david gilmour on an island tour

The Story Behind the Lenghtiest Pink Floyd Song That David Gilmour Retired in 2008

O n August 26, 2006, David Gilmour and Richard Wright played Pink Floyd‘s “Echoes” one final time. Staged at Gdańsk Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, on the final night of Gilmour’s On an Island Tour, was rounded out by tourmate Wright, along with Phil Manzanera, Guy Pratt, Jon Carin, and Dick Parry, who played saxophone on Pink Floyd albums  The Dark Side of the Moon ,  Wish You Were Here , and  The Division Bell .

Throughout the tour, which was documented on the DVD Remember That Night a live album  live album,  Live in Gdańsk —Floyd drummer Nick Mason also joined Gilmour during his London shows for “Comfortably Numb” and “Wish You Were Here,” while David Bowie also joined for the latter and the band’s debut, the Syd Barrett-penned “Arnold Layne.”

[RELATED: Planetary Misalignment: The Meaning Behind “Echoes” by Pink Floyd]

Wrapping up the tour in Gdańsk, at the end of the second set, the night would mark the final time members of Pink Floyd would perform their lengthiest track, “Echoes” from their 1971 release Meddle , and the last time Gilmour would perform with Wright, who died on September 15, 2008, at age 65.

Since Gdańsk, 2006, “Echoes” has been “retired,” according to Gilmour.

Echoes,” which ran 23 minutes and 31 seconds on Meddle , could never be the same without Wright. “Yes, it would be lovely to play ‘Echoes’ here,” said Gilmour  before his 2016 concert at the Amphitheatre of Pompeii. “But I wouldn’t do that without Rick. There’s something that’s specifically so individual about the way that Rick and I play in that, that you can’t get someone to learn it and do it just like that. That’s not what music’s about.”

[RELATED: The Six-Part Pink Floyd Song Roger Waters and David Gilmour Ended Up Hating]

Within its extended instrumental workings, Gilmour and Wright gave a 25-minute performance of “Echoes” in Gdańsk. “Rick really enjoyed that tour so much,” said Manzanera in 2014. “When they played ‘Echoes’ in Gdańsk, the middle part was like a musical conversation between David and Richard. I listened to all 35 concerts when I mixed the live album album, and that version of ‘Echoes’ was the longest one and the best one.”

Manzanera added, “Life is funny. It’s cosmic. It’s like Richard knew something was up, and he stayed on longer. It’s a magical song.”

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The post The Story Behind the Lenghtiest Pink Floyd Song That David Gilmour Retired in 2008 appeared first on American Songwriter .

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David Gilmour, 'On an Island'

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"high hopes".

• "On an Island"
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David Gilmour is definitely most well known for his part in Pink Floyd. Gilmour had been friends with Roger 'Syd' Barrett since they met as children in Cambridge. Syd joined Pink Floyd with Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright, but the other band members asked Gilmour to supplement the band when Syd was sidelined by severe mental illness. Gilmour guitar was integral on such releases as Dark Side of the Moon and A Momentary Lapse of Reason .

Gilmour was born in 1946 in Cambridge. His father was a professor at Cambridge and his mother was a teacher. Gilmour released his first solo album in 1978 in the midst of his Pink Floyd career and another in 1984. He has also collaborated with many other artists including Kate Bush, Paul McCartney, and Pete Townshend.

His latest release is a new solo album, On an Island . Its March release date was accompanied by an international tour of both the United Kingdom and the United States.

This segment originally aired on May 6, 2006.

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How David Gilmour Found Happiness With ‘On an Island’

By the late '90s, David Gilmour had earned the sort of financial stability that affords an artist enough freedom to take as long as they like between projects. He took full advantage, allowing his solo career to lay fallow for more than 20 years while only sporadically pursuing Pink Floyd as a part-time occupation.

In fact, Gilmour didn't get around to releasing his third solo album, On an Island , until March 2006 — decades after his most recent solo effort, 1984's About Face , and more than 10 years after after Pink Floyd's The Division Bell . The lengthy downtime was driven by a number of factors, including Gilmour's growing thirst for life away from the spotlight — and the creative and personal struggles he endured with his former Pink Floyd partner Roger Waters .

"The first one was just a quick blast. [...] It was really off the top of our heads. It was fun – comparatively, compared to Pink Floyd," Gilmour told Record Collector . "The last solo album in 1984 was at a time when we knew Roger wasn't going to be part of anything we did, but before he'd officially left. He had us trapped in limbo. I was putting my toe in the water. Then he left and I was unencumbered and carried on doing Pink Floyd. There didn't seem to be any reason to do a solo project."

Gilmour resumed his solo recording activity in 2001, collecting song fragments in his private recording studio on board the houseboat Astoria. "It's lovely to be here, you know," he later said of the studio, which he purchased in 1986 and used for The Division Bell and its Pink Floyd predecessor, 1987's A Momentary Lapse of Reason . "To have the water gently drifting past us and all that, and I like to have windows. You know I've spent rather too much time in studios and most of them don't have windows, and I can't stand being in places that don't have windows."

That gently drifting feeling couldn't help but seep into On an Island . Although Gilmour had never been known for favoring uptempo material, the songs he penned for the new album were among his most contemplative. The album's slow, introspective tone was further enhanced by orchestral arrangements courtesy of Polish film composer Zbigniew Prisoner. Working once again with his wife Polly Samson, who'd also contributed lyrics to The Division Bell , Gilmour turned to his past for the album's mood, if not the details.

"On On an Island I’ve gone back to my youth," Gilmour told Classic Rock magazine. "During that time, I was experiencing emotional isolation because my parents were more concerned with themselves than with their children. They were the kind of people who sent their little boys to summer camp while they went off to France or Italy on holiday. The moments of feeling totally isolated have now passed. As father of four young children, you hardly have any time for that."

Watch David Gilmour's 'On an Island' Video

After assembling the basic building blocks for On an Island , Gilmour reached out to his friend and neighbor, Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera, for assistance with co-production. Manzanera's input helped speed the process along, but only so much. Eventually, both men became convinced they needed a third person's input, and they drafted veteran producer Chris Thomas to serve as the third member of the records behind-the-boards triumvirate. Along the way, Manzanera and Thomas prodded Gilmour to send the project in directions he might not have taken on his own.

"The album was initially not only very acoustic, but also very orchestral," Manzanera told Sound on Sound . "I didn't think it was a brilliant idea to have so much orchestra, so it was diluted in the end. And finally, David's electric guitar solos were all done in ... the last month of recording. He left the electric stuff to the last moment, and I wasn't sure he wasn't going to do it at all. So, I was very pleased that we managed to get him back onto the electric guitar, and he put some great things on."

In addition to production help, Gilmour enlisted guest performers who added to the array of instrumental tracks he'd already recorded during the demo process. Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright contributed to a pair of songs, lending Hammond organ to the title track and vocals to "The Blue," and former Squeeze keyboardist Jools Holland also numbered among those making On an Island cameos. David Crosby and Graham Nash also added harmony vocals to the title track.

The end result, while among the quieter and more deliberately paced albums in a catalog largely devoted to avoiding stereotypical rock 'n' roll flash, clearly resonated with fans who'd waited years for new music. The record shot to No. 1 in the U.K., giving Gilmour his first chart-topper at home as a solo artist, and peaked at No. 6 in the U.S.. That added a suitably sweet postscript to a set of songs that, as many listeners noted, found Gilmour settling into a sense of contentment that few might have expected decades before.

"You know, that is my life," Gilmour said with a shrug . "Down the years, along with everyone else, I have despised songs about happiness. But, to me, this works."  

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David Gilmour’s On an Island Tour

Just a few hours before David Gilmour hits the stage in one of the most anticipated shows to come to the United States this spring, front of house engineer

By David John Farinella

Just a few hours before David Gilmour hits the stage in one of the most anticipated shows to come to the United States this spring, front of house engineer Colin Norfield and monitor engineer John Roden are sitting in the plush seats of the Paramount Theater (Oakland, Calif.) and laughing.

Any other audio duo might be a tad nervous before a show of this stature, but Norfield and Roden have been around the block; Norfield mixed the last Pink Floyd tour 12 years ago. They also know they have a team of seasoned veterans, both onstage and in support positions, and they have already worked one of the hardest shows of the tour.

“We rehearsed the band for a week and then we did David’s birthday party — a private gig in front of his peers. It was a bit brave of him and it was a bit brave for us,” Roden recalls while pointing to Norfield, “because we were off the stage side by side.”

“I couldn’t hear anything,” Norfield adds with his own laugh, “and I spent the night leaning over the console.”

After the birthday gig at Porchester Hall in London, the cast and crew of the On An Island tour made their way from Germany to France and Italy before North American dates in New York City, Toronto, Chicago, Oakland and Los Angeles. Gilmour’s touring band includes keyboardist/singer Richard Wright (who sang the lead on Pink Floyd’s first single “Arnold Layne,” which was performed for the first time since 1969), guitarist (and Gilmour’s co-producer) Phil Manzanera, bassist Guy Pratt, keyboardist Jon Carin and drummer Steve DiStanislao.

The jump across the pond was made a bit easier by the fact that they carried the same gear in the States as they did overseas. “We are both running [DiGiCo] D5s,” Roden reports. “Colin has the same [Turbosound] Aspect P.A. and I’ve got the same Turbo wedges [TFM-420s and TFM-450s]. Of course, the amps are different and the power is different, but in theory, it’s the same gig. At the end of the day, it was the most sensible option, because at least there is some consistency to what the musicians see and hear coming off of the back of the cabinets.”

At FOH, Norfield is using a D5 and outboard gear that includes a TC Electronic M6000, TC’s D-Two and three Yamaha SPX990s. “That’s about it,” he says. “My view of all gigs is simplicity, because the simpler you make it, the more you can concentrate on mixing and not messing around with other stuff.”

Indeed, other than standard delays and reverbs that come from the players themselves, the only time that Norfield played up an effected track was when Gilmour sang “Coming Back to Life” and a delay was used in the first chorus. He doesn’t believe it’s his job to alter the band’s sound to his ear. “Everything comes from the band, and to mess around with it too much would change the thing it’s about. The dynamics are coming from the band, and I deal with it as it comes. I just put it in its right place, but the actual essence comes from the band. It would be wrong for me to try and change that.”

The Turbosound Aspect system was selected before rehearsals started. “David told me he didn’t really like line array systems, so my options were really cut down because that’s all there was out there,” Norfield says. “We used a Turbosound Flashlight/Floodlight combination on the last tour, and we went down and did an A/B comparison with the new stuff. It’s nice. The high end is lovely and the top is very sweet. It’s working very well.”

FOH engineer Colin Norfield at the D5

photo: Steve Jennings

Norfield went conventional while miking the band, putting a Shure Beta SM91 and Beta 52 on kick, Sennheiser 421s on the toms, an SM57 on snare, and Beta 98s on the Roto Toms; hi-hats are miked with an SM81, with AKG 414s on overheads. Shure KSM-32s are on guitar cabinets (for Gilmour and Manzanera). The bass inputs are direct, and the pair of Leslie cabinets (both Wright and Carin each use one) are miked with a 421 on the bottom of the Leslie and a 57 on the top. The sax microphone is also a Sennheiser 421. All of the vocal mics are Neumann KSM-105s.

Norfield has a stock of dbx 166 compressor/limiters, dbx 160As and Drawmer DS-201 noise gates, but they are used sparingly. “The more open the better,” he says. “I’m pretty well known for open mixing and I try not to do too much. There’s not much compression, because everyone is singing — nobody’s really screaming.”

Roden selected a D5 on monitors because he looked at the tour and realized, “big input, no room. I think we’re both using the digital formats because of the limitations we’ve been given. It would not have been my first choice. If we were doing stadiums or arenas, I would probably have been using a couple of Midas H-3000s, but we just don’t have the space.”

The power of the D5 also gives a number of options, yet Roden points out he’s mixing in a very analog way. “I’m not using any of the preset scenes. The basic thing is exactly the same on each song, but because of way they play, Rick [Wright] might get excited one night and you’ll get loads of level off the Leslie, and one night he might not be quite so excited. You can put yourself in the ballpark, but it’s not a machine playing. They are human beings and they make mistakes and we make mistakes and hopefully they make more than we do,” he says with a laugh.

There was no talk of using personal monitors on Gilmour. “What I do for David is very simple: vocal, acoustic guitar, a couple of cues here and there,” says Roden. “When he plays the guitar, he puts himself in a spot that’s sweet for him, where he can hear everything he needs to hear, and plays — letting the band do all the work. He finds that sweet spot.” The only person using a personal monitor — and only in one ear — is the drummer.

Monitor engineer John Roden

Of course, the use of wedges has caused Norfield some worry at FOH. “I did mention my concerns at rehearsal about volume at some of the venues, but after that it’s up to me to deal with it,” he explains.

As the clock ticks closer to showtime, Roden and Norfield think about the impact of this tour as well as Gilmour’s catalog of songs on the fans. “When we were in Toronto, there was a woman who cried through every Pink Floyd song that David played,” Roden remembers.

“People go right back to where they were when they heard these songs,” Norfield adds. “When ‘Wish You Were Here’ comes on, people go back 30 years. They aren’t here anymore.”

David John Farinella is a San Francisco — based writer.

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June 1, 2006

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David Gilmour On An Island 2006

Welcome to the On An Island Tour Main Page. Please use the links on the left to visit any Tour Room

Official On An Island badge sent in by Alex from Moscow

Our friend Randy over at Outside The Wall, managed to score a short interview with Guy Pratt recently.

Here’s a fleeting glimpse.

Interviewer: David has said in the past that he did not enjoy playing echoes without Roger as much, but it has become a staple and fan favorite on the tour. Any idea what changed his mind, and do you enjoy playing it as much as we enjoy hearing it?

Guy Pratt: I still can’t believe we play it!! I LOVE IT!!! YOU HEAR ME!!!! We tried Echoes on the 87 tour, but some of the younger players (mentioning no names) couldn’t get their heads around the free form nature of it, so we had to give it up, I don’t really think it was lack of Roger that put David off. I would like to go on record as saying I think this band plays the best live Echoes that’s ever been.

Another David Gilmour Date Added As had been widely expected, David has added another concert to his tour. His Management have advised that David will now perform in Poland in front of an estimated crowd of 100,000! The concert, to be held on 26 August, will be at the Gdansk Shipyard, and and marks the 26th anniversary of Poland’s 1980 revolution, where nation-wide strikes led to the eventual fall of communism. Ticketing information will be available soon. TOUR ROOM

By popular demand Judging by the amount of emails, many of you really enjoyed Mark Estabrook’s images of David Gilmour in action at the Radio City Music Hall on 4 April  Mark has now kindly provided us with another couple of very special images, that make outstanding wallpaper, or can be added to your collections. Please remember, the images are for personal use only.

Simply Stunning Check out these beautiful professionally shot images of David Gilmour performing at the Radio City Music Hall on 4 April. They were provided to us by documentary film maker Mark Estabrook, and make magnificent wallpaper for your computer. Click on each image for the full stunning view. All images are copyright. Mark has no problem with you using them for your personal use, but please do not use them on web pages and the like.

New David Gilmour Dates Announced We have had official advice direct from David’s Manager that additional dates have been added to David’s tour. Curently confirmed are:

Thursday 27th July – Austria Nr. Linz – Clam Castle

Saturday 29th July – Germany München (Munich) – Konigsplatz

Monday 31st July – France Vienne (south of Lyon) – Théâtre Antique

There are additional dates on the way.

David Gilmour Rehearsals Gossip. Guy Pratt made another entry in the David Gilmour Blog where he states “Another long and fruitful day… Looks like we’ve got the set closer, and it’s a beauty….. ” (Tease!) We also know (a little birdy told us) that the following song was rehearsed……….. Wearing The Inside Out

Dick Parry Added To David Gilmour’s Lineup! We have had official notification from David’s Management that Dick Parry will now be joining David on tour. Dick, who is a Pink Floyd regular musician, will be playing the saxophone parts that David plays on the album.

Nick Mason will be at Royal Albert Hall! Sadly, not performing with David & Rick, but a whisper has it that Nick has booked a ‘Box’, and we understand it’s for the final performance of David’s tour on the 31st May, although that date is not definite. (Thanks Werner)

Busted! Ticket Agency Getmetickets.com have been shut down by the Government. These are the charming people who were asking £777 for a standard David Gilmour seat at the Royal Albert Hall! Good riddance to bad rubbish is our opinion. Read the story HERE (Thanks to Matt for the heads up).

I’m very much looking forward to this tour and making music with the great musicians in the band. I’ve had a fantastic time making ‘On An Island’ and really want to perform tracks from it, along with my more familiar repertoire. I’m rather hoping that with this tour announcement people will believe me when I say, honestly, this is the only band I plan to tour with!” – David Gilmour

Core Musicians

Dick Parry- Saxophone Phil Manzanera – Guitars Richard Wright – Keyboards Guy Pratt – Bass Jon Carin – Keyboards Steve DiStanislao – Drums

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David Gilmour Setlist at Piazza Santa Croce, Florence, Italy

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• Song played from tape Speak to Me ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Breathe (In the Air) ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Time ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Breathe (Reprise) ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• "On an Island" in entirety:
• Castellorizon Play Video
• On an Island Play Video
• The Blue Play Video
• Red Sky at Night Play Video
• This Heaven Play Video
• Then I Close My Eyes Play Video
• Smile Play Video
• Take a Breath Play Video
• A Pocketful of Stones Play Video
• Where We Start Play Video
• Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Wearing the Inside Out ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Astronomy Domine ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Fat Old Sun ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Coming Back to Life ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• High Hopes ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Echoes ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Wish You Were Here ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video
• Comfortably Numb ( Pink Floyd  song) Play Video

Edits and Comments

29 activities (last edit by sicko , 10 May 2023, 08:06 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Astronomy Domine by Pink Floyd
• Breathe (In the Air) by Pink Floyd
• Breathe (Reprise) by Pink Floyd
• Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd
• Coming Back to Life by Pink Floyd
• Echoes by Pink Floyd
• Fat Old Sun by Pink Floyd
• High Hopes by Pink Floyd
• Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) by Pink Floyd
• Time by Pink Floyd
• Wearing the Inside Out by Pink Floyd
• Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
• A Pocketful of Stones
• Castellorizon
• On an Island
• Red Sky at Night
• Take a Breath
• Then I Close My Eyes
• This Heaven
• Where We Start

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On an Island 2006

Read more: settings and setups

On an Island is David’s third solo album and like the first album, it feature many references to his musical roots and inspirations. It’s an honest and fairly laidback album allowing David’s tone and playing to shine without too much trickery.

The Black Strat is once again David’s main guitar but he also using a wide range of different instruments including acoustic slide guitars and saxophone.

Pete Cornish All Tubes MKI pedal board and additional effects recording sessions

Pedal board effects listed as in chain Demeter Compulator Pete Cornish G-2 Electro Harmonix Big Muff (Ram’s Head) Pete Cornish SS-2 Chandler Tube Driver Pete Cornish Tape Echo Simulator Pete Cornish Custom Stereo Chorus (modified Boss CE-2)

Additional units

Digitech WH-1 Whammy pedal E-Bow (A Pocket Full of Stones recording sessions) Tremolo effect (Take a Breath recording sessions) Ernie Ball volume pedals MXR Digital Delay System model II 2x Digitech IPS 33B harmonizer Peterson Conn Strobo tuner

Note: David is seen having several single stomp boxes laying around in the different studios while recording the album. It is likely that he used different effects or single pedals when required on the initial demo sessions and later recording sessions than what is listed above.

Pete Cornish All Tubes MKI pedal board

The pedal board dates from 1999 and was requested by David to be used for future guest appearances etc. The board featured Cornish custom tube preamps between each effect to ensure minimum signal loss. It could also perform in both stereo and mono.

Additionally the board was designed not to allow two distortion pedals to be engaged at once, only distortion+overdrive. The board was brought on a backup on the On an Island 2006 tour and later used for 2010 guest appearances.

Guitars and amps recording sessions

Fender Stratocaster The Black Strat – 1969 black alder body with black pickguard, Fender 1983 57 reissue maple neck and Fender 1971 neck and bridge pickups and a Seymour Duncan custom SSL-1 bridge pickup. Gibson Les Paul Gold Top – 1956 model with Gibson P-90 pickups and Bigsby tremolo system. Gretsch Duo Jet – 1950s model with Bigsby tremolo system. Fender Telecaster – Take a Breath recording sessions. Gibson early 1940s EH-150 lap steel Martin D-35 acoustic steel string guitar Martin 1945 D-18 acoustic steel string guitar Taylor Junior model acoustic steel string guitar – This Heaven recording sessions. Weissenborn acoustic slide guitar – Open Em chord tuning (E B E G B E) for Then I Close My Eyes and Smile. Cumbus guitar – Tuned as a guitar.

Hiwatt DR103 All Purpose 100W heads – with Mullard 4xEL34s power tubes and 4xECC83s pre-amp tubes. Modified for linked normal and brilliance inputs. Fender 1956 tweed Twin 40w combo – 2×12? Eminence speakers and 4x12AX7, 2xGT6L6 and 2x5U4 (rectifier) tubes. Hiwatt 1970s SA212 50W combo – 2×12? Fane Crescendo speakers and 2xEL34 and 4x12AX7 tubes. Modified to allow a normal and brilliant input combination. WEM Super Starfinder 200 cabinets – with 4×12? Fane Crescendo speakers. Alessandro Bluetick 20w head with 2×12? cabinet – Abbey Road recording sessions. Marshall 1960s model head

David is also seen stacking a huge variety of guitars and amps for the sessions and might have used different setups on both the initial demo sessions and recording sessions than what is listed here.

Guitar and amp setups

David used Herco Flex 75, D’Andrea custom 354s (white), Fender 354 (tortoise) and Fender 351 (medium) pics. All electric guitars were strung with GHS Boomers (custom set 0.10-0.48) and acoustics with Ernie Ball Lightwound strings.

David’s main setup for the sessions was a Fender Tweed mic’ed with a Shure SM57 slightly off center about 4 inches away and a Coles 4040 ribbon straight at the center of the cone (The Shure was mixed slightly higher). All instruments were connected with Evidence Audio speaker cables.

Acknowledgements and credits On an Island (album 2006), Remember That Night (concert film 2007), EMI EPK presentation, davidgilmour.com, demeteramps.com, tonefromheaven.com, Sound on Sound Magazine (2006) and The Black Strat A History of David Gilmour’s black Fender Stratocaster by Phil Taylor. Thanks to Rafal Zychal, Martin Campbell, John Roscoe and Tony Farinella for help with research.