David Gilmour sets first US tour in eight years

With a new one With his solo album due this fall, David Gilmour will return to the United States for a handful of shows for the first time in eight years. The artist, who liberates Luck and Strange on September 6, will perform at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on October 29 and 30 and at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 4 and 5. A teaser clip for the tour features Pink Floyd's “High Hopes”, Luck and Strange's “The Piper's Call”, and Pink Floyd's “Comfortably Numb” – seemingly suggesting that Gilmour will indeed be playing songs from throughout his career, despite previous reports.

tickets for the US concerts go on sale this week. Fans subscribing Gilmour's website will be able to access tickets early at 10am local time on Wednesday. tickets will generally go on sale at 10am local time on Friday.

These concerts, which will be Gilmour's only North American dates, follow runs at Rome's Circo Massimo and London's Royal Albert Hall this fall.

Gilmour's band for the tour includes bassist Guy Pratt, who played with Pink Floyd from 1987 to 1994 and with Gilmour as a solo artist for years, as well as keyboardists Greg Phillinganes and Rob Gentry, drummer Adam Betts and guitarist Ben Worsley. Backing singers include Louise Marshall, Hattie Webb and Charlie Webb.

Pratt, Betts and Gentry all contributed to its recording Luck and Strange, which Gilmour recorded in Brighton, England, over five months with producer Charlie Andrew. When the album was announced, Gilmour said he found working with Andrew refreshing. “We invited Charlie over to the house, so he came over and listened to some demos and said things like, 'Well, why does there have to be a guitar solo in there?' and “Is everything going out? Can't some of them end?' Gilmour said. “He has a wonderful lack of knowledge or respect for this past of mine. He is very direct and in no way over the top, and I like that. That's really good for me because the last thing you want is for people to put you off.”

The album also features lyrics by Gilmour's long-time collaborator and wife, author Polly Samson, as well as their son, Charlie. The couple's daughter Romany also played harp and sang lead vocals on the album's “Between Two Points”. The song “Luck and Strange” features contributions from late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, who died in 2008. They come from a jam he and Gilmour recorded at the latter's home in 2007.