Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Press

Pink Floyd will stream 1972 concert film Live At Pompeii free for 24 hours via YouTube starting 12 pm Eastern Standard time April 24.

“The version of Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii seen on The Early Years box set (re-edited with the full version of ‘Echoes’ as one),” the band writes via their official Facebook page, “will be available to watch, on-demand, for 24 hours – a great way to start the weekend!”

Live At Pompeii was filmed in October 1971, two years prior to the release of Pink Floyd’s best-known album The Dark Side of The Moon in 1973.

Notable for its exotic venue, lack of an audience, and memorable performances of ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’ as well as ‘Echoes‘, the film quickly becomes a cult classic within underground cinema circuits of the 1970s.

“It’s just us playing a load of tunes in the amphitheatre with some rather Top Of The Pops-ish shots of us walking around the top of Vesuvius and things like that,” Roger Waters remarked of the film at the time of its 1972 release. “I think Pink Floyd freaks would enjoy it.”

The work of Pink Floyd and director Adrian Maben quickly set a new standard amongst other rock bands of the era, with Deep Purple, Taj Mahal, and The Moody Blues also recruiting Maben to film them in other less than conventional locations.

“I don’t think any of us thought it [Live At Pompeii] would be as well‑received and last in people’s minds for as long as it did,” David Gilmour reflected in 2015. “All credit to him [Maben]. It’s his idea and it was great.”

The release of Live At Pompeii follows the release of 1995 concert film Pulse on April 17 and will be followed by a KQED Pink Floyd broadcast from 1970 on May 1 and David Gilmour’s own 2016 solo Pompeii performances on May 8.