Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii is a 1972 concert film directed by Adrian Maben with the English rock band Pink Floyd performing at the ancient Roman amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy. The band performed a typical live set from the era, but there was no audience beyond the basic film crew. The main footage in and around the amphitheatre was filmed over four days in October 1971, using the band's regular touring equipment, including a mobile 8-track recorder from Paris who was a Pink Floyd fan, managed to persuade the local authorities to close the amphitheatre for six days that October for filming. Access was secured after payment of a "fairly steep" entrance fee.

Filming

Pompeii

The performances of "Echoes", "A Saucerful of Secrets", and "One of These Days" were filmed from 4 to 7 October 1971. O'Rourke delivered a demo to Maben in order for him to prepare for the various shots required, which he finally managed to do the night before filming started. The choice of material was primarily the band's, but while Maben realised it was important to include material from the band's new album Meddle, he was also keen to include "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and "A Saucerful of Secrets", as he felt they would be good numbers to film.

thumb|This [[Roman mosaic appears at the start of "Careful with That Axe, Eugene".]]

A director's cut version of the film was released in 2002. It included all the original footage except for the short instrumental intro known as “Pompeii” and the studio footage of “On The Run”, and added some additional filming of the Apollo space program. It also includes the original one-hour cut as a bonus feature. This cut also features approximately 10 minutes of black and white documentary footage shot in 1971 at the Europa-Sonor studio in Paris, and, much like the Abbey Road footage, features shots of the band eating and working in a studio, along with individual interviews.

Unlike the rest of the film, this footage was shot on Maben's own 16mm camera. In 2013, Maben restored and re-edited the footage into a 52-minute documentary titled Chit-Chat with Oysters. The documentary was originally shown at the Toute la mémoire du monde film festival in 2013.

A 4K resolution restoration was screened in cinemas in April 2025, under the new title Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII. The soundtrack was remixed by Steven Wilson. The re-release earned $3,034,432 worldwide (including $1,297,249 in the United States) on the first day. The film was released on streaming, DVD, and Blu-ray on 2 May 2025. A 4K UHD Blu-ray version was released on 27 February 2026.

The film's soundtrack, also titled Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII, was released on 2 May 2025 under Columbia Records, marking the first time the film's soundtrack had been released standalone. In addition to being released in CD and digital audio formats, this re-release marks the first time that the film's soundtrack was made available vinyl and Dolby Atmos. The album went straight to no.1 in the UK Official Album Charts on 9 May 2025, giving the group their seventh UK no.1 album.

Reception

thumb|right|Maben used shots of several mosaics and paintings from the archives of the [[National Archaeological Museum of Naples in Set The Controls, such as this young couple. (Portrait of Terentius Neo)]]

Maben was particularly pleased with positive reviews that came out of the film's showing at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, but was disappointed to hear one New York critic describe it "like the size of an ant crawling around the great treasures of Pompeii".

Reviewing the 1974 release, Audience regarded the film as "a handsome visual production."

Outtakes

Due to the lack of time in filming, no tracks were filmed that were unreleased, but several alternative shots and outtakes were held in the Archives du Film du Bois D'Arcy near Paris. At some point, an employee of the owners, MHF Productions, decided this footage was of no value and incinerated all 548 cans of the original 35 mm negatives.

2002 DVD

  1. "Echoes, Part 1"
  2. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
  3. "A Saucerful of Secrets"
  4. "Us and Them" (studio footage)
  5. "One of These Days"
  6. "Mademoiselle Nobs"
  7. "Brain Damage" (studio footage)
  8. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  9. "Echoes, Part 2"

2016 5.1 Surround Sound film and stereo CD

This version is available as part of The Early Years 1965–1972 box set or the smaller 1972: Obfusc/ation set.

  1. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
  2. "A Saucerful of Secrets"
  3. "One of These Days"
  4. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  5. "Echoes"

Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII – 2025 Remix (Vinyl)

Side A

  1. "Pompeii Intro"
  2. "Echoes - Part 1"
  3. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"

Side B

  1. "A Saucerful of Secrets"
  2. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"

Side C

  1. "One of These Days"
  2. "Mademoiselle Nobs"
  3. "Echoes - Part 2"

Side D

  1. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (alternate take)
  2. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (unedited)

Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII – 2025 Remix (2 CD)

CD1

  1. "Pompeii Intro" (3:31)
  2. "Echoes - Part 1" (12:00)
  3. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (6:43)
  4. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (10:15)
  5. "One of These Days" (6:01)
  6. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (10:34)
  7. "Mademoiselle Nobs" (1:55)
  8. "Echoes - Part 2" (13:26)

CD2

  1. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (alternate take) (6:09)
  2. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (unedited) (12:47)

Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII – 2025 Remix (4K/Blu-ray)

Feature Film - 2025 Stereo and 5.1 Surround Mixes [24-bit/96kHz] / 2025 Dolby Atmos Mix (Film Only) [24-bit/48kHz]

  1. "Pompeii Intro"
  2. "Echoes - Part 1"
  3. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
  4. "A Saucerful of Secrets"
  5. "Us and Them" (studio footage)
  6. "One of These Days"
  7. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  8. "Brain Damage" (studio footage)
  9. "Mademoiselle Nobs"
  10. "Echoes - Part 2"

Concert - 2025 Stereo and 5.1 Surround Mixes [24-bit/96kHz]

  1. "Pompeii Intro"
  2. "Echoes - Part 1"
  3. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
  4. "A Saucerful of Secrets"
  5. "One of These Days"
  6. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  7. "Echoes - Part 2"

Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII – 2025 Remix (Digital)

  1. "Pompeii Intro"
  2. "Echoes - Part 1"
  3. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
  4. "A Saucerful of Secrets"
  5. "One of These Days"
  6. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  7. "Mademoiselle Nobs"
  8. "Echoes - Part 2"
  9. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (Alternate Take)
  10. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (Unedited)
  11. "Echoes - Part 1" (Edit)

Credits

As shown in the film.

;Pink Floyd

  • Roger Waters – bass guitar, rhythm guitar on "Mademoiselle Nobs", gong, cymbals, screams and spoken words on "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", lead vocals on "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", additional piano on "Echoes"
  • David Gilmour – lead guitar, slide guitar, harmonica on "Mademoiselle Nobs", lead vocals on "Echoes", vocals on "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and "A Saucerful of Secrets", additional vocals on "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  • Richard Wright – Hammond organ, Farfisa organ, grand piano, lead vocals on "Echoes", VCS 3 on "Pompeii" (intro)
  • Nick Mason – drums, percussion, vocal phrase on "One of These Days"
  • Mademoiselle Nobs - Vocalisations on "Mademoiselle Nobs"

;Production

  • Based on an idea and directed by Adrian Maben
  • Cinematography: Willy Kurant, Gábor Pogány
  • Camera: Claude Agostini, , Henri Czap, Gérard Hameline
  • Sound: Charles Rauchet, Peter Watts
  • Script: Marie-Noel Zurstrassen
  • Road managers: Chris Adamson, Robert Richardson, Brian Scott
  • Production directors: Marc Laurore, Leonardo Pescarolo, Hans Thorner
  • Editor: José Pinheiro
  • Assistant editor: Marie-Claire Perret
  • Mixer: Paul Berthault
  • Special effects: Michel François, Michel Y Gouf
  • Post production: Auditel, Eclair, Europasonor
  • Special thanks to: Professor Carputi (University of Naples), Haroun Tazieff, Soprintendenza alle Antichità della Provincia di Napoli
  • Associate producers: Michèle Arnaud, Reiner E. Moritz
  • Executive producer: Steve O'Rourke

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Weekly chart performance for Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII

! scope="col"| Chart (2025)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 27

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Croatian International Albums (HDU)

| 1

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)

| 6

|-

! scope="row"| French Rock & Metal Albums (SNEP)

| 1

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)

| 14

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Italian Albums (FIMI)

| 1

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon)

| 32

|-

! scope="row"| Japanese Top Albums Sales (Billboard Japan)

| 23

|-

! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| 15

|-

! scope="row"| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)

| 21

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Portuguese Albums (AFP)

| 5

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)

| 20

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard)

| 3

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Year-end chart performance for Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII

! scope="col"| Chart (2025)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 51

|-

! scope="row"| Croatian International Albums (HDU)

| 40

|-

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 54

|-

! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 72

|}

Certifications

Legacy

The hip-hop group the Beastie Boys made a music video for their song "Gratitude" that appears to be a homage to the film. Shot by David Perez in New Zealand, The Beastie Boys claimed in interviews that the song and the video came about from their desire to progress from being a straightforward hip-hop group and add vintage instruments and old sound equipment to their repertoire.

Radiohead were noted as being fans of the film, and regularly watched it when on tour. According to bassist Colin Greenwood, his brother Jonny made the whole band watch the film, saying "now this is how we should do videos". Colin, however, was critical of the direction, which he described as "Dave Gilmour sitting on his arse playing guitar and Roger Waters with long greasy hair, sandals and dusty flares, staggers over and picks up this big beater and whacks this gong. Ridiculous."

In July 2016, Gilmour returned to the amphitheatre where the filming took place and performed two live concerts, as part of his Rattle That Lock Tour. While there, he was named an honorary citizen of Pompeii. The concerts were recorded and released in 2017 as Live at Pompeii. Nick Mason also returned to Pompeii in July 2023, when his band Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, focused on performing Pink Floyd material prior to The Dark Side of the Moon, performed at the Pompeii Grand Theatre. He was also named an honorary citizen of Pompeii on the occasion.

References

Sources