Roger Waters Reunites With David Gilmour for ‘Wall’ Tour
After years of discord, Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters and David Gilmour are apparently on the road to reconciliation. After playing a short set together last weekend at a benefit for the Hoping Foundation in Oxfordshire, England, the duo plan to reunite at least once more, performing “Comfortably Numb” at one to-be-determined stop on Waters’ upcoming tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Wall. In a post on his Facebook wall, Waters detailed the back-and-forth exchange that resulted in the reunion.
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After last year’s Hoping Foundation benefit — where Gilmour performed an off-the-cuff version of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” — Gilmour sent Waters an e-mail proposition suggesting the two collaborate on Teddy Bears classic “To Know Him Is To Love Him,” with tongues firmly planted in cheeks.
Initially, Waters balked at the idea, writing he listened to the song “knowing that David, with his superior vocal skills, could sing either part standing on his head, whilst I would have to search for a different key and then struggle through hours and hours of routining a performance that lay way outside my vocal comfort zone.” He told Gilmour that it was a no-go.
But Gilmour was not dissuaded, and he sweetened the offer. According to Waters, Gilmour told him, “If you do ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’ for The Hoping Foundation gig, I’ll come and do ‘C. Numb’ on one of your Wall shows.” Waters’ response: “How fucking cool! I was blown away.” As Rolling Stone reported, Gilmour had previously said he was “uninterested” in joining Waters on The Wall‘s anniversary tour.
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As promised, Waters performed “To Know Him Is To Love Him” — along with Floyd classics “Wish You Were Here,” “Comfortably Numb” and “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” — at the benefit last weekend. In return, Gilmour will join Waters for a single date during his 94-stop tour, which begins in Toronto on September 15th and runs, with a brief break, through June 2011. The date will be a surprise.
Waters ended his post with the tantalizing statement, “End of story. Or possibly beginning.”