Former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour will perform in the preserved ancient Roman town of Pompeii this summer, Italy’s culture minister said on Wednesday.
The psychedelic British rock band that propelled Gilmour to fame made a film in 1971 at the site, which lay buried under ash for more than 1600 years after nearby Vesuvius erupted in 79AD.
“Agreement reached. After 45 years David Gilmour will play again at Pompeii on July 7 and 8,” Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said on Twitter.
Gilmour will probably play at the site’s Roman Amphitheatre, rather than the Large Theatre where the documentary Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii was made, a Pompeii spokesman said.
Built to hold gladiator fights more than a century before Rome’s Colosseum, the stone Amphitheatre can hold about 2,000 people.
The 70-year-old Gilmour will have an audience this time, having played to an empty theatre over four days to film the documentary, the spokesman said.
The concerts have not been listed on Gilmour’s official website. On July 10 and 11, he is due to play in a first-century Roman amphitheatre in Verona, northern Italy.
British singer Elton John is also scheduled to perform at Pompeii in July.
