David Gilmour Plans First North American Shows in Eight Years

With a new solo album coming this fall, David Gilmour will return to the United States for a handful of shows for the first time in eight years. The artist, who is releasing Luck and Strange on Sept. 6, will perform at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 29 and 30 and New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 4 and 5. A teaser clip for the tour includes Pink Floyd’s “High Hopes,” Luck and Strange’s “The Piper’s Call,” and Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” — ostensibly suggesting that Gilmour will indeed be playing songs from throughout his entire career, despite previous reports.

Tickets for the U.S. gigs go on sale this week. Fans who sign up on Gilmour’s website will be able to access early tickets at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Tickets will go on sale generally at 10 a.m. local time on Friday.

These concerts, which will be Gilmour’s only North American dates, follow runs at Rome’s Circo Massimo and London’s Royal Albert Hall this fall.

Gilmour’s band for the tour includes bassist Guy Pratt, who played with Pink Floyd from 1987 to 1994 and with Gilmour as a solo artist for years, as well as keyboardists Greg Phillinganes and Rob Gentry, drummer Adam Betts, and guitarist Ben Worsley. The backing vocalists include Louise Marshall, Hattie Webb, and Charlie Webb.

Pratt, Betts, and Gentry all contributed to the recording of Luck and Strange, which Gilmour recorded in Brighton, England, over a period of five months with producer Charlie Andrew. When the album was announced, Gilmour said he found working with Andrew refreshing. “We invited Charlie to the house, so he came and listened to some demos and said things like, ‘Well, why does there have to be a guitar solo there?’ and ‘Do they all fade out? Can’t some of them just end?’” Gilmour said. “He has a wonderful lack of knowledge or respect for this past of mine. He’s very direct and not in any way overawed, and I love that. That is just so good for me because the last thing you want is people just deferring to you.”

The album also features lyrics by Gilmour’s longtime collaborator and wife, author Polly Samson, as well as their son, Charlie. The couple’s daughter, Romany, also played harp and sang lead vocals on the album’s “Between Two Points.” The song “Luck and Strange,” features contributions by Pink Floyd’s late keyboardist, Richard Wright, who died in 2008. They come from a barn jam that he and Gilmour recorded at the latter’s house in 2007.