This morning, an interview with David Gilmour, along with historian Mary Beard, was aired on the UK's BBC Radio 6. The interview talks about the location of David's pair of concerts at the wonderful Anfiteatro di Pompei, and David's choices of song for the shows. You can hear the four minute piece here:

Last week, David Gilmour and his band performed the pair of spectacular shows at the legendary Anfiteatro di Pompei 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 90BC and entombed in ash when Vesuvius erupted in AD79.

The amphitheatre was only uncovered after the Second World War and David's concerts were the first time that there has been an audience present in the arena in almost 2000 years. To mark the occasion of David's return, he was officially named an honorary citizen of Pompeii by local Mayor Ferdinando Uliano, in a special ceremony on July 6th, the day before the first show. Our thanks to Roger Leleu for the photos below, taken at the ceremony.

As noted elsewhere on this site, the lucky audience members were treated to an audio visual spectacular 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' which David has rarely played as a solo artist (one of those rare performances was in Paris, 2006, with Sam Brown on vocals). 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.

Last night saw the first of a pair of shows held at the historic Anfiteatro di Pompei, in Italy. Well known to Floyd fans as the site of Adrian Maben's 1971 filming, with the band playing an empty, and atmospheric, amphitheatre.

With the two consecutive nights taking place in a venue which had NEVER seen a rock band perform for an audience, the potential and possibilities of these shows seemed as endless as the rumours of the set that David would be playing!

Last night, the first of the concerts confirmed everything that was suspected about the very special nature of the event, and its "must see" status. It was clear that this wasn't just another night on the list of Rattle That Lock concerts, with the production just plonked into the arena. No, clearly much work had been undertaken over weeks and months to finesse the whole set up, to give those lucky enough to be at the show a truly unique experience.

Our review (and the set list) can be seen on the Pompeii first night show page, so if you want to know what happened, and what was played, that's where you'll find that. Those going this evening may not want anything spoilt...

This coming Friday (July 1st) at 6:30p.m. the Italian city of Rome will host an exclusive event celebrating the union of music and literature, starring two significant authors: the writer and lyricist Polly Samson and her husband David Gilmour.

The couple are in Italy for two important events: the upcoming dates of David's ongoing Rattle That Lock world tour, and the official release of "La gentilezza", Polly Samson's novel published by Unorosso. Known as The Kindness in English, the core of the book is a tale of love and pain, and recounts how sorrow could create very deep rifts in a couple.

The event is being held in a glamorous villa situated along the ancient Appia Antica for a strictly selected audience. 120 people including journalists, literature bloggers and fans will attend a "duet" interview focused on the artistic and intellectual process that the couple followed to result in the music we know well now.

The event is being organised by Unorosso Publishing House, Satellite Libri and Romasecretstore, with the cooperation of The Lunatics Cultural Association, a bunch of Italian Floyd experts. The book itself can be ordered through this direct link at Amazon.it (Italy).