TICKET SCAN TO GO HERE

Capacity: 2,000

Concert starts: 9pm

Address of venue: Via Plinio, Pompei NA, Italy. MAP

Website: pompeiisites.org

COMMENTS

An incredible, and totally unexpected venue for a pair of shows on David's 2016 European tour is this - the oldest surviving Roman amphitheatre. It is located in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, and was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, that also buried Pompeii itself and the neighbouring town of Herculaneum. Well known to Pink Floyd fans as the filming location for Adrian Maben's 1972 film, with the band shot performing live with no audience, the 2016 shows will have an audience this time around - 2,000 lucky souls each night in the historic venue.

Tickets for the concerts - which start at 9pm each evening - go on sale on Tuesday, (March 22nd) at 13:00hrs CET from www.DavidGilmour.com. In efforts clearly designed to stop the ticket touts, there are some important ticketing restrictions in place.

Tickets are limited to a maximum of two per person for one show only (not both) and are priced at €300 each plus 15% booking fee. The purchaser will get a receipt with his or her name on it, and must present this to the box office on site, with photographic ID and the card used to purchase the ticket(s). If two tickets have been bought, the additional person must also be present. Each ticket holder will then be presented with a ticket and a wristband, and both must be shown to security to enter the site (the wristband must be worn at the time).

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!

Do not read on if you don't want surprises to be spoilt, regarding what the band played!

They say that lightning never strikes twice - although that logic is flawed, as there have been many instances when that has happened. Certainly something mercurial took place this evening, when attendees were treated to a show which if anything really eclipsed the first night in terms of performance, and presentation.

Earlier in the day, excluding ticket and wristband formalities (again dealt with by the staff in an efficient and friendly way - the task of dealing with fans from all four corners of the planet didn't seem to phase them, despite such things clearly a rarity for them) we did an extensive tour of the excavations, whilst still absorbing what we'd seen the previous night. A number of other concert goers - either from the first night, some sporting their "mosaic" t-shirts, or those yet to have that pleasure, agog at the thought of attending later in the day - were seen in the streets of ancient Pompeii, amongst the cruise groups and other tourists. 

One of the main entrances leads past the amphitheatre (as well as the area used for the aftershow party, closed off and deserted during the day) and fans and the simply curious could be seen looking over fences into the backstage area, trying to see into the arena itself, and taking pictures by the large banners advertising the show.

Entrance into the concert was as efficient as the first night, and no obvious changes had been made to the staging or arena area...or so we'd thought. 

Featuring a set list unchanged from last night, the show again featured the otherwise unperformed for some time Great Gig In The Sky. This worked really well with the trio of vocalists, accompanied with Crystal Voyager visuals on Mr Screen. The vocal harmonies seemed more polished this evening (could it be that they'd refined them during the day?), and it proved a wonderfully evocative section of the concert.

As with last night, the performance of Money was a definite highlight of the show. The interplay between Chester and David was a joy to hear - the pair seem to really get on well on stage, and has taken the overall sound of the show into a new direction (as with the keyboard duo of Chuck and Greg, new to the music of the Floyd but fitting in very well and doing a great job).

One moment which caused much amusement to both band and audience came at the end of Shine On. Joao Mello performed the normal saxophone outro but whilst this normally tails off/is faded right out, he just quietly kept going, and going. And going...

A small but presumably vocal section of the audience seemingly persisted with their requests for the band to play Echoes. There was an element of this on the first night too, but despite David saying in recent interviews that Echoes would not be included in the Pompeii set, that wasn't deterring people. Eventually, he made himself very clear to the crowd, telling us rather tersely that a performance of Echoes won't take place. "Echoes is a great song. It's a conversation between two people. Rick's dead. We don't play it anymore."

This announcement was met with respectful cheering and applause from many in the audience, sensitive to the reasons why it couldn't be performed, not even as a tribute to Richard. Without the keyboard and vocals from Richard, it would never have been the same, and would have missed a vital ingredient.

I said early that we'd thought there had been no changes to the staging of the show. This was confounded with Run Like Hell, which featured a very large, and colourful, barrage of fireworks from all around us, launched from the top of the wall surround. There were fireworks the first night, but simple white ones, and not as many as the second night enjoyed.   

Again the show was filmed for hopeful release at some later stage - and indeed, a remote drone was again spotted flying high above the venue taking still and potentially video footage. A slight breeze seemed to be blowing the smoke effects out of the amphitheatre a little more readily than the first night, which may have compromised some of the wider footage shot.

A stunning, unforgettable experience from beginning to end, which should be available to fans across the world hopefully in the not too distant future. The tour stays in Italy, but moves to Verona for a pair of shows at the Roman amphitheatre there... in the meantime, we'd love to hear from others who were at Pompeii. What did YOU think of the show?

CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Kevan Porter

If you've read my review of David's first night in Pompeii then you'll know that it was, for me, the best gig I've ever been to. Well, hold onto your hats folks because I lied! Last nights second performance in Pompeii was even better if that were possible.

The immediately obvious difference was the sound quality which was just as clear but beefier and punchier, and, in particular, the vocals. And tonight the playing stepped up a gear too, it was brilliant the first night but tonight it was in another super league all of its own! The set list remained as night one but with a few small surprise such as Jaoa Mello's very excellent sax solo at the end of Shine On which seemed to never end, much to the amusement of both band and audience. The pyrotechnic finale of Run Like Hell featured an additional barrage of multicoloured fireworks just before the Vesuvian type eruption that marks the conclusion of set two. As with the previous night, a small but determined section of the audience kept calling out for Echoes and, finally, David spoke to the audience, "Echoes is a great song. It's a conversation between two people. Rick's dead. We don't play it anymore". So, hopefully that finally ends that then.

Of course, the 'ghosts' of Pompeii were with us again tonight; all those lost Roman souls of 2000 years or more plus Rick and Syd.

These two very special nights will go down in history as two of the most momentous rock concerts ever and myself and all those other fans that witnessed the 'spectacle', are indeed very lucky souls.

Next stop for me will be two nights in Nîmes and then five nights at the Royal Albert Hall in September. The roller coaster continues!

CONCERT PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Kevin Gauci

CONCERT PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Evgenia Mikhaylova

Evgenia has already shared these, and other, Pompeii pictures on the Brain Damage Facebook page, so if you aren't already a regular there, make sure you are!

CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Nick Spekkels

Much has been written about this concert and indeed it was truly a concert that I will never forget. The scenery was just amazing and the thought of this being the first time that there was a performance with a live audience since the Roman days is mind-blowing.

This concert was the first in 5* that I saw in the last four weeks and each concert had something unique in my personal opinion. (* see also my other reviews and pictures on Stuttgart, Arc-et-Senans, Tienen 2x)

The scenery here can't be topped by any concert (ever again). The fireworks during Run Like Hell were unique (it was the only concert with fireworks I saw on this tour) and the stage itself was also great; the other concerts I went to, all had the "black box stage", but now it was only a stage with Mr. Screen, a good choice.

There was some "VIP" seating, but with only 2,000 people in this arena I think we all felt like VIP's. The sound, lights, scenery, performance and atmosphere were just perfect, what a way to start the 5 concerts!

YOUR HELP NEEDED! We want to cover David's concerts the best we can, to share the experience with everyone, especially those who won't be able to attend the shows. We'd love to see ANY pictures, tickets scans, reviews, newspaper reports, and anything else you come across for this show - we look forward to hearing from you!