The worst myth that concert films can possibly try to sell the cinema audience is that it’s just like being there. Well, apart from paying $15 for a soda, it’s not. There’s no one treading on your feet, no eight-foot point guard suddenly standing in front of you, and no one tunelessly screaming the wrong lyrics. So Pink Floyd’s legendary performance at the Amphitheatre of Pompeii doesn’t even try. It’s just the band, performing tracks from Meddle and Saucerful of Secrets, in a completely empty space that once held 20,000 screaming fans before being buried for nearly 1,700 years by ash from nearby Mount Vesuvius. – Richard Whittaker
April 24 & 27
