Live At Pompeii film | The Pink Floyd Sound (2024)

Just finished watching it... again... for like the fifth time

I love it, 'tis a great starter course in Pink Floyd Live-- The Earlyish days. As has been said somewhere or other, they were really into noise at the time, and this set is not for the faint of heart, but we Crazy Diamonds love that rubbish!

Watching it really gives you a sense of how awesome they were-- as per usual, Nick is positively on fireeverywhere, Dave burns down the house, Rick is fabber than ever both wriggling his fingers methodically or beating grand pianos with his fists, and Roger... Roger gets the Great Gong in the Sky, what more can I say? Oh, yes, the Scream.

@ 3:49 how I imagine Roger would scream when burning in Hell (for being an atheist, perhaps? ) Just kidding, but seriously, how the heck does anyone do that? Such fabosity.

And for those more fantastically inclined fangirls we also get to see RickandDave performing 'Echoes' shirt-free.

So, yes, the continuity is rubbish (try nonexistent), the footage is... variable, it's obviously a low-budget film; but the thing that is the centrepiece of the show-- Pink Floyd's awesomeness-- truly shines. Therefore, I declare Live At Pompeiito be essential viewing for any serious student of the band, or anyone who is desirous of seeing four talented part-time gods making (sometimes) incredible noises.

7.9/10

This is simply marvellous. I cannot believe someone did this.

Pity they didn't show Roger beating the crap out of the great gong in the sky during 'Saucerful', but I suppose that would require the construction of a different set with backlighting and all that.

Live At Pompeii used to be on YouTube, but it's since been blocked. I did, however, find the Director's Cut version in its entirety over on Dailymotion, where it seems the copyright sharks aren't as profuse.

You're weird but anyways, no, it's not just a concert film. It's live footage interspersed with casual interviews with the band and footage from the studio. 👍

Oh, and there's also no audience. They're playing to an empty Roman amphitheatre.

Gotta love how, in the Director's Cut version, there's that footage from outside Abbey Road studios, and among the graffiti is the message 'Shine On Syd'... when, of course, 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' wasn't done until three years after the original Live At Pompeii footage.

Of course, it's not like there was any real continuity to sabotage in the first place...

I've just finished watching it and wanted to write something about it and then I saw you have already asked days ago - guess I'm a bit late, sorry.
Anyway, I absolutely loved it! It's so great that I only have to give it back in ten days or so, that way I can rewatch it next weekend, hehe.

It was really totally different than I thought it would be. For some reason, I had imagined it being a live concert with an audience and everything before, which happened to take place in an abandoned amphitheatre in Pompeii. I really haven't expected it to be that magical! Not only the music, the setting, and the incredible visual effects made it that magical - it was to great extent also the way each band member played. They were all very solemn and determined, it seemed as if they were preparing to take off into another world, as if they knew that after this concert nothing will be the way it used to be and fearlessly they approach this new destination by putting all their soul into their playing and giving everything they had.

That was another aspect I loved: on the one hand they seemed very distant to the watcher/listener because they never spoke or looked directly into the camera or interacted with the virtual audience in any way. But when it comes to music and soul they were all naked. At least that's the way I've perceived it: they put every inch of their soul into their playing, didn't hide a bit, so that everyone could see and hear it. So at the same time, there was a distance to the band and they were very close, that felt very special.

One funny thing was, how after every single song I thought 'this is going to be my favourite song from Live At Pompeii, they're absolutely killing it on this song'. But I was SO WRONG, they only got BETTER and BETTER! For example, after David's solo in Echoes I, I was already very tempted to click on replay and listen to this particular song over and over again, I really had to pull myself together not to do so and it was also very good because the haunting Careful With That Axe Eugene was just mindblowing. I mean, Roger screaming and all the references to the volcano eruption in Pompeii and the creepy atmosphere and the black sky, how can you top this? Well, the answer came a few minutes later with a Saucerful Of Secrets, which was even better! David played the slide guitar like a god, I was so amazed at all the different sounds he could get out of his guitar and Nick on his drums, that was just wow! Oh, and the gong of course. Well, I have to say, Roger is not only a marvellous musician, he is also a superb actor. First these screams and then the gong scene - by that point I was convinced that Roger was at least a half-god. Maybe that's why they played in Pompeii, because Roger is actually the son of Jupiter or something?

But not only Roger also Nick made one hell of a show. The way he flirted with his ten thousanddifferent cymbals throughout the whole concert made me want to play the drums too, he makes the drums almost sing at some point, I've never heard anyone doing this before, this is incredible. The only one who stayed calm all concert long was David. I burst into laughter when I saw him sitting on the floor with his guitar calm like in a trance during A Saucerful Of Secrets, while Nick was beating his heart out and Rick was beating the piano's heart out and Roger played the gong as if he wanted it to be heard on Olympus to say hello to his father . That was just so typical, I loved it.

Two songs later came my favourite performance: Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun. Wow. Just wow. The thing is, the whole setting in Pompeii is very creepy when one keeps in mind the history. And all the various masks, paintings, and statues which are shown don't make it less creepy, the opposite is the case. That led to me imagining that all the souls of the ones who had died in the volcano eruption were still floating around in the arena and listening to the strange invaders. Now, when they played STCFTHOTS it suddenly seemed to turn quiet. It felt as if all those lost souls and together with them the whole universe would hold its breath to listen to them. And it was absolutely worth it. Nick and Rick do an incredible job on this track but the others as well, of course.

The whole concert reminded me so much of why I love this period of Pink Floyd so dearly. The music is very introvert but at the same time intimate, therefore it feels as if the music really means something. It is also a journey, one has to accept that it's a lot about soundscapes and not necessarily melody, one has to be bold, let the music take one by the hand and explore the new land of sounds and atmospheres. And the movie is just the perfect visualisation. It seemed less like a live concert to me but more as if the band was saying 'let go of all the boring routine of daily life and everything you take for granted and follow us into a mystical world' and what an incredible world that is. They kind of lure the listener into it. The sadder I was when the camera went into the distance and the arena grew smaller and smaller at the end of Echoes II, I really didn't want to leave the wonderful place, oh well.

I'll rate this movie 23 out of 24!

thinyoungmoon I thought you'd like it. ;-)

Seriously though, everything you said is so, so spot on. I love how much you love it!