For the last 20 years or so, there’s been a steady flow of live performance films issued by the living members of Pink Floyd. The band may no longer exist, but you can count on David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Roger Waters to keep the Floyd fire burning. Gilmour and Waters, in particular, have staged massive concert tours, capturing it on film for eventual release. In 2025, both previewed concert films in theaters before releasing them digitally or on physical media.
Like his 2014 The Wall film, Roger Waters’ 2025 This Is Not A Drill – Live from Prague The Movie is as stunning visually as it is musically. With a new album to promote, David Gilmour toned down the eye-popping visuals, as well as a lot of older Floyd songs, and put the focus on himself and his band on his own Live At The Circus Maximus, Rome and The Luck And Strange Concerts set.
To be clear, Live At The Circus Maximus, Rome and The Luck And Strange Concerts are two separate sets packaged together on two Blu-ray Discs. Live At The Circus Maximus, Rome was filmed over three nights at the famous Italian venue, was screened in select cinemas around the world, and is now available on a single Blu-ray Disc. The Luck And Strange Concerts is an audio-only companion that replicates the setlist with performances drawn from the 23-date tour. It’s featured on a second Blu-ray Disc loaded up with all kinds of extras, including promotional films, documentaries, and rehearsal footage. It can also be had on vinyl, CD, and digitally.
Gilmour plays everything, though not in order, from his 2025 Luck And Strange album. There’s also a couple from 2016’s Rattle That Lock. As for Pink Floyd, you could call it a very lean selection, with five from the 70s and five from the two post-Waters albums of the 80s and 90s. Staples like “Money” and “Run Like Hell” didn’t make the cut.
In recent concert films, Roger Waters seems to toil in the darkness of Pink Floyd, serving up large portions of Animals and The Wall aligned with colorful, yet austere, politically charged imagery and messaging. On the Luck And Strange tour, Gilmour offered lighter, simpler fare like “Breathe (In The Air),” “Fat Old Sun,” and “Wish You Were Here” (which Waters also plays, though not as convincingly). Watching Live At The Circus Maximus, we see a round backdrop screen that mostly displays close-ups of Gilmour and the band onstage, with only a few Luck And Strange images, and some older, well-worn clips from The Dark Side Of The Moon and The Division Bell.
Gilmour’s relaxed, almost deliberately languid approach seems to create a haven of goodwill among his band and the audience. He beams proudly when daughter Romany comes up on stage, plays the harp, sings “Between Two Points,” or with the other background singers — Louise Marshall, Charley Webb, and Hattie Webb — now collectively known as Marshall Gilmour Webbs. They later pay tribute to fallen Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright with a heartfelt, vocally stunning rendition of “The Great Gig In The Sky” that features Marshall on piano alongside Gilmour’s smooth pedal steel.
Guitarist Ben Worsley takes up a few of the guitar, slide, and vocal parts to give the boss a little more wiggle room to sing and strum. He even assumes the lead vocalist post on the chorus of “A Boat Lies Waiting.” Keyboardist Greg Phillinganes sings Wright’s verses in “Time.” The collaborative nature extends right up to the very last song. This is when bassist Guy Pratt, who’s been in the service of Pink Floyd, David Gilmour and Nick Mason since the late 80s, sings the Roger Waters verses of “Comfortably Numb” with relative ease.
Waters has realigned and rearranged “Comfortably Numb” to no end. As ruthless and even noble as that may sound, he’ll never be able to match the voice and guitar of David Gilmour. The version from Rome is a classic example of that. After Pratt asks: “Can you show me where it hurts?, the lights come up and the crowd presses forward as Gilmour coos the first few lines: “There is no pain…you are receding…A distant ship smoke on the horizon…” Then, he squeezes out that epic solo, the one every guitarist wishes he’d written, that begins and ends ever so perfectly, sending shivers up and down you and your neighbor’s forearms no matter how many times you hear it. By the looks of it, it was an emotional moment for everyone in Rome.
Live At The Circus Maximus, Rome, directed by Gavin Elder, not only captures the show, but also the surrounding ancient ruins of Rome with stylish aerial shots inserted here and there (along with an animated black cat) — adding an exotic, European flair to the proceedings. If you saw the film during its short IMAX run, it probably added to its allure. The Circus Maximus used to host Roman chariot-racing for up to 250,000 spectators. Today, much of it is gone, though part of the present park has become a popular venue for concerts. Gilmour’s sold 90,000 tickets for the six shows he played there in 2024.
Watching backstage and rehearsal footage in the extras section on The Luck And Strange Concerts Blu-ray clearly affirms how much hard work, fun, and fulfilling the tour was for everyone involved. Another highlight is the “Luck And Strange” promotional video, which features footage of Richard Wright playing keyboards on the song. The memory of Wright is celebrated by Gilmour as much as that of Syd Barrett by the guitarist, Waters, and Mason. If only Mason could get Gilmour to team up on an updated version of “Echoes,” and pay tribute to Wright with a nod to Waters, so the rest of us could die in peace.
Suffice to say, Live At The Circus Maximus, Rome and The Luck And Strange Concerts is well worth the time and investment. Not only is the video a feast for the eyes, but the audio, co-produced by Gilmour and Charlie Andrew, can be played back in 24-bit/96kHz PCM stereo, Dolby Atmos, and 5.1 Surround Sound DTS-HD. Your home theater will transform into the Circus Maximus without the 2,000-year-old architecture.
~ Shawn Perry
Purchase
Live At The Circus Maximus, Rome & The Luck And Strange Concerts
