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Pink Floyd
Live at Pompeii – MCMLXXII
In Cinemas Now & Amazon Prime
Pink Floyd at Pompeii, restored from the original 35mm cut negative which was found in ‘five dubiously labelled cans in Pink Floyd’s own archive’, according to Lana Topham – Director of Restoration, has finally been released in 4K. The film was released in cinemas around the UK on the 24th of April in regular and IMAX forms.
The film has always been regarded as something of a curate’s egg amongst Floyd aficionados; four lithe, young English rock stars bashing out their greatest hits under the fierce Italian sun, against the cold monolithic backdrop of Pompeii’s amphitheatre.
These were the days when bands transitioned through emerging genres that would shine brightly for a few months before melting away. Pink Floyd, who started out as a bread-and-butter blues band quickly fell into, and arguably pioneered, the psychedelic movement in the mid ‘60’s with their extended freak-outs at London’s infamous UFO club, alongside Soft Machine and AMM. The resulting album Piper at The Gates at Dawn, named after a chapter from Wind in The Willows, was a landmark release, many years before the band officially became the bombastic behemoths they are regarded as today.
Through the later sixties Pink Floyd continued to release innovative and original experimental rock, and though they occasionally released singles (with diminishing success), it was the extended soundscapes that they were famous for. Let’s not forget that they were also adept at contributing to, (and writing) film scores, through their work with Antonioni on Zabriskie Point, Tonight Let’s Make Love in London, More and later, Obscured by Clouds.
Live at Pompeii sees the band in 1971 just after releasing Meddle, an album which built on the success of Atom Heart Mother, (their first number one), released the previous year. Both albums followed a common theme; one side, short tracks, pieced together from disparate genres – Fat ‘Ole Sun, Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast, One of these days, Seamus, and the other side, extended 20 minute progressive pieces, developed on from 1968’s Saucerful of Secrets and many of the earlier freak outs.
Apart from showing full versions of Meddle’s Echoes, Careful With The Axe Eugene, (a live favourite) and One of These Days, the film cuts away to dramatic shots of Pompeii’s often grimacing stone statues, Solfatara’s bubbling volcanic mud pools, and the dying sun against the amphitheatre’s architecture. Adrian Maben’s direction is reminiscent of the aforementioned Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie’s Point where the hillside explosion is revealed in a series of shots from different angles, repeated over and over.
The film is cut with scenes of the band recording The Dark Side of The Moon at Abbey Road, as well as discussing their equipment and other aspects of the recording process – Roger Waters – “More and more now there are all kind of electronic goodies which are available for people like us to use if we can be bothered”. David Gilmour “It’s all extensions of what’s coming out of our heads… it would be interesting to see exactly what four people could do if just given the equipment, we didn’t know anything about it really, and just told them to get with it and do something”.
Running at an hour and thirty minutes Pink Floyd at Pompeii is an amazing film, a snapshot in time, which sees them on the cusp of mega stardom. Released in September 1972, just six month before The Dark Side of The Moon would be released, it’s very much the cool lull before the storm.
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The premiere for the re-release of the film took place in the modest Barnsley Parkway Cinema and featured the original sound rig from the Pompeii film along with a replica Allen & Heath sound desk, identical to the one shown in the film. Both the rig and desk would form part of the Dark Side of The Moon tours from 1973. The PA and desk are owned by Chris Hewitt from CH Vintage Audio, who own the largest collection of original sound equipment in the world.
See The Film
You can see the film on general release in cinemas now, or stream from Amazon Prime.
Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII – The Live Album Out Now Available on CD, Digital Audio & For The First Time On Dolby Atmos & Vinyl Here
Acclaimed Film Enters Top Box Office Charts Around The World Tickets On Sale Here
See The Equipment
7th and 8th June 2025 – Pompeii mixing desk, cabs and replica touring Ford transit on display – Middlewick House Open Day ( Nick Mason’s House) –
21st and 22nd June 2025 – Pompeii full PA System & mixing desk working outdoors playing the new mix of Live at Pompeii soundtrack – North West Hi Fi Show, Cranage Hall Hotel, Holmes Chapel ,Cheshire
Words by Nigel Carr. More writing by Nigel on Louder Than War can be found in his Author’s archive. You can find Nigel on Twitter and Facebook. Nigel is the Co-Producer of New Dawn Fades – A Play About Joy Division And Manchester which tours this October. Barnsley photos by Chris Hewitt.
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