David Gilmour's Teenage Cancer Trust concert - Prince Purple Rain tribute
Written by Matt   
Monday, 25 April 2016

David Gilmour - Teenage Cancer Trust, Royal Albert Hall, London April 24 2016 ticketLast night, David Gilmour's sell-out concert at London's Royal Albert Hall saw him turn things purple during Comfortably Numb, in a personal tribute to Prince, who passed away this week.

The concert, the final night of the string of shows designed to raise awareness and all-important funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity, featured a superb performance. The audience, including a mixture of Pink Floyd fans, Teenage Cancer Trust representatives, and those currently undergoing cancer treatment, found themselves regularly on their feet. The set list itself was the full Rattle That Lock set seen in North America, with the added songs What Do You Want From Me and Coming Back To Life, both additions to the set that ran from September 2015 when the tour started in Brighton, England with the preview show.

The Teenage Cancer Trust shows these days are much less likely to include guest performers and so it was with last night's show; however, for those familiar with the show, David was able to spring an unannounced surprise. During Comfortably Numb, a lighting change saw the stage dramatically change to a purple wash, as the song took a new direction, fairly quickly identified as an instrumental chunk of Prince's Purple Rain.

It wasn't the first time that David had performed this track - in 1992, he played guitar for Sir Tom Jones' rendition of Purple Rain for a television show - although the timing of this new tribute was perfect, and well executed.

Pictures, reviews and more information on the show are now being added to the show page. Our thanks to everyone who has sent in contributions; we are going through them all now and will include as many as possible on the site. For more information on the wonderful work that the charity does, please visit TeenageCancerTrust.org.