David Gilmour live at Royal Albert Hall - Part II

London - what a beautiful city!

Friday morning I got up around 8 and headed straight down to eat breakfast. The others slept for a bit longer, but when they got up, one by one, they joined me. It was a simple breakfast with toast, orange juice and tea. Whilst eating we tried to figure out what the opening hours to Primark was.

After shopping at Primark. We were matching!

After the breakfast we went to the room to change and then we headed down to Oxford Street and Primark. Me and my sister lost sight of Sam and Nikolai quite early. I think we spent about 20 minutes on the first 5 metres in the store. We walked inside the store for over two hours. I'm not a shopping person, but when I'm at Primark that's all different. Later we met up with Sam and Nikolai again to eat lunch. We walked by the hotel to drop of our stuff so we didn't need to walk around with all the bags from the shopping.

KFC was the place to eat today. We don't have KFC in Norway, so I have to buy something there when I go on holiday to a country where they do have KFC. When we finished eating, we went looking for a place to buy dessert and beer, but ended up at the hotel again. So we sat here for a while, looking through our new stuff bought at Primark, and then we started to get ready for the show!

My parents came up to our room so we could all plan when to meet and how to get to the pub. My dad wanted to walk to the pub. Me and Sam joined him, and we all headed towards Hyde Park. We had such a lovely walk in the sunshine. Too bad it was only a 40 minute walk from the hotel to the pub. I could have been walking in Hyde Park for hours.

When we arrived at the pub, we didn't see anyone from the night before, so we went downstairs to find somewhere to sit. Not too long after, my mother, sister and Nikolai arrived. They didn't want to walk down, so they shared a taxi. We all sat down with something to drink and waited for the rest of the Pink Floyd fans to show up.

Ole, me and Matt

This turned out to be another great afternoon in the pub. There are so many nice Pink Floyd people out there. And it was such a pleasure to meet them all. Today I talked to the people I'd been talking with the day before, but also a few new people. I had so much fun. Wish this group of people lived nearby, so we could meet up in pubs more often, listening to great music and share stories. Well, I guess I can meet some of them if/when Roger or David are goung on a tour again.

Me, Kevin and my dad

Originally, we only had four tickets to the friday show. But my father told me a while ago that he would like to go to the show as well if I should find some tickets. So I posted on facebook that I would be interested in buying a ticket if anyone had an extra. It didn't take long until a facebook friend named Gary (whom I met at the pub on thursday!), told me he knew about someone with a spare ticket. So he started a chat on fb between the three of us. And this was how I started talking to Laura, a very nice girl from California. She was going all the way to London to see the show, and she wanted to sell me the ticket! So we kept in touch until that friday - the day of the show.

Carlos and me

The day of the show, we had planned to meet at Paxtons Heads, so I walked around waiting for Laura whilst talking to the other PF fans. And suddenly she showed up - my hero who sold me an extra ticket! We had so much fun together, and we talked like we'd known each other for years. I introduced her to my family and most of the people I talked with at the pub.

Laura and me

Again, we headed over to Rah. We had a fun walk over. My mother joined us, and when we arrived at RAH, she got in a cab and went over to the pub we'd all plan to meet in after the show.
They are quite strict at RAH - ticketwise. The person whose name is on the ticket, have to show an ID at the door. We had 6 tickets with two different names and three different door entries. And my name was on four of the tickets, which meant I had to walk over and stand in line at three doors. Luckily I talked to a security guard - and he talked to someone by a door with no line outside, and told them to let us all in the same door! Problem solved, thanks to a very nice security guard!

We parted ways just inside the venue. My dad and sister went one way, Sam and Nikolai went another, and me and Laura was headed for the top floor. At the top floor there are no seats, so you can stand wherever you want. You could walk around and watch the show from almost every angle. We bought something to drink and then found two good spots to stand in.

The concert was great today too! Really can't choose my favourite show. It's always something special seeing it the very first time. On the other hand you are more prepared on how things are done the second day. It was a good thing to be standing up all the time - you could dance as much as you wanted without blocking the view for anyone. There were also no line to buy drinks or go to the toilet up there. I had so much fun both days. But the people on the top floor the second day could have been dancing/singing more. They just leaned towards the fence, standing all still. But hey - all people enjoys music in different ways!

After the show we met up with a few PF fans outside RAH, and we headed over to a pub called Prince of Wales. It was about a 10 minute walk, and we went inside to meet up with my mun. She had found a cozy corner where we all squeezed in. My parents had one drink before they and my sister got a cab back to the hotel. My parents had to get up early the next day to catch the train to Liverpool. They were going to Anfield to watch Liverpool vs Aston Villa.

Jens, me and Ole

We had such a great time at the pub! Even when the pub closed, we were standing on the outside for a long time. No one wanted to leave, because there were quite a few who were going home the day after. And who knows when we all meet again?

Cheers!

Ole and me - inspired by The Wall

A big thank you to all the wonderful Pink Floyd fans I met during these two days in London! I had a blast talking to every one of you. And I hope meeting you all again!

Shine on!

David Gilmour live at Royal Albert Hall - Part I

Thursday last week I got up early in the morning, just to be sure I would pack everything I would need. Passport, money and other so-called important things. Me and my boyfrend headed for the bus and then we waited. For about 30 minutes. Then we gave up and called a taxi. We checked in our luggage and after we found a bar where I bought something to eat and the vacations first beer. The 4 day holiday could finally begin!

LONDON BABY

The wait at the airport was not too bad, and the flight was only 10 minutes delayed. We arrived at Heathrow around 11am. The luggage showed up and we headed for the tube that would take us to central London. We got off at Victoria station where we met my sister and my boyfriends brother. At Victoria station we had a great meal at one of the pubs.

After we finished eating, we got on the tube that would take us to Baker Street. I knew our hotel would be close to this street. And it didn't take too long until we found the hotel. We checked in and went to see the room. It's fascinating how small a 4 bedroom can be. But very cosy and clean. Good thing about being on holiday - you are not supposed to stay in the room unless you are sleeping.

We got dressed and wanted to head down to Paxtons Head, a pub in Knightsbridge, about a 10 minute walk to RAH. So we went outside the hotel, found a black cab and we were finally on our way. I had great expectations for this pre-meet up with fellow fans. And I had such a great time seeing all the other Pink Floyd geeks again. Most of them I hadn't met since Rogers last tour in 2013. That was also the same year I met most of the people.

In Norway I don't have many Pink Floyd friends. Some of them like it, but they might get sick of me talking about it and listening to it all the time. So I often listen to the music by myself, and write about my hobby on this blog. The blog is great for me to have, so I can avoid filling my friends heads with information and fun facts they might not appreciate as much as I do. But the last times I've been travelling around to see something Pink Floyd related, I've met so many people with the same passion as me! And boy, that does feel good. It is so much fun hearing about other peoples experiences with Pink Floyd.

When we had to head over to RAH, I really didn't want to go, because I had so much fun talking to all the amazing people at the pub. But as soon as we got closer to RAH, I started to get nervous. I was about to see David Gilmour live. For the very first time! In this beautiful venue.

Me, Adelheid, Nikolai and Sam outside RAH

As most of you already know, I've met Roger Waters four times and Nick Mason one time. So David was the last living member from Pink Floyd I'd never seen or met. No, I didn't meet him during my trip to London. BUT I got to see him live on stage. Two days in a row.

We went inside RAH and found our seats. We sat up on one of the sides, so we had a good view to the stage. The concert started at 7.45pm, and he opened the show with "5am", a song from the album "Rattle that lock". And what a great opening! Don't remember too much of it. Think I cried through the entire song. Not just some tears in the eyes, nope. I cried. Happy crying of course.

The next song was the title track from the new album. The intro of that song was brilliant. Voices echoing in the venue, singing "Rattle that lock" a few times before the song started for real. And what a song to listen to live, It's a bit more upbeat then "5am", so at this moment I felt like getting up on my feat and start to dance. Next up was "Faces of stone". Another great song from the new album.

The fourth song was the classic and legendary song "Wish you were here". A song I've heard live 3 times before - but that was at a Roger Waters concert. Now I could listen to David's beautiful voice to this song. And it was brilliant. A few more tears during this song to be honest. It's great to listen to the new songs, but when he played from the good and old ones - that's a true Pink Floyd fans dream!

Back to the new album and "A boat lies waiting". Another masterpiece with beautiful vocals. Perfect for Gilmour's voice. "The blue" was next in line, and that one is my favourite on his solo album "On an island". It looked like he really enjoyed playing this, and the audience gave positive feedback. It was one of many enjoyable moments.

Official program. A very nice Danish guy named Jens gave it to me!

Next up, David took us back to "Dark side of the moon", where he played "Money" and "Us and them". These are also songs I've seen Roger perform, but seeing the two lad's live is two completely different things. Would be amazing to see them both perform together once. Even though it's never gonna happen, it will always be a dream of mine.

"In any tounge" is my favourite from "RTL". So I was really exited when I knew this song was coming up. David surprised me here by whisteling the intro himself. The animation in the background was really good and powerful. When the chorus came up, I was really exited, only to be a bit dissapointed. David did not sing the chorus himself. I really wanted him to sing it. It was still beautiful, but I'm sure it would be breathtaking if he sang it himself. The day after (friday 25th) - it sounded better, because I didn't expect him to sing it, so I enjoyed the way they performed the chorus.

David whistling the intro to "In any tounge"

The last song before intermission was "High hopes", my sisters favourite song. Such a great song from the album "The division bell". This was a really good way to end the first set of the evening. I always get a bit sad during intermissions. That means we're halfway to through the show and it's getting closer to the end. During the last years whilst travelling after Roger Waters, I've gotten spoiled. I thought I would only see Waters in Oslo in 2011. Three years later I had been travelling around in Europe, and all the way to Australia to see the show again. Now I want to go and see more shows with Gilmour.

Intermission was over after approximately 20 minutes, and now they started the second set with a bang! "Astronomy domine" live. Wow, I never saw this day come. A true tribiute to Syd Barrett. "Astronomy domine" was the first song on the very first Pink Floyd album - "The piper at the gates of dawn". That means that the song was released before David joined the band. It's a nice gesture of him to play this to the fans. And he did it bloody well! The light show and animation was great, and once again I felt the need to get up on my feet and start dancing. Psychedelig wonderfulness.

Next up - "Shine on you crazy diamond". There is a live version of this song (might be from "Live in Gdansk") where he sings the first verse without instruments in the background. That is a beautiful version, so I did get a small hope he would play that version this evening. He didn't, but either way, David singing this song live - another dream came true.

And then he started playing the song I was looking most forward to - "Fat old sun". A great song from my favourite album "Atom heart mother". I was mindblown. What a song! It was a bit funny. Close to the end when they normally stops singing and start the bit more heavy part with the guitar, I thought David forgot what was happening. Because there was a small pause where they normally start straight on the heavyer part. The band played in the background while David switched guitars, and then they started to play the heavier part. Turned out that's the way they play this song live now. Loved it, and it made this song even more special. Also, both David and Guy pulled off small dance moves during the song. Just brilliant!

"On an island" was next. Also a great song. Well, all the songs are great. No question about that. I've been listening to this song since it was released. As I said, great song, but I always felt that it sounded better when it's played live. The cd version is great, but it's nothing compared to what it sounds like live. This evening, it sounded better then ever!

Poster

"The girl in the yellow dress"is a very different song on "Rattle that lock". It's a jazz/blues characterized song. Not exactly what David is known for. It's a very chill tune with great animation. It's the song from the new album I didn't like too much right away. But it certainly grew on me!

Poster

"Today" was the next song, and AGAIN I felt like getting up and dance. This is also a bit more heavy song, and also one of my favourites from the new album. This was the last song from "Rattle that lock" this evening. After this came "Sorrow" and "Run like hell". Both songs were brilliantly performed and the light show got better and better. Maybe the lights were a bit too bright, since the band had to put on black sunglasses for these songs. "Run like hell" was sung by David Gilmour and Guy Pratt. Those two on vocals together = awesomeness.

Poster

The band went off stage to a standing applause. But the light was not turned on right away, which means encore. The band came back on the stage and they started with "Time/Breathe", so again we were brought back to 1973 and to "Dark side of the moon". The very last song this evening was the very well known song "Comfortably numb" from "The Wall". I've always dreamt of listening to David Gilmour sing the chorus live. His voice can melt any hearts with this song. And the guitar solo was as good as ever. A really enjoyable song to end the evening with.

My precious

And then it was over. For now. I also had tickets for the friday show, so I knew I would see it all again the next day.