This week David Gilmour performed two spectacular shows at the legendary Pompeii Amphitheatre in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, marking the first time he has played there in 45 years.
The performances were the first-ever rock concerts for an audience in the stone Roman amphitheatre which was built in 90 BC and entombed in ash when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.
The amphitheatre was only uncovered after the Second World War and David Gilmour’s concerts are the first time that there has been an audience present in the arena in almost 2000 years.
In 1971 when Pink Floyd played at the amphitheatre for the film ‘Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii’ there was famously no audience present, but this time the 2600 strong crowd stood exactly where gladiators would have fought in the first century AD.
The crowd was treated to an audio visual spectacle featuring lasers, pyrotechnics and a setlist featuring songs from throughout David's career. Tracks performed over the two nights ranged from his latest album 'Rattle That Lock' to the Pink Floyd classic 'One Of These Days', the only song that was also performed at the 1971 show.
Both concerts also saw very special performances of 'The Great Gig In The Sky' from 'Dark Side Of The Moon' which David rarely plays as a solo artist. The full setlists for both shows are below.
David, now officially an honorary citizen of Pompeii, said of the shows ‘It's a magical place and coming back and seeing the stage and the arena was quite overwhelming. It's a place of ghosts...in a friendly way’.
A special guest at the second show was the world renowned classicist Mary Beard, an expert on Ancient Rome as well as a lifelong Pink Floyd fan, who treated David and his wife Polly Samson to a guided tour of the amphitheatre.
The Rattle That Lock World Tour 2016 will continue in Verona, Stuttgart, Paris, Weisbaden, Nimes, Besancon and Tienen in Belgium before ending up with a five night stand at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
