Pink Floyd: see sparkling new trailer for remastered ‘Pompeii’ concert film
1972 documentary capturing band pre-Dark Side returns to cinemas and IMAX on April 24
By Daniel Kreps
Pink Floyd have shared the new trailer for their remastered Live at Pompeii concert film, which is returning to the big screen — including IMAX — this April.
The minute-long look at Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII — “a rare and unique document of the band performing live in the period prior to The Dark Side Of The Moon,” drummer Nick Mason said in a statement — showcases the crisper visuals and audio for the 1972 film, courtesy of a recently unearthed negative.
“Since 1994, I have searched for the elusive film rushes of Pink Floyd At Pompeii, so the recent discovery of the 1972 original 35mm cut negative was a very special moment,” the band’s Director of Restoration Lana Topham said in a statement. “The newly restored version presents the first full 90-minute cut, combining the 60-minute source edit of the performance with the additional Abbey Road Studios documentary segments filmed shortly after.”
The film finds Pink Floyd performing pre-Dark Side favorites like “Echoes,” “One of These Days,” and “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” in an empty Roman amphitheater near the site of the infamous volcano eruption, as well as footage from the studio as the band recorded their classic Dark Side of the Moon.
Recording engineer Steven Wilson, who was tasked with remixing the album’s sound, added in a statement, “Ever since my dad brainwashed me as a kid by playing The Dark Side of the Moon on repeat, Pink Floyd has been my favorite band. They are my ‘Beatles,’ deeply ingrained in my musical DNA. I first saw Pompeii from a grainy print at a local cinema. It made an incredible impression on me with its untethered and exploratory rock music made by four musicians that seemed to epitomize the notion of intellectual cool. It was an honor to remix the soundtrack to accompany Lana Topham’s incredible restoration of the film, which looks like it could’ve been filmed yesterday.”
The remastered Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII will arrive in theaters and IMAX on April 24, while the first-ever vinyl release of the live album comes on May 2.