In November of 1985, the Nevada del Ruiz volcano caused an immense natural disaster in Columbia, when it melted glaciers and caused catastrophic flooding that resulted in the deaths of over 25,000 people. Native Columbian musician, Chucho Merchan, with the help of Who guitarist, Pete Townsend, began organizing a charity event to raise funds for the surviving victims and to raise awareness of their plight. Held at London's Royal Albert Hall the following February, highlights of this Columbian Volcano Disaster Appeal Concert were broadcast globally on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and featured…entire summary
John "Rabbit" Bundrick - keyboards
David Gilmour - guitar, vocals
Michael Kamen - keyboards
Jodi Linscott - percussion, background vocals
Chucha Merchan - bass
Billy Nichols - background vocals
Simon Phillips - drums
Mick Ralphs - guitar
In November of 1985, the Nevada del Ruiz volcano caused an immense natural disaster in Columbia, when it melted glaciers and caused catastrophic flooding that resulted in the deaths of over 25,000 people. Native Columbian musician, Chucho Merchan, with the help of Who guitarist, Pete Townsend, began organizing a charity event to raise funds for the surviving victims and to raise awareness of their plight. Held at London's Royal Albert Hall the following February, highlights of this Columbian Volcano Disaster Appeal Concert were broadcast globally on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and featured many memorable performances. Among the more notable performers was Peter Townsend and his band Deep End (including a surprise stage debut with his oldest daughter, Emma), a rare appearance by Annie Lennox (who was not performing at the time due to throat problems), Mike Oldfield, Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde (then pursuing a brief solo career), and a rare one-off performance by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, who had not been performing for some time. Here we focus on David Gilmour's set, who had assembled an outstanding band especially for this event. This four-song set features two tracks from Gilmour's second solo album, 1984's About Face, in addition to a pair of classic songs from Pink Floyd's dark opus, The Wall.
The set begins with Gilmour's distinctly different sounding single from the About Face album, "Blue Light." This song met with mixed reactions upon release, having a much funkier feel and more propulsive beat than anything he had recorded before. This clearly displayed a conscious effort to explore new sounds, distinctly different than the sound he had established in Pink Floyd. Next up is one of the most popular and immediately recognizable songs from The Wall album, "Run Like Hell." One of the three Wall songs that Gilmour wrote music for, this is a dynamic performance, featuring his trademark guitar stylings and memorable keyboard contributions from Kamen and Bundrick.
Gilmour and friends next return to his last solo album for the poignant ballad, "Out Of The Blue," before closing the set with "Comfortably Numb." Originally written for his first solo album in 1978, Gilmour decided not to include it and brought the demo to Pink Floyd's sessions for The Wall. Here the song is a perfect example of Gilmour's guitar technique, which has always concentrated on melody over virtuosity. His economical playing is both lyrical and emotional, rooted in the blues and notable for his expressive string bending. This performance features Ralphs and Gilmour both blazing away and trading solos to bring this set to a climactic close.
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