Pink Floyd: “Live In Pompei” premieres on Rai5, the documentary on the historic 1971 concert

One of the most iconic concert films in rock history, “Pink Floyd Live In Pompei”, comes back to life in the documentary airing Wednesday, March 18th at 11:30 pm on Rai5 (with a repeat broadcast later on RaiPlay). The film, directed by Adrian Maben in October 1971, captures the celebrated performance by Pink Floyd in a singular setting, the ancient Roman amphitheatre of Pompeii, with no audience present. A fusion of the ancient archaeological location and psychedelic rock.

The English band performed a typical live set of the era, but with no audience in attendance. The main footage, shot in and around the amphitheater, was filmed over four days in October 1971; further sequences were shot at a Parisian studio in December of the same year. In 1974 the film was reissued with additional material: footage of the band at work on “The Dark Side Of The Moon” and some interviews recorded at Abbey Road Studios.

The concert recordings remained officially unreleased until 2025. Before then, they had only circulated via unauthorized bootlegs, while some tracks taken from the documentary were included in 2016 on the compilation "The Early Years 1965–1972".

In 2025 the film was meticulously restored, frame by frame, from the original 35mm negative, rediscovered on five reels in the band's archives. This discovery brought to light the original footage shot during those scorching days among the ruins of Pompeii, more than 50 years ago.

Led by Lana Topham, Director of Restoration for Pink Floyd, the team worked to preserve the integrity and beauty of the original film. The footage was digitized in 4K using advanced techniques to achieve the highest possible image quality. The colors were enhanced and every frame was meticulously reviewed and repaired, maintaining a natural, vivid look with minimal intervention on the original grain.

The audio quality has also been remarkably improved with a new theatrical and home entertainment mix crafted by Steven Wilson in 5.1 and Dolby Atmos, which enhances the depth and clarity of the sound while respecting the authenticity and spirit of the original 1972 version. Wilson's goal was to faithfully recreate the band's sound from those fiery days of 1971.

The album “Pink Floyd At Pompeii – MCMLXXII” was released for the first time as a complete live album. The 2025 remix curated by Steven Wilson was made available on CD, LP, Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital Audio and Dolby Atmos formats.

And it was in 2025 that we lost Adrian Maben, the Scottish director who in 1972 turned the amphitheater of Pompeii into a shrine of psychedelic rock with the legendary “Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii”. Maben's camera transformed the ancient arena into a contemporary temple, where every shot was a painting, every note an inscription on the walls of the past.

Maben's bond with Pompeii went beyond the camera: the director would periodically return to the ruins, in love with the place and its history, to the point of being awarded honorary citizenship in 2015. A poetic tribute to a man who managed to elevate the Vesuvian city into a worldwide icon of music and contemporary culture.

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