David Gilmour discusses possible Pink Floyd hologram show
With the success of ABBA Voyage, more musicians are considering the potential for hologram tours in the future. Allowing older, legacy acts to continue their presence on stage long after their bodies might allow it, technology might just be able to ensure immortality. The latest name to discuss the idea is Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.
At 78, the Pink Floyd icon is still an active musician. He’s currently prepping for the release of his first new album in nine years. With the upcoming release of Luck and Strange, Gilmour is making it clear that he’s going nowhere and is still richly inspired to be part of the music world. However, the record’s subject matter proves that the musician is acutely aware that time is ticking on.
“It’s written from the point of view of being older; mortality is the constant,” he said of the album. Across the release, he collaborated with a cast of important people in his life, both old and young. One track features the late Pink Floyd keyboardist, Richard Wright, recorded during one of their final jams. It also includes Gilmour’s children, Romany, Charlie and Gabriel. As a multi-generational cast, it’s clear that the artist is thinking a lot about music, ageing and how the two interact and potentially limit one another.
The hologram technology being used by the Swedish pop group for their ABBA Voyage show appears as a way to escape the inevitable bodily limitations of growing old. On the topic of a Pink Floyd hologram tour, Gilmour said, “If someone came up with all the money and all the brilliant ideas – and then once we’ve agreed to a series of very, very difficult and onerous conditions – I’d say, ‘Yeah, OK.’”
However, when it came to ABBA Voyage, he had mixed feelings about the concept. “I thought the images of them were sort of OK, but they weren’t ever going to convince me it was real,” he told Uncut. “If you’re down the sort of mosh pit end of the thing and it’s all going on, it’s probably great. The best moment for me was when the live band played a song on their own.”
The living members of Pink Floyd put on spectacular, intricate live shows. Roger Waters’ This Is Not a Drill tour was more akin to a full-scale stage production rather than a classic concert, while Gilmour always puts on impressive light shows.
Therefore, there’s no doubt that a Pink Floyd hologram concert would be special in terms of visuals. It seems that the musician wouldn’t be content with simply having accurate images of the band members, but would want it to be more interesting and engaging.
There is no further word on what his “very, very difficult and onerous conditions” might be, but considering the enduring tensions between the band members, it feels unlikely that they’d ever be met.
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