Watch Pink Floyd Conquer Pompeii In 1971

Watch Pink Floyd Conquer Pompeii In 1971 | Society Of Rock Videos

via HDPinkFloyd/YouTube

That’s A Performance

Pink Floyd cemented their rockstar status with Live at Pompeii which featured the band doing a typical live set at the ancient Roman amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy. Filmed in over four days, there’s no audience expect for the camera crew. It was a departure from the typical documentary films at the time like Woodstock and the Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter because with no spectators, the focus will solely be on Pink Floyd and their music.

Director Adrian Maben found a way to ask the local authorities to close the venue for six days so they could start filming. Maben wanted to create “a marriage of art and the Pink Floyd”. He said:

“I thought it would be very interesting to show how they made their noises, their electronic sounds, and put them all together.”

“Echoes” was one of the perfect songs to include in the setlist. With the eerie and haunting vibe of the place, that was the necessary backdrop of the classic tune. According to Nick Mason:

“The elements that seemed to make it work none of which we really thought about during the filming, were the decision to perform live instead of miming, and the rather gritty environment created by the heat and the wind.”

Looking back, David Gilmour admitted that he would now “find it rather embarrassing.” But seeing this performance again, the band and their technology with the whole ancient place behind them, never fails to send chills down our spine.

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