Video : Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii
Released on Polygram Video in the UK
OK, so Pink Floyd sing words now and then. I'd say though that this
video shows off their musical prowess like nothing before or since.
It was recorded in 1972 outdoors in the old arena of Pompeii by
day and at night, and this video release intersperses some of the
footage taken during the recording of DSOTM (which I don't think
appeared in the original movie).
The tracks are :-
Echoes pt 1 : This is one of my all time fave Floyd tracks and they
do a great version of it here. It doesn't differ markedly from the
studio version. Even the abstract sounds are reproduced faithfully.
On The Run : We see Roger Waters in Abbey Road tooling about with a
Synthi AKS (NOT a VCS3, as stated in the liner notes of the album)
and getting a sound very similar to what appeared later on the disc.
History in the making ! Later, Gilmour and Waters provide an excellent
defence of electronic music-making equipment which was very forward-
looking for its day. Indeed, any techno or space-music artists might
like to transcribe their thoughts and pin 'em to a wall.
Careful With That Axe Eugene : Typical manic, orgasmic stuff. I
can't remember off-hand if it's this track or the next which has
some natty shots of Waters banging a gong with the sun behind it.
A Saucerful Of Secrets : This intrigued me. I knew that Tangerine
Dream held the Floyd in reverence and drew some influence from them,
but this showed it like never before. All the elements of early (and
later '70s) TD were here - Manic tom-tom drums a la Alpha Centauri,
organ drones like many of their early works, powerful chord sequences
like the end of Monolight. If you like the experimental German
school and you haven't heard this, there may be a real jewel just
waiting to be dusted off and picked up.
Eclipse : We return to Abbey Road. Gosh, it looks like a pretty
dull place ! It's like a primary school, complete with dodgy canteen
and formica surfaces. It's reassuring to see a god like Dave Gilmour
f**king up his parts and having to do about 10 takes.
One Of These Days : A more raw, powerful version than the one which
appeared on Meddle. Gilmour's slide guitar soars mightily and
Waters' bass growls.
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun : The middle jam has
some pretty abstract stuff on it.
Brain Damage : Back to Abbey Road for some more behind-the-scenes
glimpses of the truth behind the legend.
Mademoiselle Nobbs : This was actually Seamus from Meddle (the one
with the dog howling through it). Dave Gilmour honked away on his
blues harp while Rick Wright recorded the dog (!).
Echoes pt 2: This opens with the extended abstract part of Echoes
and the band play it amazingly close to the album version. Dave
Gilmour's guitar sounds better than anything during the jam section.
This is /the/ psychedelic guitar sound - solar flares bursting
through a speaker grill. And they say they're NOT an acid band !
The re-joining of the original song is executed perfectly.
I guess all the space-rock / acid-rock / avant-garde bands were
feeding off each other as the genre developed. It was REALLY
interesting to be able to pinpoint almost exactly where bands like
TD got some of their ideas from originally. As an example, you
know the organ fade-in < chords on One Of These Days ? Now listen
to the reverse piano sound half way through Rubycon pt 1. It must
have been an exciting time for everyone, artists and fans alike.
Reviewed by Grant Middleton
(
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