Roger Water announced a new set of North and South America The Wall shows in 2012 this week, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he keeps on going for a while yet as demand for tickets is huge.
Shortly after the latest (2010) tour was announced, David Gilmour let it be known he would be performing at just ONE show on the tour. When it happened at the O2 Arena it was the equivalent of winning a Wonka Golden ticket AND the Lottery rolled into one for all the Pink Floyd fans in attendance.
I couldn’t believe how many people had recorded a cover version of Comfortably Numb so I thought it would be good fun to do a top 3 cover versions of the classic solo. So here we go.
3: John Petrucci
Technically this is amazing, Petrucci is a fantastic guitarist, the problem is he plays it too well. By insisting on showing off his skills he loses something of the delicate balance of the song. This would have definitely been better had he drank less coffee and had been on a 14hr drive immediately prior to the concert.
2: Nine year old kid
This is on the other end of the spectrum, a lot of bum notes here, but give him a break when I was nine I was struggling to tie my own shoelaces.
Apparently this kid has now divorced his parents and is training to be an accountant.
1: Couch Potato
Never has a musician performed ‘Comfortably numb’ in a more literal environment. This guy is so laid back I wouldn’t be surprised if he was watching a baseball game while cooking a pizza in the oven at the same time.
He’s not the most technically gifted but I think it’s my favourite version.
It wouldn’t be right to not show the real deal, so here it is. To be honest the version David did with Roger at the O2 was actually a bit ropey, so here is the last proper show they did together at Live8.
Things to watch
1:40 David Gilmour’s world famous drunk monkey impression.
2:08 Nick Mason discarding the headphones in wild abandonment.
4:12 Roger ‘gettin into it’.
4:33 THAT solo
5:08 Awesome Gurning Air guitar soloist with red shirt in the crowd.
6:56 Pretty tight for a bunch of old guys.
Enjoy!