The Pink Floyd in Pompeii seen by one of the boys of the excavations

He went down in history as the concert without public, the one imagined and created by the Franco-Scozzese director Adrian Maben after being struck by the vision of the Amphitheater of the Scavi di Pompeii at the sunset, while visiting the girl. The Pink Floyd accepted the challenge: to make a movie-concert whose spectators would have been the ghosts of the past in a place that would have awakened with their music, in years when the lives began to be events for hundreds of thousands of people. Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii (Until April 30 at the cinema in a restored version) it would have been a sort of anti-woodstock, anti-island of Wight, anti-Altamont: a concert for no spectator. But in truth it was not.

In addition to the technicians, the Roadie, Maben and the photographer Jacques BoumenDil, a dozen boys then little more than teenagers witnessed the filming and became friends and companions of leisure of the band in those days of October 1971. They are remembered in the town on the slopes of Vesuvius like the boys of the excavations: Matteo Apuzzo, Enrico Carotenuto, Pinuccio Senatore, Peppe Acanfora, Silvestro Sorrentino, Mario Radio, Franco Petricelli … Salvatore the tobacconist, the pizza chef of the Zi 'Caterina restaurant adjacent to the excavations and the young students responsible for the Italian Christian University Federation (FUCI) of Pompeii are added to them.

One of those boys, Matteo Apuzzo, has lived in Miami for some time, but the contacts with Pink Floyd and with their entourage since those days of 54 years ago have never stopped. At the time he had just turned 18 and became his kids friend of Adrian Maben, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright, with the other boys. “We were a group of friends who grew up together, all residing in the surroundings of the great sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii,” says Matteo in video connection from Florida. “We entered the archaeological site thanks to one of us, Giuseppe Acanfora, son of the then caretaker of the excavations to spend time, being together, playing football, smoking some cigarettes, but above all to conquer foreign tourists”.

Matteo was already at the time a great fans of rock music. He was, among all the boys, the one he had traveled to attend the concerts of his myths. «At 15 I got anticipated money as a birthday gift from my parents and went to the Brancaccio theater in Rome in May 1968 to see Jimi Hendrix, finding only the ticket for the afternoon concert and not of the evening. On July 5, 1971 I went to Vigorelli in Milan for Led Zeppelin, on that evening sadly spent in history because of the guerrilla warfare with self -reflectors for which a 1500 lire ticket was inadmissible “.

Despite the passion for rock, Matteo had only heard of Pink Floyd. “It was hot that morning despite being the first days of October. With Enrico, Pinuccio, Peppe, Silvestro, Mario and Franco we stopped at the bar in front of the excavations to have a coffee and to talk about Napoli who would play in the championship with Fiorentina, when we saw large trucks arrive with sweaty and naked scaled scales on board more or less of our age, only some of a little bigger. We looked at each other among us amazed to understand who they were. We asked Peppe who was the son of the caretaker of the excavations if his father had told him something, but he didn't know anything in it ».

“Intrigued, there are sitting in front of a wall and after a while we followed the trucks in an area adjacent to the excavations to see what they had to download. We saw a live equipment that was pure science fiction for us, seemed to come from the future: Flight Case containing crates of all kinds and all the sizes, instruments, audio systems, mixer, monitors, kilometers of cables, lighthouses … there was everything, incredible. David, Roger, Nick and Richard, who still hadn't understood who they were, who had not yet understood. Accompanied by some of the staff, they went to the Grand Hotel del Rosario, which today is called Habita 79 Mgallery Pompeii ».

Matteo who loved (and still loves today) the Genesis had read a article a few months earlier in a musical magazine in which progressive and psychedelic scene were mentioned by the Pink Floyd with lots of photos. «Suddenly I realized that the four guys we had seen were the Pink Floyd, still not very famous band in Italy and unknown in our part. What did they do there? Far from their London? In archaeological excavations? In mine, in our excavations? So in the following hours and days, more and more intrigued, we entered the site secretly, reaching the amphitheater where the technicians had downloaded and mounted the material a little at a time. They took one day to set up the set. David, Roger, Nick and Richard came to check how everything was going on and then returned to the hotel ».

«One day we understood that something was wrong: there was no electricity. Only after did we learn that in order not to let the band know and take time waiting to find a solution, Maben had organized filming on the flues and among the muds of the Solfatara in Pozzuoli. But the musicians were pissed off for another reason, as they told me a few days later. Filming at the Solfatara had been organized for Sunday 3 October, right on the day of the processions for the supplication to the Madonna. The band had been trapped in traffic under the sun for hours, not understanding what was happening. Adrian managed to solve the problem by taking the current from a nearby Enel cabin that provided electricity to the typographic operating in the adjacent property of the sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Madonna. As you know, the hitch has reduced the actual recovery and work times at only four days, from Monday 4 to Thursday 7 October ».

From the late morning of Monday 4 October the Pink Floyd started playing in the amphitheater. “They entered the excavations,” continues Matteo, “and we reached the amphitheater in the eye. We went up to enjoy the show and also took a photo from up there. We had hours witnessing what they did until almost at sunset has risen a very strong wind that made a large Lem column of the lights fall to the ground. The band stopped. While the technicians tried to put everything right, a roadie pulled out a frisbee and all launched and played it. We had never seen a Frisbee in our life, we decided to show us and we went down. We started playing with them, Richard Wright explained to me how to launch it. From that moment we boys of the excavations have been admitted to the court of Pink Floyd, who have gained us amused ».

The Pink Floyd in Pompeii photographed by the boys Degi Scavi. Photo courtesy of Matteo Apuzzo

In those four days the boys spent most of the time with the band. «One afternoon we brought David, Roger, Nick and Richard to the Hall of the Italian Christian University Federation (FUCI) of Pompeii because there were both a ping pong table and the Balilla football table. We played for a long time, challenging each other. I remember a memorable Ping Pong game by Peppe Acanfora against Nick and Roger. David and I challenged each other in Filleardino. One evening not having much money, we decided to make a collection and bought them as a sign of hospitality of the pizzas at the Zi 'Caterina restaurant. A pizza at the time cost 50 lire. The pizza chef was a friend of ours so to make a good impression with the British we asked him to put more buffalo mozzarella, more tomato and large beautiful green leaves of fresh basil. With the money collected, we bought a dozen and we all ate together ».

«Another evening Pinuccio Senatore, who is no longer there, presented himself with a couple of vessels padded with broccoli and sausages and with two bottles of local red wine. We were in the stands at the bottom near David Gilmour who looked at us curiously: we invited him with us to eat the Marenna. Then the others also arrived. When David and I saw ourselves in July 2016 on the occasion of his two live alfiteatro lives, I brought him the same sandwich and he hugging me he laughing, remembering that evening many years ago ».

Richard Wright at the entrance of the Pompeii excavations. Photo: Enrico Carotenuto

In those Pompeian days the Pink Floyd and their crew seemed to the eyes of the citizens of extraterrestrials with their tight and torn jeans, their rings, their necklaces, often bare torso because of the heat, with long hair and mustache in the Mexican. «One morning I went to Salvatore the tobacconist to buy I no longer remember and there I found Richard with a large dark hat with wide pitches to shelter from the sun, jacket, shirt and neckline crew and nickname with a tank top of the same color as black mustache. Salvatore told me, knowing that I was a well -speaking English well: “Mattè Vir Ca 'Vonn Sti Dduje, Nun' and Capisc '” (Matteo see what these two want, I don't understand them). Nick was looking for a shampoo but Salvatore didn't have it. They came out and took two steps together nearby. We also met Enrico Carotenuto who with his Olympus took a photo of Richard at the entrance of the excavations ».

Matteo – like other boys of the excavations – has since maintained relations with the band to the point that Adrian Maben in 2015, David Gilmour in 2016 and Nick Mason in 2023, received the honorary citizenship of Pompeii in recognition of the band's role in the history of the town. «Now I'm doing everything thanks also to the support of the administration and my children Fabio and Ornella to make her also give Roger, unfortunately Richard is no longer there. If I can, a dream of mine will come true and a circle will close ».