March

Gilmour’s On An Island

David Gilmour celebrated his 60th birthday by releasing another solo album On An Island. With nothing to prove to anybody he pleased himself with an eclectic wistful bag of songs, mostly co-written with his wife, Polly Samson. These ranged from the solo acoustic murmur of ‘Castellorizon’ to the compelling harmony dream of the title track that featured David Crosby and Graham Nash sharing vocals and Richard Wright on Hammond organ. The most startling guest was Bob Klose who had been the original Pink Floyd Sound guitarist and had spent the subsequent years making his living as a photographer.

March–August

Gilmour’s On An Island Tour

‘I’m rather hoping that with this tour announcement people will believe me when I say, honestly, that this is the only band I plan to tour with,’ announced David Gilmour prior to commencing his 2006 promotional tour of On An Island. Floyd fans and even Roger Waters, who was making positive noises in the press about reformation, were to be disappointed. As well as his solo material, Gilmour sent sell-out crowds into rapture when revisiting the Floyd back-catalogue. At the Albert Hall encore in London he had a pleased-as-punch David Bowie singing ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘Comfortably Numb’.

June–May ’08

Waters’ The Dark Side Of The Moon Tour

Although the Gilmour-led Floyd had performed the entire Dark Side Of The Moon material at some venues on their Division Bell tour, when Roger Waters announced that he was to tour the album in 2006 there was genuine excitement amongst Floyd fans. Dark Side made up the second portion of each show, accompanied by visual effects including a stunning recreation of the rainbow prism of the famed album cover. Whether Waters used vocal backing-tracks and mimed some songs was immaterial as the shows were well received and Nick Mason appeared at some European performances including, predictably, that at the Magny-Cours Formula One race circuit in Nevers, France!

July

Syd Barrett Dies

On the day Roger Waters performed The Dark Side Of The Moon in Rotterdam (7 July 2006) Syd Barrett passed away aged 60 in a Cambridge hospital. Like the protagonist in Richard Matheson’s classic novel I Am Legend, Barrett had become a legend in his own lifetime. That he had moved out of the light due to mental health problems had not dulled the impact of his vital contribution as leader, songwriter and creative force in establishing the foundations upon which Floyd’s career was based. Barrett had not died penniless, leaving an estate valued at £1.25 million. The auctioning of personal possessions including jazz CDs, artwork and a self-made bread bin raised over £100,000.

Personalities | Introducing Pink Floyd
Personalities | Pink Floyd | The Post-Break Up Era (2007) | Key Events