David Gilmour: Live at the Circus Maximus (Sony Music, 2 Blu-rays, NR, 142 min. video concert + 211 min. bonus material). This packed set contains the live album “The Luck and Strange Concerts” on audio (97 min.) and the “Live at the Circus Maximus” concert film (142 min.), all from Gilmour’s 2024 “Luck and Strange” tour.

The tour accompanied Gilmour’s fifth solo album, “Luck and Strange,” which hit No. 1 in the U.K., Germany (his first No. 1 there), Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Portugal and Austria. It reached No. 2 in France, Italy and Belgium; the top 5 in Spain, Japan, Norway, Denmark and Hungary and the top 10 in the U.S., Australia, Finland, Sweden, Ireland and New Zealand. Gilmour has said that it is the solo album of his that he likes the best.

Of the tour, the shows began with two sold-out warm-up shows at the Brighton Centre before moving to Circus Maximus in Rome for six sold-out nights, followed by the same at London's Royal Albert Hall, then moving to the United States for sold-out evenings at the Intuit Dome and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and concluding with five sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The film “Live at the Circus Maximus,” which was filmed in Rome on Oct. 1-3, was a top-five box office hit when shown in cinemas in September. The shows, part of his first tour in nearly a decade, were filmed by long-time Gilmour collaborator Gavin Elder against the backdrop of the ancient ruins of Rome. The film also is released on 3 DVD sets, with bonus unseen footage and the full audio release (also on 2 CDs or 4 LPs) of “The Luck and Strange Concerts,” recorded in five locations world-wide, mixed in 5.1 and Atmos (Blu-Ray only).

The audio-only portion of the Blu-rays and the separate audio release feature 23 tracks from the tour, which blended nine of 10 solo tracks from Gilmour’s most recent album with classic Pink Floyd anthems, including “Sorrow,” “High Hopes,” “Breathe (In the Air),” “Time,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb.”

The Circus Maximus video show has 22 selections, omitting only “A Single Spark.” It has a soft opening with “5 a.m.” and black-and-white images of Rome, before turning to Gilmour playing guitar solo on stage. The “Black Cat” instrumental follows, before the first Gilmour vocal on “Luck and Strange,” backed by three female singers (later there are four, including Gilmour’s daughter Romany). On the song “Luck and Strange,” guitarist Ben Worsley plays the more forceful guitar during the song’s first half.

By the way, the lush orchestrations on the “Luck and Strange” album are missing, but there are keyboards played by both Rob Gentry and Greg Phillinganes, as well as some piano by Louise Marshall. The rest of the excellent band are Adam Betts on drums and percussion, Guy Pratt on bass guitar and double bass, Charley Webb on guitar and ukulele, with most adding vocals, including Phillinganes singing a lot on “Breathe (In the Air).” Romany Gilmour plays harp on “Vita Brevis” and sings on “Between Two Points,” a cover song, while the other backing vocalists are Marshall and the Webb Sisters (Charley and Hattie).

Gilmour plays acoustic guitar for the start of “Fat Old Sun,” before rocking out during its second half. He gives a smile at song’s end. Gentry’s keyboard leads into “Marooned,” a strong new instrumental. During the number, the camera often shows Gilmour’s guitar work, including his bending strings. There is a double acoustic guitar start to “Wish You Were Here,” which also has Gilmour scatting, and on “High Hopes,” which features a bell too. “Sorrow” is heavier, as are “A Great Day for Freedom” and “In Any Tongue,” while Romany sings with her dad on the new “The Piper’s Call.”

A late trio of three new songs is highlighted by “Dark and Velvet Nights.” The encore is an 8-minute “Comfortably Numb,” my favorite song by Gilmour and Roger Waters.

The second Blu-ray has the audio of the otherwise separately available “The Luck and Strange Concerts,” plus video of a rehearsal session (28:43) that includes “Between Two Points,” “Breathe (In the Air)/Time,” “Dark and Velvet Nights” and “Luck and Strange.” It is also the first view of Gilmour’s dog Wesley, who crops up a lot more on the rest of the disc.

The four documentaries (42:43) include aerial views of Rome, then a rainy concert day in “Rain in Rome” (4:30); “Backstage at the Royal Albert Hall” (11 min.), with more Wesley and Gilmour recalling how Pink Floyd was “banned for life” after they had to nail down Nick Mason’s drum kit as it was sliding on the newly installed wood flooring in 1968; “Backstage in America” (9 min.), with more interviews; and “The Making of Luck and Strange” (18 min.), with lots of Gilmour (he says the chorus of “Sings” was 25 years old) and album and tour producer Charlie Andrew.

There also are nine music videos (42:21), including a live version of “A Single Spark” (the song left out of the Circus Maximus show); three versions of “Between Two Points,” one a nice edit, remixed by keyboardist Gentry, and the third showing Wesley’s viewpoint as he wanders around the Royal Albert Hall; two versions of “The Piper’s Call,” one stitching together video from seven shows on three continents; “Luck and Strange” performed in studio, with Wesley again; and two versions of “Dark and Velvet Nights,” the second being an animated film, which is disturbing at times.

The discs also come with a 24-page, heavily photo-filled booklet and two cat stickers. Grade: overall Blu-ray set A

John McFee, Stu Cook and Keith Knudsen: Jackdawg (2009, Liberation Hall, CD, 59:09). Originally recorded in 1990, this collaboration between two members of the Doobie Brothers – John McFee (lead vocals, guitars, harmonica, keyboards, backing vocals) and Keith Knudsen (drums, backing vocals) -- and one from Creedence Clearwater Revival – Stu Cook (bass, backing vocals) -- remained in the vaults for almost two decades, until its release in 2009. It is earthy, guitar-heavy, blues-influenced classic rock, with old-school harmonies and sing-along hooks in this new reissue.

When the trio recorded the album, they were playing together in the popular country-rock band Southern Pacific. Jackdawg, though, was a full-on rock project, mixing elements of roots rock, Southern rock, heavy metal and even a bit of alternative rock in “Ghost Dance.” At the time, Southern Pacific was winding down, and McFee, Knudsen and Cook, who all lived in California, started getting together to work on new material at McFee’s Lizard Rock Studio in Solvang, California.

McFee was the frontman. He co-wrote all of Jackdawg’s original material, mostly with both Cook and Knudsen, but sometimes with one of the two.

The album remained on the shelf until McFee met Joey Stec, founder of a label called Sonic Past Music. Stec had released some rare material by John’s pre-Doobie Brothers band Clover, and asked McFee if he had any other unreleased material that he might be interested in putting out. The Jackdawg album was released on Sonic Past Music in 2009, but quickly went out of print.

The lead track, “Bayou Rebel,” was co-written by McFee and Cook. The song features some swamp-rock influences reminiscent of CCR, but with a 1990s rock edge. McFee had known Cook since before Creedence put a record out. The album’s highlight is the guitar-led “When the Sun Don’t Shine,” which has horns at the end. Horns appear even more prominently in the rocker “I Couldn’t Help Myself.”

Other good tracks are the softer “Kisses in the Rain,” the rocker “Hunger,” the guitar work on “Lookin’ for Trouble” and “The Girl from Oz,” and the drums on “Young Ones.”

The album closes with covers of Roky Erickson's "Cold Night for Alligators," with some CCR sounds, and Van Morrison's 1971 hit, "Wild Night." McFee played pedal-steel guitar on the original version of “Wild Night.”

McFee and Knudsen were asked to rejoin The Doobie Brothers in 1993, while Cook and CCR drummer Doug Clifford launched their band Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995.

The booklet has a six-page history by music journalist Bill Kopp. Grade: album A-