Legendary Rocker David Gilmour Thrills at The Forum

Matt Corkill

As famed Pink Floyd singer-guitarist David Gilmour prepared to complete a three-night stand at The Forum on Sunday, the energy that radiated throughout the parking lot and spread into the venue built up anticipation you could’ve cut with a knife. As the patented circular lighting display affectionately known as “Mr. Screen” provided authentic Floyd vibes, smoke began to rise from the crowd and the stage and a single spotlight landed on David Gilmour.

For three hours, the crowd was taken on a transcendent musical, visual, and for some, spiritual journey through the decades as Gilmour treated fans to favorites seamlessly tied together from his 2015 album “Rattle That Lock” and plenty of classic Pink Floyd hits.

Gilmour opened with guitar overture “5 A.M.” to set the evening’s tone. As late arrivals shuffled hurriedly into their seats, he jumped into the title track “Rattle That Lock” and then “Faces of Stone.” As soon as the crowd was warmed up “Wish You Were Here” was upon them like a wave of light and the excitement never let up. Floyd fans were given the full experience and sang their hearts out to “Money.”

Gilmour, 70, garnered standing ovations after each song. At one point, with a huge grin on his face, he stopped to ask the crowd if they were “having a reasonable time.” There was no question about that. No matter what he played, people were dancing and rocking out in the aisles without a care in the world.

During “A Boat Lies Waiting,” a touching tribute to the late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, Gilmour and his background singers united to guide fans through a sea of emotion, drawing yet another uproarious ovation. Mr. Screen’s visuals illustrated an all too real depiction of the choices made in battle and the resulting consequences while “In Any Tongue” was played. After introducing his band, they blessed fans with “The Girl in the Yellow Dress,” a jazz number that reflects the intimacy between Gilmour and co-writer/wife Polly Samson as the animated music video played overhead.  

After five minutes of intense applause and demands for an encore, Gilmour happily obliged with some of the very best – “Time” and “Breathe” – saved for last. Closer “Comfortably Numb” was accompanied by a spiraling visual and laser show that, with the audience hanging on every note screaming out of Gilmour’s black Stratocaster, made the Forum feel as if there was absolutely nothing else that existed outside of that moment.

David Gilmour rocked The Forum on March 27.