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Pink Floyd’s Gilmour to play mystery date on 'The Wall' tour

Relaxnews
Sunday 18 July 2010 00:00 BST
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(AFP PHOTO/MAAN IMAGES/MAGNUS JOHANSSON)

Former Pink Floyd member David Gilmour will make a surprise appearance during former bandmate Roger Waters's upcoming 30th anniversary tour for The Wall, announced Waters via his Facebook page on July 14. Marking a reconciliation after years of feuding, the two will perform together at an as-yet-unknown gig during the 2010-11 tour.

On July 10, Waters and Gilmour played together for the first time in five years at a benefit concert in England - their first time sharing the stage since 2005.

Waters explains that the reunion happened after Gilmour attended a celebrity karaoke benefit concert a year ago for The Hoping Foundation.

"David was there as a supporter," explained Waters, "and was moved to perform an impromptu rendition of George Gershwin's 'Summertime?' which he performed aided and abetted by supermodel Kate Moss.

"In the wake of that evening, someone, I think it was David himself, came up with this 'Wouldn't it be funny', idea. What if he (David that is) were to sing the old Teddy Bears song 'To Know Him Is To Love Him' with me (Roger that is), what with us having been so famously at each other's throats for years and years. "

Gilmour emailed the idea to Waters, who was enthusiastic, and the two agreed to perform that song plus Pink Floyd classics "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb" at the following year's benefit. Gilmour then sent Waters "a number of very musical and eloquent demos of how we could do the song in two-part harmony" that lay "way outside my vocal comfort zone," said Waters. "To my eternal shame I bottled out and told Dave I would happily do 'Wish You Were Here' and 'C. Numb', but that 'To Know him is to Love him' was beyond me."

Weeks later, Gilmour made Waters an offer: If Waters would agree to perform "To Know Him Is To Love Him" for the charity event, Gilmour would play "Comfortably Numb" with Waters at one of his Wall shows.

"Well! You could have knocked me down with a feather," said Waters. "How fucking cool! I was blown away. How could I refuse such an offer. I couldn't, there was no way. Generosity trumped fear. ... We did it, and it was fucking great."

Roger Waters's The Wall tour, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the band's classic album and tour, is so far a 94-date tour, beginning September 15 and running through June 2011, that has been one of the top-selling tours of the summer. According to Waters, Gilmour has yet to decide on a show. "[I]t will be a surprise!"

http://www.rogerwaters.com

http://www.facebook.com/rogerwaters

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