Pink Floyd, Unplugged

08/24/2004

If you’re a fan of Pink Floyd, you might be interested in this gem that I just discovered (okay, so this dates from 2002, but I’ve been busy lately :-).

Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour was filmed live in concert in 2002 and 2003 at the Meltdown in London. The concert is a rare look at a largely acoustic rendering of classic Pink Floyd songs, ranging from some early Syd Barrett, through WYWH and the Wall, and the post-Roger Waters period. The concert starts off slowly, but powerfully, and ends with nothing but excellence.

So which one is Pink?

Dave Gilmour’s contributions to the sound and style of Pink Floyd are really evident in this concert. Without any the bells, whistles, feedback, or tape loops, the sound is distinctly Floydian. Armed with little save his acoustic guitar, a cellist and choir, Gilmour manages to shine on quite nicely. When keyboardist Rick Wright joins him to sing a song from his last solo album, the combination reveals a lot about the team work that created Pink Floyd. It also underscores Wright’s near-absence from The Wall album, and gives a hint of the melodies and chord progressions that could have been.

Taken individually, you can see how each of the band members contributed to the whole that was Pink Floyd. And, as is usual with good teamwork, the whole managed to be much more than the sum of the parts.

Highly recommended.