Pink Floyd frontman David Gilmour joined Richard Thompson at the latters 70th birthday concert in London Monday for a performance of Dimming of the Day, the closing track of Richard and Linda Thompsons 1975 album, Pour Down Like Silver.
Gilmour sang lead and played guitar on the lilting folk rock song, and about midway through he played a solo that recalled the melody he played on Comfortably Numb. Thompson then took the lead for a more avant-garde solo. According to reports, Gilmour and Thompson then played Fat Old Sun, a track off Pink Floyds Atom Heart Mother, although video of that performance has yet to surface.
Thompson welcomed several notable guests onstage at the Royal Albert Hall performance, where he played songs from throughout his career, including a few Fairport Convention numbers.
According to reports, Loudon Wainwright III performed The Swimming Song and I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight with him. Bob Mould joined in for a round of Thompsons Amnesia cut Turning of the Tide and Moulds If I Cant Change Your Mind. And even the Spinal Tap character Derek Smalls (a.k.a. Harry Shearer) came up to sing his own She Puts the Bitch in Obituary, which Thompson guested on.
Other guests included Judith Owen, Olivia Chaney, Teddy Thompson, Alistair Anderson, Eliza Carthy and Hugh Cornwell, among others.
The singers ex, Linda, with whom he made many classic recordings in the Seventies, even made an appearance at the show, according to YouTube uploads. She joined in on a round of Thats Enough, a song from Thompsons Family LP in 2014.
The evening ended with a performance of the Fairport Conventions Meet on the Ledge, with the evenings many collaborators joining Richard onstage. When it was done, Gilmour turned to Thompson to applaud him.