LIVE AT POMPEII (THE DIRECTOR'S CUT)

This is a dynamic 'concert'. Here they are with an invisible audience, playing in broad daylight at the Pompeii Amphitheatre. It is iconic imagery that sticks in the brain; the slow zoom towards them at the beginning of 'Echoes', Waters working with the infamous sequencer for 'On the Run', the mosaic skull at the intro of 'Careful with that Axe Eugene', the bold colour fonts introducing each song, and of course Waters banging the gong in silhouette on a white sky. There is an atmosphere of impending doom on 'Careful With that Axe Eugene' as we see images of the band walking on the volcanic mountain, mist and steam circling at their heels, and Waters deathly cold whispering. The lave spouts ignite sparks in the blackened sky as he sardonically screams, augmenting the ethereal atmosphere.

The camera tends to linger on one shot rather than edit quickly and jump cuts from one sequence to another. 'A Saucerful of Secrets' returns to the outdoor amphitheatre. Here the band go into full flight with Waters bashing the hell out of the cymbals, and a massive frenetic drum solo follows. Gilmour sits cross legged and scrapes his guitar strings with sweep downs and slides, Wright improvises on keyboards; this is the band at their most experimental. Waters waits at the gong like some demi god and then bangs it with purpose. Gilmour gets echo effects out of his guitar, spacey and surreal. The noise is a psychedelic blaze of imperfection. The track soon settles into a dreamy passage of sustained chords and a moderate beat and the band are completely absorbed in the transcendental music; Gilmour vocalises with his face covered by hair. Amazing piece of footage.

In the studio the camera pans slowly in a fly on the wall style during 'Us and Them'. One of the earliest versions of this classic is heard and how it is created, which is fascinating to watch knowing how important these tracks became for the band. Later we see Wright who does act rather annoying but the band put up with him. The interviews say little but if you read between the lines you can pull out things of interest; "rock is dying", Waters moans, "Unfortunately we mark a certain era... most people think of us as very dramatic...if people come to a concert and they don't like it they don't come again..."

'One of These Days' is featured with great bass and drums, a very powerful song in any case, but live even more so. This version feels faster and more intense, with cameras focussing on the expressions of the artists, Mason at the drums, the vibrating bass section has some iconic imagery, still shots of the band recording, the mixer, Mason lost in his drumming, 9 images of Mason in one kaleidoscopic shot, It is cult classic material.

'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' begins with a low drone, wind effects and a ton of gong. The ambient textures are created with bass drum playing and keyboards swoops. Waters sounds convincing on this, the vocals tend to match the strange imagery, statues, religious art works, and a plethora of bright spotlights flanking the band, like miniature suns. The instrumental break is phenomenal vintage psych prog. Wright showcases some improv skills on keys, with spacey effects akin to Hawkwind.

The film is bookended by 'Echoes Pt. 2' and we are back at the beginning with the outdoor performance. The band are seen playing against a screen with bubbling fountains and the band running on the volcano, ash spilling of their footsteps. There is a mystical feel on this as we see shots of the Pompeii ruins and very strange sounds. The camera rotates slowly from one member to the next, occasionally hiding behind the massive speaker stacks for elongated periods and them peering above or through cracks to glimpse the band playing, who seem completely oblivious of cameras.

Overall the film is certainly an indispensable document of early psych prog from the masters themselves. They seem to be cohesive and work as a unit and are enjoying themselves on this, but of course it was not to last. We see the visionary genius that is flawed as each tries to exude a unique approach to music. You do need patience with this. It can be a dull experience if you are not into the band or this type of music for sure, but this is nevertheless a compelling doco/concert and well worth a look for space prog addicts.

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