Pink Floyd has offered up a fascinating preview of the newly restored version of the band’s 1972 concert film Live at Pompeii, which will be screened in select theaters worldwide starting April 24. The clip captures the legendary British group’s members at Abbey Road Studios in London while they were recording their classic album The Dark Side of the Moon.
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The segment features David Gilmour, Rick Wright, and Roger Waters reflecting on the use of modern equipment, specifically synthesizers, in their music. It also shows Waters noodling with a synthesizer part that eventually evolves into the song “On the Run.”
Near the beginning of the clip, Gilmour comments, “I doubt the equipment could take over. We do rely on it a lot. I mean, we couldn’t do what we do as we do it without it. We could still do a good entertaining musical show, I suppose, without it, but all those things are down to how you control them. And whether you’re controlling them, and not the other way around.”
Wright is than heard remarking, “[I]t’s a danger that we could become slaves of all our equipment, and in the past we have been, but what we’re trying to do is to sort it all out so that we’re not.”
Waters adds, “It’s just a question of using the tools that are available when they’re available. And more and more now, there’s all kinds of electronic goodies which are available for people like us to use, if we can be bothered. And we can be bothered.”
Gilmour and Waters Reflect More on the Then-New Technology
As the segment proceeds, Gilmour and Waters discuss the use of synthesizers and the idea that they could make it easy for people with no musical training to create music. The conversation is particularly interesting in light of modern developments with AI.
“I mean, it’s all extensions of what’s coming out of our heads,” Gilmour says. “You’ve got to remember that … you’ve got to have it inside your head to be able to get it out at all anyway. And the equipment isn’t actually thinking of what to do any of the time. It couldn’t control itself.”
He adds, “It would be interesting to see exactly what four people could do if just given the equipment, who didn’t know anything about it, really, and [you] just told them to get on with it and do something. It’d be an interesting experiment. I think we’d come off better.”
On the same topic, Waters muses, “It’s like saying, ‘Give a man a Les Paul guitar and he becomes Eric Clapton,’ you know. And it’s not true. And give a man an amplifier and a synthesizer and he doesn’t become whoever, you know. He doesn’t become us.”
More About Live at Pompeii and Its Restored Version
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, which was directed by Adrian Maben, originally was released in 1972. It features the band performing without an audience at the ancient Roman amphitheater at the ruins of the city of Pompeii, Italy. Pink Floyd’s performance was filmed in October 1971.
Commenting about the original film, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason said, “Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii is a rare and unique document of the band performing live in the period prior to The Dark Side of the Moon.”
The movie was re-released in 1974, with added footage of the band recording The Dark Side of the Moon and being interviewed at Abbey Road.
The newly restored version of the film, which has been retitled Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII, has been digitally remastered in 4K from the original 35-millimeter footage. In addition, the audio has been newly mixed by acclaimed studio whiz Steven Wilson.
Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII will be shown in select traditional cinemas and IMAX theaters. For more details about the screenings, visit PinkFloyd.film.
Pink Floyd at Pompeii Home Video and Soundtrack Album
Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 2.
A companion live album will be released the same day. It will be available as a two-CD set, a two-LP vinyl package, and via digital formats, including Dolby Atmos. This will mark the first time that the music from the film will be released on vinyl and in Dolby Atmos. You can pre-order the home video and album now.
Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII Album Track List:
- “Pompeii Intro”
- “Echoes Part 1”
- “Careful with That Axe, Eugene”
- “A Saucerful of Secrets”
- “One of These Days”
- “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”
- “Mademoiselle Nobs”
- “Echoes Part 2”
- “Careful With that Axe, Eugene” (Alternate Take)
- “A Saucerful of Secrets” (Unedited)
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