Gilmour's gig hits big screen

Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 14, 2007 at midnight

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David Gilmour's 2006 world tour didn't hit too many markets, but through the magic of DVD and digital streaming fans now can see it.

On Saturday the "guitar and voice of Pink Floyd" will do a live Q&A with fans nationwide via a satellite hook- up to 111 theaters in the U.S. Then Remember That Night - Live at the Royal Albert Hall will play in its entirety, with a higher-quality stream than you'll get when the DVD appears in stores on Tuesday. Gil- mour will even perform a song live during the broadcast.

He says he likes the notion of the simulcast "because you know as you are listening to it that millions of other people are listening to it at the same time." He answered a few questions exclusively for the Rocky Mountain News, as well as posing a couple of questions himself.

Rocky: When we last spoke you said you had no appetite for a huge world tour. How did you like the notion of this - limited touring and a DVD release/simulcast for fans who couldn't be there?

Gilmour: This event is a promotional tool - I want people to know that this DVD is out there. I would like to think that people are getting this DVD and they have a great big screen at home, a massive plasma or LCD screen at home and a great 5.1 sound system, and that they are going to invite a few friends around, have a glass of wine and watch the DVD. . . . So this is going some way toward that, doing this in cinemas. Those cinema speakers are often great; they really carry that low end. But I haven't got quite to the point where I envision staying at home in London and doing a concert and having it simulcast to cinemas all over the world live as I am doing that one concert. I haven't managed to persuade myself yet . . . you can't really quite replace that genuine live-ness.

Rocky: You cover (Floyd founder) Syd Barrett's Dark Globe on the DVD. Why that song?

Gilmour: Dark Globe just came into my mind. Between when we did the Albert Hall show and when we started off on the European outdoor part of this little tour, Syd died . . . It just leapt into my mind that I should do something for Syd on that particular occasion. That was the song that leapt into my mind . . . I didn't go through a list of songs and try to select one. On the record, Syd just throws it off - without seeming to know it too well. And I thought I should do something similar . . . I thought it would be fun to stand up on stage and try it for the first time in front of an audience. What can I say? It was great. It felt great to me. It's got the great line in it as well - 'Won't you miss me, wouldn't you miss me at all?' - that seemed to be an incredibly appropriate thing to be singing about Syd at that particular moment, because I do.

Rocky: Where did you get the notion that Crosby & Nash would work so well with you vocally, both in the studio on On an Island and in concert?

Gilmour: I went to a Crosby/Nash show here in London, and I asked them if they would consider doing it, because I had a song that I thought would work well with their voices on it. They said, 'Yeah, man, love to, when can we do it?' So it was just one of those very simple moments, again, not planned or thought about for any length of time.

Rocky: Do you consider any of the songs you performed in the theatrical version as your favorites?

Gilmour: Echoes, which we tried to do in '87 on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, and it just didn't seem to work. But on this tour the guys really got it and we did a great performance of it most nights. That really smacked of the old days to me. It felt like it did years and years ago - it was a great experience.

David Gilmour

• When and where: 1 p.m. Saturday, Greenwood Plaza 12, Denver Pavilions 15 and Colorado Mills.

• Cost: $12.50

• Information: davidgilmour.com

Mark Brown is the popular music critic. Brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674

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