In the summer of ’69, hundreds of thousands of people converged on a muddy New York farm to soak in music by artists that Pink Floyd had gigged with: Jimi Hendrix, the Who, and Ten Years After, among them. Pink Floyd were not invited.
“We didn’t feel like we missed out on Woodstock because we weren’t heavyweight at that point,” Pink Floyd’s drummer, Nick Mason, says. “We were playing the Scene club in New York to an audience of, probably, 150 people. And, well, I don’t think we’d have thought we could do Woodstock.”
At that point, the quartet was adjusting to life after Syd Barrett, the frontman whose songs had positioned his group as one of England’s preeminent psychedelic bands before his erratic behavior prompted Pink Floyd to fire him. After releasing 1968’s brilliant A Saucerful of Secrets, they powered through fragmentary, heavy-concept LPs (Soundtrack From the Film ‘More’, Atom Heart Mother) before eventually settling on the sound that would define their Seventies masterpieces, beginning with 1971’s Meddle — two years after Woodstock. The spaced-out majesty of “Echoes” and propulsive “One of These Days” foregrounded what the band would do on The Dark Side of the Moon and later albums. Mason has always found the Woodstock film impressive, “terrific” even, with its hordes of people.
In 1971, though, Pink Floyd became the subject of their own cult-classic concert film, Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, in which they performed three songs beneath the sweltering Italian sun, in the excavated ruins of Pompeii’s Roman amphitheater, to an audience of hundreds of thousands of ghosts. Only the band’s roadies and director Adrian Maben’s film crew witnessed their spaced-out renditions of “Echoes,” “A Saucerful of Secrets,” and “One of These Days” in person. Rather than present a band interacting with an audience, the movie shows a group reacting to its environment. “It’s funny how we took to that concept,” Mason says. “It is that thing of substituting an audience for a remarkable venue.”
Sony Music Entertainment*
Mason last watched the film a year or two ago and could appreciate the work the group put into the performance, partially because filming went by so quickly that he barely remembered making it. The movie also includes performances of a handful of songs shot in a Paris TV studio, including the infamous blues number, “Mademoiselle Nobs,” which features a dog as Pink Floyd’s lead singer, and footage shot at Abbey Road when the band was recording The Dark Side of the Moon. There’s also plenty of scenes of Floyd’s members hiking around volcanic lava from nearby Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in 79 A.D., burying the city.
But the highlight of the picture, which came out in 1972, remains the footage in the amphitheater showing Roger Waters attacking a gong, David Gilmour squatting in the dirt with his guitar, and Rick Wright playing a grand piano — all with Mason at his drum kit in the center. “I think over a six-day period, we went from vaguely interested to enthusiastic [about performing in Pompeii], and I think we built a relationship with the film crew that helped as well,” Mason says. “I like the great image of Roger on the top of the wall with the gong.”
Next month, the film will be re-released in movie theaters with a new title, Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII, that reflects how it has been restored from the original 35mm prints and remastered in 4K, so it will look great when shown on IMAX screens. The picture also features remixed Dolby Atmos sound by engineer Steven Wilson, which will come out as a standalone album.
In an in-depth conversation with Rolling Stone, Mason, 81, reflects on his experience in Pompeii, where both he and Gilmour have played solo shows in recent years, and how he now sees Pink Floyd’s legacy.
When David Gilmour performed in Pompeii nine years ago, the amphitheater hosted an art exhibit that describe the concert film as “Rock’s Wackiest Idea.” Did playing to an empty Roman amphitheater seem strange to you then?
I think we took to it fairly quickly. It’s a very odd idea. I have a feeling that it was a fairly last-minute thing because we’d ended up canceling some shows in the U.K. We had to make them up six months later, by which time Dark Side of the Moon had come out, and there was a very happy university who had booked us for 500 quid when we were now looking for double that.
How was playing without an audience for you?
Initially, it was rather strange, but we got into it. You’re playing for each other, just like you do onstage, so you engineer your own atmosphere.
What do you remember about Pompeii then?
We weren’t there for very long. I went back [in 2023] and could remember almost nothing. The town’s changed a bit. It’s more remarkable now. I think it sounds absurd, but I think we took it for granted. In a way, I seem to remember less about Pompeii and the movie than I do about almost any other period of Pink Floyd.
But I remember the dust. Because it was a bit gritty and hot, it gave the film atmosphere. It was an alternative to having an audience, and it worked really well. I believe that we did very little cutting and redoing pieces. It was almost like a live gig.
Watching you during “Careful With That Axe, Eugene,” you’re kind of looking off into the distance. What were you listening for?
Roger. That is the tendency with the rhythm section; it’s always drums and bass. A friend of mine once said to me, “The thing about a band is it’s basically drums, bass, and then a bunch of novelty acts.” [Laughs].
The footage of “One of These Days” mostly features you playing drums.
I’ve heard a story that they lost some of the rolls of tape, particularly for that song, and the only take that remained was the camera that was on me, so I got this free ride for more or less the entire song. But that may not be true; it may just be that Adrian just thought I was so great.
What do you think when you see yourself in the film with your mustache and your rainbow butterfly shirt in the Paris scenes?
Oh, it’s slightly embarrassing, but at least I kept my T-shirt on [laughs]. It’s one of those things where you have a look and then you grow older and begin to look like the tour accountant.
Two of the songs you performed there, “Echoes” and “One of These Days,” were new to Floyd at the time, since they came off Meddle, which you’d just finished recording. What was the spirit of the band at the time?
We had a sense of confidence. Almost entirely thanks to the Beatles, the record companies suddenly realized that the creative process worked better if they didn’t tell us what to do. It’s significant that Sgt. Pepper was recorded exactly when we were down the corridor [recording The Piper at the Gates of Dawn] in Studio Three, and that set everyone up for a completely different attitude to what you do in the studio and what you then give to the record company.
You voice the famous, robotic-sounding phrase, “One of these days I’m going to cut you into little pieces” on the Meddle recording of “One of These Days.” Is it your voice in the Pompeii film?
We would have used a taped version of it, maybe even the same one that was on the record. It came from the mixing desk. Our road manager knew when to cue it or was signaled when to cue it; I certainly didn’t say it live.
Did you write that line?
I can’t remember whether Roger devised the line, or if it came from me. I might suggest [that authorship] it’s divided between the two of us. I’ll take credit for it, and then Roger will have a word.
Sony Music Entertainment*
What can you say about Roger Waters’ interest in playing the gong back then?
It’s clearly an unhealthy interest. He can’t leave it alone.
Why were Pink Floyd so invested in the idea of creating live spectacles?
We decided in the very early days that we were going to do something more interesting than presenting the four of us onstage. Even with Syd, we were running a light show, we were running oil slides and some slightly specialized stage lighting. There were no wild gyrations that I remember from any of us. Pompeii fulfilled that just by being there and being part of it.
After Ummagumma, a double album that mixed studio and live recordings, the Pompeii filmwas the only official document of the band performing live until the Eighties. Why was that?
I think we didn’t realize what a good idea it was to film things. Maybe it’s because the movie didn’t make any money for us, but it’s a great shame that we didn’t spend a bit longer and do the equivalent with Dark Side of the Moon.
The film contains a lot of footage of the band recording The Dark Side of the Moon, which is very interesting since it shows you simply making another album at the time.
There’s a sequence with Roger explaining how we used the VCS 3 [a synthesizer used for “On the Run”], which I thought was really good, because it was a very good little tutorial explaining how the machine worked and how we were using it, rather than anything else.
The film also includes a few songs you recorded in France, including “Mademoiselle Nobs,” which features a dog on lead vocals. You’d done that previously with “Seamus.” How often did you record with dogs?
It was probably one of those things of Adrian saying, “Look, is there something else we could film?” And the dog was there. It’s funny thinking about the dog, because you’re hardly going to be able to explain to the dog that you want to edit, unless it’s a really, really smart dog.
You performed at the Grand Theater in Pompeii a couple of years ago with your Saucerful of Secrets band. How was it for you to be back there?
The city made a big fuss about us being there, which was really nice, and they made me an honorary citizen. I hope that means I can park wherever I like if go back there.
It’s always fun working in Italy anyway, because the audiences get so enthusiastic. It was really enjoyable, because for the last 50 years, they’re still making a fuss. It’s not just a volcano; it’s Pink Floyd being there with their T-shirts off.
Re-releasing the Pompeii film back into theaters, and specifically IMAX, is the first big endeavor since Sony bought Pink Floyd’s catalogue. Do you have hopes for what more they could do with it?
No, but I think I’m still feeling that the catalog sale was a good idea. I think Sony will actually look after it better than we would. We’d spend too much time arguing. And I’ve yet to see exactly how it all works, but at the moment I’m thinking this is a good thing.
Was it weird for you to put a value on your music when you sold it to Sony?
Well, yes, because it never occurs to you that it has a really enormous value. But I’m anxious that we could see a real decline in music with A.I., and with more and more people working out how to avoid having to pay any sort of copyright. I think it’s been a continuing struggle, particularly for young musicians to find any way of making money in this day and age. I’m very conscious that we had the golden years where you sold vinyl and then you sold CDs and 8-Track and whatever.
Do you still regularly speak with David and Roger?
I haven’t spoken to David for a while, but I was in Barbados, and Roger was in Barbados, as well, so I’ve seen a lot more of Roger than David recently.
Sony Music Entertainment*
What did you think of Roger’s Dark Side of the Moon Redux album from a couple of years ago, where he re-recorded the album with new arrangements and did the vocals himself?
I really liked it. There was a lot of talk about whether he’s trying to spoil it for the anniversary and stuff like that, and it was so not that. It was, “Let’s have another look at it from a different perspective.” No one’s going to go, “I’m going to buy that one, I’m not going to buy that one.” They’re interesting enough for everyone to go, “I’ll have both.”
It’s interesting hearing him recite the lyrics to “Time” now at his present age.
Well, yeah, I think that’s the most amazing thing about some of Roger’s lyrics: They were written as though they were written by an 80-year-old rather than by a 23-year-old.A song like “Time,” you’d have thought it was just written by someone much older. Quite remarkable really.
What’s next for your band, the Saucerful of Secrets?
We actually don’t know what’s next. We probably did a bit too much last year. Everyone was exhausted. We’d certainly like to do some more things, it’s just a matter of finding the right things.
I still really love playing. The great thing about the Saucers was actually just getting behind a drum kit again, and not for guest moment playing a cowbell, but proper playing.
How did it feel for you to record “Hey, Hey, Rise Up!” Pink Floyd’s last single, a few years back? It was released to give money to charities aiding Ukraine.
It was quite nice to do, because of how David led that. There’s a Ukrainian in his family, and it was nice to be able to be part of it. It was one afternoon’s work, not that difficult, and a nice thing to do. Also, it was very cleverly done in terms of being able to lift a cappella vocals and put the band underneath it.
Sony Music Entertainment*
Do you miss being in Pink Floyd now?
Not really, because in a funny way just doing this interview means I’m still in it. It’s still there, maybe a bit ghostly. I don’t still think, “Oh, I wish we could go back into Soldier Field again,” or whatever. I’m certainly proud of what we’ve done, and I quite like this thing now of working on the history.
Are you satisfied with Pink Floyd’s legacy?
I’m not quite sure what you mean by, “Am I satisfied with it?” We could have done more, but if we’d done more maybe it wouldn’t have been as good. As I said, I’m sorry we didn’t film the Dark Side tour.
If one could play the whole thing back all over again, we probably should have taken longer, we should have spent more time playing Dark Side live and not worried about going back into the studio to make Wish You Were Here. We actually spent quite a long time in the studio having not a great time when we could have just actually drawn things out a bit longer, done more live work and filmed it.
This year marks 50 years since Wish You Were Here. Do you think Sony will do a nice reissue?
I can almost guarantee that Sony will find something. We’ve got to the point where every year there’s some album’s birthday somewhere, and we can just keep it going. We’ll do the 75th. I doubt that I’ll make the 100th year of Dark Side, but you never know.
You can try.
Absolutely.
