Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii was one of my very first experiences with the Floyd. In fact it was the first time I saw the band play live. Back in 92 – 93 when the Internet was not an option for me I was looking for names and pictures of the band members everywhere, pretty much like a person wearing a blindfold looking for a needle in a dark room.

After much research and asking people who I thought may have known the names of these legends, I have finally acquired the information I was looking for. The next step was sitting in front of the TV for endless hours, days, weeks; in hope of catching a glimpse or a video clip for one of Pink Floyd’s songs. And of course I was able to see both video clips for High Hopes??and Take it Back, both of which unfortunately do not show the musicians.

One of these days, while I was watching music shows that TV stations used to air in our times, they showed a very short clip from Live at Pompeii. That was actually my source and my next goal to find and purchase this video tape somewhere in the record stores. Fortunately I was able to find the only available (back then) Pink Floyd VHS tape from a record store in Lebanon (6-7 hours drive) and it was actually Live at Pompeii. Super excited, jumping and screaming like a little girl I ran home with my friends who also were Pink Floyd fans whom I discovered the band with.

The images from the movie are forever burned in my mind, the slow camera panning behind their gear and amps, the boiling lava scenes, Gilmour’s experiment with the slide sitting down in the ruins of the amphitheater, Waters’ screeching, Mason’s drum solo, Wright’s haunting keyboard sounds and piano keys smashing, the psychedelic tunes, and spooky themes, the gong, and then Echos! It’s a completely new and one amazing experience that I consider myself lucky to witness.

What’s your favorite rockumentary or album based movie ?