After a lazy morning, tea and granola, we head down town to Greenwich Village. It’s a busy Saturday as we arrive at Bleecker Street. We then simply wind our way around the area. Traffic is heavy and the streets bustling with the midday crowds. We pass Industrie. A inst-famous pizza place. The smell of pizza is delicious and we realise we are a bit hungry.

The queue for a slice is long, like 100 or more people. Surely the pizza isn’t that good. We walk past wondering if it is that hood.

anyway we continue our walk. We pass the building that was used as the facade of the Friends TV show. There are people milling about taking photos and selfies in front of of the building. The shows enduring popularity is clearly evident here.

We walk down Morton Street, distant memories of our afternoon teas here come to mind. Boise, now long gone, a victims of COVID was our favourite afternoon tea location.

We circle back to Bleecker Street for pizza, John’s is a popular spot here. We locate it. There is a queue. We join it, the thought of good pizza is too strong, and besides waiting gives us a bit of a rest. There is another pizza place 50 metres away, Bleecker Street Pizza. Mardi walks up there, there is a queue there as well. So we stay at John’s. The wait isn’t too bad, with the queue advancing quickly. Thirty minutes pass and out of nowhere a waiter taps us and two other couples – we are in. Large groups in front of us are in for a bit of a wait.

We sit in a tiny booth. A small child would struggle to squeeze themselves into the space. We contort our weary bones into the cramped space, once there we are quite comfy. The restaurant is grungy looking, but bustling with staff and the chatter of diners. We select two pizzas. A Margarita and a pepperoni and cheese. They are delicious. Certainly worth the 30 minute wait. We sit for a bit before squeezing ourselves out of the booth. We continue walking before catching the subway home.

We both notice how dirty the subway stations are looking. We’ve always known that the subway is dirty but this visit it looks particularly filthy. It hasn’t rained in New York for months and everyone we speak to is talking about the drought. Perhaps that has something to do with it as most of the stairways are open and when it rains water simply gushes down the stairwells into the stations. Or maybe we are just getting a little older and less tolerant. Either way the stations are looking particularly grimy. This is in contrast to the shining new subway trains. They are gleaming silver on the outside and the inside reminds us of the trains we’ve ridden on in Japan. They also have indicators on the doors highlighting which side they will open as well as screens throughout the carriage with travel information. The ride home is quite pleasant.

We arrive home at around 4:30 pm.

I have a big night ahead, David Gilmour in concert at Madison Square Garden so I take the opportunity now for a quick snooze. Mardi also snoozes..

At 6.00pm I head off to the Garden. It’s a Saturday night and the 15 minute walk takes 30 minutes. 7th Avenue is packed with tourists and locals in search of a night out. Eventually I arrive at the iconic venue. Last year we saw Billy Joel here and the entrance was a mess of construction, scaffolding and wooden boards.

Tonight though, the renovation is complete and the entrance is easy to find. It’s massive and bounded by whit lighting guiding you in. I join the throng of people as I enter through the main entrance. I pass through security and simply follow the crowd. My ticket is scanned and escalators whisk me to level three. I get off there. I’m in a lower seating area so guess I don’t need to go any higher. Good guess. I find a staff member. They are everywhere. He is fantastic and offers to take me to my door. I am using my cane. He hands me off to a door person who describes where my seat is. She isn’t very clear, but I question her for clarity. I find my row. Other fans help me find my seat. I sit next to a couple from Indiana. Down for the concert and a couple of days in New York.

It’s about 30 minutes until the show starts but in typical David Gilmour, Pink Floyd, fashion the arena is already a buzz with ambient sounds. I hear snippets from The Wall, dark side of the moon, on an island, wish you were here and luck and strange. The sounds of birds tweeting circle the arena in that typical quadraphonic mix. It’s been in use since the 1970s,

At 7.45 the lights dim and the bird song increases in volume. Then the haunting sounds of chiming glasses, followed by orchestral strings. Then the first notes from Gilmour fill the arena. The laconic style he has mastered. Never in a hurry, he plays each note deliberately, thoughtfully. The track is called 5AM from the Rattle that Lock album. A short instrumental piece. This is followed by Black Cat, another short instrumental piece, with a keyboard intro, followed again by Gilmour’s lazy but elegant style The arena remains in complete darkness as the 21,000 fans hold their breath in anticipation. Next comes Luck and Strange, the title track from his latest album.

the crowd then erupts as the heartbeat from The Dark Side of the Moon resonates. Four tracks from this masterpiece give way to a 1970 classic Fat Old Sun. Gilmour’s solo on this track is simply outstanding. The next six tracks take us from early Pink Floyd, to 1990’s Floyd to a number of tracks from his new album.

Half time comes as High Hopes fades with the release of dozens of giant floating balls. The balls bounce around the audience. It’s keep many people occupied during intermission.

Set two is a collection of post Roger Waters Floyd and the new album. An eclectic mix of soaring guitar solos and a laser show out of this world, and a quiet section of keys, harp and acoustic guitar.

Aside from lasers, soaring guitar and a cheering crowd, the sensory experience wouldn’t be complete without the constant waft of weed. I seriously think I’m getting stoned. The hash is heavy and everywhere. Plumes of smoke keep pooling around a couple in front of me, it wafts backwards enveloping me. I can’t escape it.

He finishes with the iconic Comfortably Numb, 9 minutes of pure genius with a solo that reaches new heights. An amazing night show casing his rare talent. For a full set list visit: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/david-gilmour/2024/madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-ba9714a.html

I leave the arena rapt and feeling a bit woozy. What a show. People around are buzzing in a number of ways, one thing we all agree on is that Gilmour still has it and no doubt one of the greatest.

I walk home singing to myself, thankful for the opportunity to see a true artist of our generation.