Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii  

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Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii is a 1972 film featuring Pink Floyd performing six songs in the ancient Roman amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy. It was directed by Adrian Maben and recorded in the month of October with 24 studio-quality tracks without a live audience.

The performances of "Echoes," "A Saucerful of Secrets," and "One of These Days" were filmed from October 4, 1971 to October 7, 1971. The remaining songs were filmed in a Paris studio, along with additional front projection footage for insertion into the Pompeii performances. The sequences in Paris were filmed in late 1971/early 1972, and can be distinguished by the absence of Richard Wright's beard. This version was released in cinemas in September 1972 and is also included on the DVD edition as an extra feature.

In August 1974, another version was released combining the original film with supposed recording sessions of The Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey Road Studios. These sessions were actually staged for the film, as the recording of the album had been completed when these sessions were filmed in January 1973 and the band was mixing the album at the time.

Release history

The original release, running for one hour, only featured the live footage. A second version had additional footage of the band as they recorded their album The Dark Side of the Moon, as well as interviews conducted off-camera by Maben, and footage of the band eating and talking at the Abbey Road Studios cafeteria. This version ran for 80 minutes. The Director's Cut is a 2003 DVD re-release running 92 minutes. In addition to the concert and interview footage, it includes more overlaid imagery including footage from the Apollo space program and computer-generated images of space and Pompeii, and overall has a busier, "updated" feel. The original 4:3 aspect footage is presented in "fake widescreen" in this version. The DVD contains the original one-hour release in the "features" section.

Track listing

1972 original film

1. "Intro Song"
2. "Echoes, Part 1" (from Meddle, 1971)
3. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (B-side of "Point Me at the Sky" single, 1968)
4. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968)
5. "One of These Days" (from Meddle, 1971)
6. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968)
7. "Mademoiselle Nobs" (from Meddle, 1971 previously known as "Seamus")
8. "Echoes, Part 2" (from Meddle, 1971)

1974 theatrical version, VHS and LaserDisc release

1. "Intro Song"
2. "Echoes, Part I" (from Meddle, 1971)
3. "On the Run" (Studio Footage) (from The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
4. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (B-side of "Point Me at the Sky" single, 1968)
5. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968)
6. "Us and Them" (Studio Footage) (from The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
7. "One of These Days" (from Meddle, 1971)
8. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968)
9. "Brain Damage" (Studio Footage) (from The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
10. "Mademoiselle Nobs" (from Meddle, 1971 previously known as "Seamus")
11. "Echoes, Part II" (from Meddle, 1971)

2003 Director's cut

1. "Echoes, Part 1"/"On the Run" (Studio Footage) (Uncredited) (from Meddle/The Dark Side of the Moon, 1971/1973)
2. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (B-side of "Point Me at the Sky" single, 1968)
3. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968)
4. "Us and Them" (Studio Footage) (from The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
5. "One of These Days I'm Going to Cut You into Little Pieces" (also known as "One of These Days", from Meddle, 1971)
6. "Mademoiselle Nobs" (from Meddle, 1971 previously known as "Seamus")
7. "Brain Damage" (Studio Footage) (from The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
8. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968)
9. "Echoes, Part 2" (from Meddle, 1971)

A remastered version of the album also exists, which is almost exactly the same as the Original Film but also has three "Interview" parts mixed in. The track list is as follows:

1. Intro Pompeii
2. Echoes, Part I
3. Interview, Part 1
4. Careful with That Axe, Eugene
5. A Saucerful of Secrets
6. Interview, Part II
7. One of These Days
8. Madamoiselle Knobs
9. Interview, Part III
10. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
11. Echoes, Part II

Also Known as:

• Echoes: Pink Floyd (USA)
• Pink Floyd in Pompeii (Belgium)

Legacy

The rap group The Beastie Boys made a music video for their song "Gratitude" that appears to be a homage to the film. In addition to copying its directorial style of slow horizontal tracking shots, the video shows the band's speaker cabinets labeled "Pink Floyd London" - just as Pink Floyd's speaker cabinets are labeled in the film. The video ends with a message that reads, "THIS VIDEO IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO DIED AT POMPEII."

The video for the 2003 song "Minerva" by American rock band Deftones is similarly an homage to the Pompeii performances in the film, featuring the same slow horizontal tracking shots and ancient setting.

Wolfmother's video for their song "Mind's Eye" is an obvious homage to the film.