Today, when we watch genre-defining concert films like Monterey Pop, Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, or Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, we look upon the audience with nearly as much interest as we do the performers. But Pink Floyd never did things in quite the same way as other rock bands of that era. In 1972, they put out a concert film with no audience at all, substituting for visual interest the majestic ruins of the ancient Roman amphitheater in Pompeii. Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII has lately been restored, and you can see the trailer for its upcoming worldwide cinemas-and-IMAX re-release above.
Even without the unpredictable element of attendees (apart from a few local children who snuck in to watch), the production had its difficulties. Ever musically rigorous, the Floyd insisted on playing live with their actual touring gear, which took three days to truck over from London.
Only then was it discovered that the amphitheater didn’t have enough electricity available to power it all, which ultimately required running a half-mile-long extension cord to the town hall. Though hardly unimpressive, the resulting footage fell short of feature length, which required supplementary shooting at the considerably less historic Studio Europasonor in Paris.
Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII was originally meant, in part, to promote their then-latest-release Meddle. That album is best remembered for “Echoes,” which occupies the entirety of side two, and which foreshadowed the kinds of ambitious compositions of which the post-Syd Barrett version of the Floyd would be capable. The film splits it up into two parts, one to open it and the other to close it; you can get a taste of this live rendition from the clip just above. In between the two halves of “Echoes” come songs like “Careful with That Axe, Eugene,” “A Saucerful of Secrets,” and “Mademoiselle Nobs,” as well as footage of the band in the studio, at work on their next project: an album called The Dark Side of the Moon.
Related content:
An Hour-Long Collection of Live Footage Documents the Early Days of Pink Floyd (1967–1972)
Pink Floyd Films a Concert in an Empty Auditorium, Still Trying to Break Into the U.S. Charts (1970)
Pink Floyd Plays in Venice on a Massive Floating Stage in 1989; Forces the Mayor & City Council to Resign
Watch the Rare Reunions of Pink Floyd: Concerts from 2005, 2010 & 2011
David Gilmour Makes His Live at Pompeii Concert Film Free to Watch Online
Take a High Def, Guided Tour of Pompeii
Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities and the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
