LIVE AT POMPEII (THE DIRECTOR'S CUT)

Live at Pompeii is not only one of the best, but the best concert DVD that I know. Pink Floyd have always been my favorite band, and this record shows the best live achievements of the group. Yes, it is completely live, but not 'in concert': the band didn't play in front of an audience this time, but recorded their music in an old amphitheatre in Pompeii, enriching the video footage with astonishing videos: spooky shots of antic drawings and relics from long-gone times in Pompeii as well as psychedelic films of the Vesuvius volcano (sometimes with the Pink Floyd walking around there). A little downer is the fact that three pieces were recorded in Paris and not in Pompeii, but as the group managed to add some Pompeii landscape recordings in the background it all isn't too big a let-down.

The people who have seen the group live or those who have listened to live recordings know that especially the vocals were sometimes a bit problematic in concert, but regarding the recording and playing quality of this film this one is - in my opinion - as good as or (in terms of the sound) even better than the early Pink Floyd studio records.

The most impressing thing: the sound! Here we have one of the best, most unique and most independently sounding drum mikings (listen to this wonderful punch in One Of These Days), a delicate stereo mixing where every instrument - be it the raucous Hammond organ, the chunky Fender bass guitar or the crystal clear electric guitar - gets its turn.

From the musical perspective Pink Floyd also couldn't have done anything in a better way: the listener is presented the whole Ummagumma Live setlist (except for Astronomy Domine and the unissued Interstellar Overdrive) and additionally the highlights of the 1971 Meddle record: in total 27 minutes of Echoes, One Of These Days and a more upfront version of Seamus, called Mademoiselle Knobs.

The division of Echoes into two parts is of course a bit daring, but the band succeeded very well in doing that as firstly the song becomes better accessible and secondly the film becomes more coherent when it begins and ends with the same (outstanding) piece of music. Despite being quite similar to the studio version we find a prolonged avantgarde two minute beginning before Part 1 called Pompeii whose heartbeat and synthesizer effects should later appear as Speak To Me on the Pink Floyd's quintessential record Dark Side Of The Moon.

Another interesting piece of information is that A Saucerful Of Secrets still was a somewhat overlong improvisation piece in 1970 (sometimes even longer than 20 minutes); by the time of this concert it had been shortened to to a length of ten minutes and thus, simply because of its more concentrated frame, got a more assertive and aggressive sound which is quite beneficial here. As well, watching David Gilmour sitting on Pompeiian soil and fooling around at his guitar while Roger Waters is fighting himself through crash cymbals and a China gong is a big pleasure; Rick Wright uses a grand piano in the first two parts, but of course he switches to his Hammond B3 organ to deliver an achingly beautiful performance in the last part with really celestial voices by David Gilmour.

Mademoiselle Knobs is an alternate version of Seamus which - despite being less impressive than the other pieces - doesn't destroy the atmosphere, but rather enhances it with its funny sounds of a dog howling. Interestingly, the lyrics are missing here, which I like quite much.

The alternative version of the film includes interviews of the band and some interesting shots of the band working on Dark Side Of the Moon. Although these elements prove themselves as very well watchable (even after many times of watching the DVD) the most fascinating aspect is of course the live footage that is (in my book) the best that has been recorded ever.

All in all the music of this DVD shows all the great facettes of the ''magnificent perfection'' (to quote the Moody Blues) of the early Pink Floyd: explosive experimentation, awkward psychedelic sound effects, driving rock and deliciously flowing symphonic prog music, music that abducts you and allows you to revel in your own thoughts and imagination - all of that combined in this 90 minutes long film with crystal-clear sound and video. Highly recommendable, *****, one of the most essential films of progressive rock ever and one of the, maybe, ten recordings on which there are so many tracks which do not only get 15/15 points, but also my personal masterpiece rating (Celestial Voices, Echoes and One of These Days).

(Those who like this concept [concert film and landscape/nature film combined] should also check Sigur Rós's Heima where this somehow Pink-Floyd-like postrock/indie/psychedelic band plays at many places in the vast Icelandic countryside, miles from anywhere.)

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