I set about writing this review after witnessing David Gilmour's concert at the courtyard of the majestic Schloss Schönbrunn in Vienna, a huge baroque palace and the erstwhile seat of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Like everyone else present, I wasn't drawn there by Gilmour's fame as a solo artist: we were all there to listen to "The Voice & Guitar of Pink Floyd" as advertised on the CD sticker here. Which doesn't leave much for Roger Waters - maybe he should advertise himself as "The Bass and Brains of Pink Floyd" just to get even. Not that he's doing badly himself. I've had the luck to catch his Athens show in '06 and Pink Floyd in '89 - now with the solo Gilmour concert, I can compare 3 different live versions of my favourite Floyd tracks like "Comfortably Numb", "Time", "...Crazy Diamond" etc. One may argue that '89 Floyd were Gilmour and co but I'll beg to differ. First of all, that'd be hugely underestimating Rick Wright, which everyone seems to do, and secondly the Floyd concert was all about the show. Stunning visual effects, unparallelled surround sound, huge flying pigs etc. Gilmour's stage show and sound equipment would be impressive for any other band, but compared to Floyd (or his former bandmate Waters) it comes up short. He was so little interested in the show that he used the same visuals (e.g. in "Time") that I remembered from the '89 Floyd concert. But the guitar - ah, the guitar!- was up front like never before. Gilmour's solo career has allowed him to get rid of the elaborate Floyd concepts, write simpler songs and focus on his guitar playing which was always impressive but often overshadowed by the huge show. His playing is now better than ever, or at least better presented than it ever was. The Vienna concert consisted of a 60/40 mix of Floyd and solo tracks. We heard most of his new album, a couple of older solo tracks, and of course Floyd songs, both classic and obscure ("Fat Old Sun" from Atom Heart Mother, "One of These Days" from Meddle, "Coming Back to Life" from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and Division Bell's "Sorrow"). 
Live In Gdańsk is likewise divided between solo and Floyd numbers, but here we get the whole of On An Island played in its original sequence, albeit with the addition of the Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by noted Polish composer and Gilmour collaborator Zbigniew Preisner. The location is highly symbolic as the city's shipyards were famously the birthplace and bastion of Poland’s Solidarity trade union, somewhat of a Marxist paradox where the workers were inspired by Catholicism, and rebelled against a Communist (supposedly the worker's own) government, demanding workers' rights and political freedom. Gilmour's band here also includes former Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera, Floyd saxophonist Dick Parry, and -critically- Rick Wright in one of his last performances; he would be dead within a few months. It opens with a Dark Side medley (Speak to Me-Breathe-Time) before launching into the tracks from On An Island. Thanks to the intimacy of the live setting and Manzanera's second guitar the songs gain a little in punch, while they are perfectly complemented by the orchestra which enriches the sound without drowning the band out. IMO, the live versions are different but equally good to the more atmospheric studio ones, while some songs (e.g. "Castellorizon") sound much better live. "Live In Gdańsk" is, just like "On An Island", above all a guitar album for people seeking something more sophisticated than Heavy Metal's flashy guitar pyrotechnics. As such, it stands well as a whole while the individual songs are less impressive. The song "On An Island" is melodic with folky harmonies and the standout track of both the studio and live version of the album. "The Blue" and the closing "Where We Start" lull you into a state of comfortable numbness, until it's time for the passionate solo. On the atmospheric instrumentals "Red Sky at Night" and "Then I Close My Eyes" the guitar takes a back seat to the sax and orchestra, with Gilmour returning to his fiery solos with a rocking "This Heaven". "Smile" and "A Pocketful of Stones" are closer to Paul McCartney balladry, but the former is saved by its great slide guitar. "Take a Breath" is the hard rocker of this bunch, channeling the angst of classic Floyd circa Animals and The Wall. The second set is the fans' reward for politely listening to Gilmour's latest album when all they wanted was their favourite Pink Floyd hits.
It opens with a flawless "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" and makes an unexpected return to Sixties psychedelia with versions of "Astronomy Domine" and the folky "Fat Old Sun". A forgotten Floyd gem that Gilmour has dusted off and polished with a fabulous solo, making it worthy to feature in his set among classics like the following "High Hopes", undoubtedly Floyd's greatest post-Wall achievement sounding even more resplendent backed by a full orchestra. The inclusion of "Echoes" is a pleasant surprise. Gilmour and -especially- Wright shine in their recreation of the "Meddle" track and it's incredibly sad to think that this was one of the Wright's last performances. "Wish You Were Here" is one of the greatest ballads ever, while "A Great Day For Freedom" gets an orchestral score especially for the occasion by Michael Kamen, supposedly as a tribute to the Solidarity freedom fighters of so long ago. Thankfully Gilmour does not join the fools in celebrating the "End of History" and "Triumph of the Free Market". Listen carefully to the lyrics and you'll discover the irony behind the title: "On the day the wall came down/They threw the locks onto the ground/And with glasses high we raised a cry for freedom had arrived...Now life devalues day by day/As friends and neighbours turn away/And there's a change that, even with regret, cannot be undone/Now frontiers shift like desert sands/While nations wash their bloodied hands/Of loyalty, of history, in shades of grey". Does that sound like a celebration of freedom to you? Did the Solidarity workers really win as "history" wants us to believe? Only if their dream was to scatter around Germany, England or anywhere else there was demand for cheap labor. As for the trade union itself, it withered and died as its leaders surrendered hard-won workers' rights in the hope that rampant capitalism will magically bring prosperity to all. You've got to hand it to Pink Floyd, there's nothing like one of their songs to start a socio-politico-philosophical discussion. "Comfortably Numb" closes the concert in a grand manner, with one rock's most transcendental solos ever. I don't know how Gilmour does it -he should have been tired of it by now, but he always pours his soul into this solo and never sounds like he's just going through the motions. This song alone would be enough to earn "Live In Gdańsk" its 5* rating...
***** for Time, Shine on You Crazy Diamond, High Hopes, Echoes, Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb
**** for Breathe, Breathe (reprise), Castellorizon, On An Island, Red Sky at Night, This Heaven, Astronomy Domine, Fat old Sun, A Great Day For Freedom
*** for Speak to Me, The Blue, Then I Close My Eyes, Smile, Take a Breath, Where We Start,
** for A Pocketful of Stones
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