As the only officially released document of David Gilmour's short- lived solo career, the imaginatively titled 'Pink Floyd's David Gilmour' is pretty much what you'd expect from the man -- a by- the-book, no frills concert performance with little of the pomp and circumstance that was a hallmark of Pink Floyd's live extravaganzas (I'll be damned if I know what's up with that "domino" stage motif, though). The show is then quickly followed by a couple of truly hysterical video clips (reviewed separately under the 'David Gilmour Video Anthology') and a half-hour "behind-the-scenes" documentary that amply rewards anyone who makes it through the live performance portion of this video awake.

It's hard to fault any specific factor as to why this homecoming concert is one of those "you had to be there" shows that comes off as rather dull when viewed from the comfort of your sofa (and keep in mind that this is an *edited* set list, friends). Gilmour is in dependably dandy musical form throughout the concert, and he toses off occasionally striking guitar solos and pulls all of those unintentionally funny guitar faces that Polly Samson must be well used to by now. Not to be confined to the guitar, Diamond Dave even takes to the electric piano for a decent rendition of "Out Of The Blue," and his stage banter is certainly looser and a bit more engaging than the usual "thank you very much indeed, good night!" canned greetings he uses with Pink Floyd.

Helpfully providing plenty of cheese to go along with the fine guitar licks is, of course, the Bleedin' Hair Band, who clearly relish being picked out by the stage lights and do their utmost to make up for the front man's obvious shortcomings as a dynamic stage presence. Worst offenders here are bowlegged bassist Mickey Feat (an eerie doppelganger of Roger Waters, only fuglier), Raphael Ravenscroft (see previous review), and brazenly-mulleted keyboardist Gregg Dechart - all of whom strike a lot of sickly funny "RAWK!!!" poses and do those preening, head-thrown-back, nose-in-the-air "I am in the ZONE, man" poses throughout.

While watching the show, I consoled myself by imagining that it could have been *these* clowns on stage with Pink Floyd in 1987-90 and 1994 rather than, say, Gary Wallis, Scott Page, and Guy Pratt. It helped make this easier to take. A bit.

Anyway, actual highlights are few and far between here, as this concert (like 'About Face' itself) is as about as unobtrusively vanilla as rock ever got in the 1980s. Aside from all of the guitar solos here being much, much longer than on the source albums (which may or may not be a selling point, I realize), I'd have to say that it's the guest appearances that add the most to this experience as Nick Mason (or "The Amazing Bongo Jim" as Gilmour mysteriously introduces him to the audience) shows up to lend a hand on drums during "Comfortably Numb," and ragin' Roy Harper duets with Gilmour during "Short And Sweet."

Now why the package for the video calls the post-concert documentary 'After The Floyd' when the title card quite clearly reads 'Beyond The Floyd' is beyond me, but whatever it's called, this half-hour feature is fairly interesting on it's own as it shows us a side of Gilmour that is rarely ever seen, only mentioned in stories and interviews by third parties. Basically set up as another one of those "life on the road" short films that were de rigueur for any rock band on tour in the mid-1980s, 'Beyond The Floyd' follows Dave and the BHB through sound checks and performances in Paris, Lyon and London, along with testimonials from Pete Townshend and Nick Mason.

Of course, 'Beyond The Floyd' isn't without it's share of lame moments such as seeing the "ex-guitarist for Pink Floyd" -- as his bus driver refers to him -- supposedly watching footage from 'The Wall' composited onto his TV, or listening to him offering up the same old trite clichés dealing with the glory and pain of being a touring musician (or the end of the program, in which Bob Geldof as "Pink" is moved to smash his TV in after watching a few moments of Dave playing live). However, it's when we get to see a few behavioral rarities (i.e., Gilmour laughing out loud, acting highly irritated with a publicist underling, and mocking French television in a flamingly effeminate tone of voice) here and there that this documentary proves it's true worth. It is indeed reassuring to find out that our perpetually aloof hero does indeed possess a pulse and range of emotional response roughly akin to that of the average Joe (and when he admits that "the worst aspect of rehearsals was that I had to take a week out of my allotted time to make videos," you can't help but respect the guy). Too bad you have to endure so much to enjoy so little.

'Until We Sleep'	The Amazing Bongo Jim Cometh	Comfortably Numb
'Blue Light' (Promo)	'All Lovers Are Deranged' (Promo)	'Beyond the Floyd'