Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. Holy shit, do I love David Gilmour. Pink Floyd has long been one of my very favorite things... and not just bands, either. I’m talking overall things, with Pink Floyd ranking somewhere around fire and the wheel on my list. It greatly saddens me that David Gilmour and Roger Waters are unable to work out their personal issues, but both of them continue to perform much of the Floyd catalogue when they tour. I’m itchin’ to see this one, and I’m glad Mastidon sent in this review to give some indication of what to expect when this title hits home video soon. Good stuff, and I hope we see lots more from Mastidon in the future:
Hey Guys, Mastidon here with my final review for awhile. Hopefully I will be able to bring you some scoops from Berlin. Already booked a place to stay at a friend's place and now just need tickets. Don't know if it will be as easy as Venice. We'll see. Anyway, I left Venice and headed to London to bring you this final report from the premier of David Gilmour's new DVD "Remember That Night".
The first time I saw Pink Floyd was a rainy night in September 1987 at JFK stadium in Philadelphia. Pink Floyd had just reformed with David Gilmour as the leader and nobody knew what to expect. It was a dark and misty night - perfect for Floyd. The first ping of "Echoes" opened the show and my life changed forever. I was no longer what anybody would call a casual fan. Since then, I have seen Pink Floyd live 7 times including Live 8, and Roger Waters and David Gilmour by themselves another dozen times. Roger most recently at Live Earth and David in Saint Mark's Square in Venice. David in fact was the inspiration to attend the film festival this year as it started a few days after his concerts ended last year. Gone were the red carpets, barriers, and the paparazzi. The screaming fans were still there, just inside the theater this time. "Remember That Night" was filmed over 4 nights at London's Royal Albert Hall. I made it to the 3rd night in that series so have a bit to compare it to. David's band comprised of Guy Pratt, Jon Carin, Dick Parry, Phil Manzanera, Steve DiStanislao, and Richard Wright, making Nick Mason the only current Pink Floyd band member missing.
The concert film is 2 1/2 hours long but for the premier they showed us 85 minutes. David opened the evening by performing Castellorizon (the opening instrumental track of On an Island) live. As he finished, the spotlights went off of him and the screen lit up instantly to the start of On An Island (with David Crosby & Graham Nash). The rest of the songs shown were This Heaven / The Blue / Take A Breath (with Crosby & Nash) / Shine On You Crazy Diamond / Time / Breathe (Reprise) / Arnold Layne (with David Bowie) / High Hopes / Wish You Were Here / Echoes. Echoes was something special with a big surprise. David had brought all of his lasers and stage lights from the tour and set them up inside the theater! During the moments in Echoes when the lasers and lights were used, they were also used inside giving the film a real 3-D effect. The cinematography was superb providing camera shots from every conceivable angle to give you a full appreciation of the performances. Nothing can ever replace being there live but this film gets as close to it as possible.
After the film, the lights came up and magically appeared a table and a couple of chairs for a live Q&A session. David took prerecorded questions from his website followed by live questions from the audience. Q: How was it like to see your own concert? DG: I've wanted to do that for 40 years.
Q: Which band would you have liked to play in if not Pink Floyd? DG: The Beatles Q: What made Echoes fit again since it was dropped in 1987? DG: For me, it never quite worked in 1987. I tried it in rehearsal and worked. The band had grown up a bit since then - just a bit though. (It worked for me in 1987!!) Q: Do you notice the lights and lasers when on stage? Do they put you off at all? DG: Rarely as they are aimed at the audience and he does not see them they way we do. Sometimes you just have to shut your eyes and hope for the best.
You can watch the full Q&A and even see Merritkat - who took all of these great photos. She stole my thunder by getting to ask the final question of the evening! I had the microphone in my hands only to be told, that they were out of time. Oh well You can also see David's opening performance of Castellorizon. You can see all of that right here.
After the Q&A, David walked over to his guitar. Summoning his band by name "Jon, Rick..." his entire band instantly appearing on stage with all of their instruments. Last to enter was Rick Wright who got a standing ovation. The band played a 10 minute rendition of David's island jam. After that, the evening and my 8 days of film premieres were complete. The DVD contains all kinds of great extras that are not to be missed. As we entered for the evening, they showed us the behind the scenes tour movie which follows the progress of the tour from start to finish. All in all, the DVD contains 5 1/2 hours of footage on 2 DVDs with additional performances not seen in the film including one of my all time favorites "Astronomy Domine" which was filmed at Abbey Road.
This DVD is as close to any new Pink Floyd material that we will get for a long time to come and is must buy for any Floyd fan. Its available September 17th in Europe and the 18th in North America.
Alas, home, home again. The sun is the same in a relative way, and I'm older. One day closer to death. The fun has ended for me for now. However - YOU! YES, YOU! Can still catch the North American Premier in cinemas around the U.S. and Canada on September 15th. For a list of the cinemas and tickets check here. Until Berlin, -Mastidon
