
We have to tighten the gun laws. We just have to.
Continued…
I think all of the above should qualify as ‘things’ that will always come to mind when I think of the whole On An Island album and tour experience. Of course if you had asked for special moments, emotions, etc. I have an abundance of those, but I think I’ve expressed most of those over the last 15 months in many posts.
It’s a year ago tonight, right now, that my son and I were in the midst of the gig at the Kodak Theatre and that memory is happy and strong and I will treasure it always. Many thanks to David, Polly and the ‘boys in the band’ for making those memories possible. You’ll never know how much they mean to me
I’ve been trying to put these thoughts together for the last three days but, due to sad events very close to home, the tragic events in Virginia, the on-going tragedy being played out in the Middle East, the genocide that is taking place in Darfur and other regions, it’s been difficult for me to ‘lighten up.’ Part of me feels compelled to comment on some of divisive and accusing commentary that I glanced through while scrolling down the page, but it’s nothing new is it? Shall I play Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind” or “Masters of War”, “Only A Pawn In The Game” or “It’s Alright Ma … I’m Only Bleedin”? No, tonight I think I’ll lay down my weary head and listen to “The Blue” … thanks David for that too!
Peace, love and understanding!
Gabrielle
Washington State
I dont pretend to know the answers, however, there is a song called ‘Cloudy Now’ by Blackfield that tends to sum things up, in todays climate, rather well.
Look it up
Pete – Coventry
Thank you all for your thoughts on the recent tragic events in Virginia, the (inevitable) ensuing debate over gun ownership in the US… and even the odd ‘striking symbol’ from David’s tour, too.
As interesting as they’ve all been, this topic is now closed.
Thanks again for leaving a message.