It’s not often a British seaside pub can share something in common with Pompeii and the Royal Albert Hall, but David Gilmour has offered one watering hole that unlikely connection after he joined his daughter, Romany, for an impromptu performance of Wish You Were Here.
Gilmour’s storied career has seen him play in some incredible venues, but his latest and more intimate setting was special for a whole different reason.
The Pink Floyd legend has been taking an interesting campaign trail to promote Luck and Strange, his first solo album in nine years, which he believes is the best album he’s done since Dark Side of the Moon.
Alongside more traditional routes like talking about the guitars behind the record – and explaining why vintage guitars will always sound better than new builds – he’s also snuck lyrics into local newspapers across the UK. Now he’s played one of Pink Floyd’s biggest hits during a surprise performance at a tiny pub last Sunday (September 8).
Romany, his 22-year-old daughter, was playing a short set of covers at The Neptune Inn in Brighton and Hove when her dad popped by for an unexpected duet.
“Oh my gosh, you're here. And you've brought your guitar,” Romany was caught on camera exclaiming, with genuine surprise on her face.
Of course, it’s normally not very cool when your dad tries to muscle in on your set – in fact it sounds like a nightmare for the common guitarist – but when your dad is David Gilmour, it’s a little different. Still, Romany feared the worst.
“You're going to come and upstage me?” she laughed. “OK, great.”
Gilmour Sr. suggested Floyd’s 1975 hit while unpacking his Martin D-35 signature acoustic out of its hardshell case, before their guitars and voices entangled during the special cover version.
Ben Worsley and Guy Pratt, the guitarist and bass player in Gilmour’s solo band, Ugly Kid Joe vocalist Whitfield Crane, Romany’s brother Gabriel, and Prog Magazine's Jerry Ewing were also in attendance. It seems everyone but Romany was aware of what was to unfold.
Gilmour’s children played key roles in Luck and Strange, with Romany playing the harp and handling lead vocals on their tender reimagining of The Montgolfier Brothers’ Between Two Points. She also features on Gilmour's standalone single, Yes, I Have Ghosts, which sees the pair duet.
Speaking in a press release around the song's release several years ago, Gilmour explained how the duet was a happy accident after plan A had fallen apart.
“I was working on this song just as we went into lockdown and had to cancel a session with backing singers,” he says. “But, as it turned out, the solution was right here and I couldn’t be happier with the way Romany’s voice blends with mine, and the beautiful harp playing has been another revelation.”
Gabriel, meanwhile, provided backing vocals on The Piper's Call and A Single Spark, while Charlie Gilmour contributed to the lyrics of Shattered.
Gilmour will take Luck and Strange on the road later this month, with dates in more familiarly large settings, including London’s Royal Albert Hall and Madison Square Garden, scheduled.
Head to David Gilmour for the full list of tour dates.
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