Photo Credit: Tony Hall / CC by 2.0
Pink Floyd continues to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ with the release of a new 30-minute documentary exclusively on YouTube about the recent solar eclipse listening event in Australia.
Pink Floyd will continue celebrating the 50th anniversary of their classic album, The Dark Side of the Moon, by releasing a new 30-minute film documenting the recent solar eclipse in Australia. “Eclipse” follows a group of Pink Floyd fans who flew to Western Australia to listen to The Dark Side of the Moon during the viewing of the rare total solar eclipse. The film will release exclusively on the band’s YouTube channel as part of “Floyd Fridays” on October 13.
On Thursday, April 20, the shadow of the moon brushed the tip of Western Australia as it travelled across the region. Overseen by Pink Floyd’s longtime creative consultant and Hipgnosis co-founder, Aubrey “Po” Powell, the band gave eight Australian fans (called The Astronome Domine Eight) the exclusive opportunity to visit the scenic UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Marine Park in Exmouth where the eclipse would be most visible, for a Dark Side of the Moon full album listening event. The event was timed to coincide with the moment the moon eclipsed the sun in its entirety, culminating in the album’s epic last song, “Eclipse,” featuring the line “But the sun is eclipsed by the moon…”
Created by Powell and his team, the documentary follows the Astronome Domine Eight, who listened on headphones alongside a purpose-built pyramid on a deserted beach. The film covers their journey from applying for the trip to their emotions afterward. Area locals and thousands of others who also made the historic trip to Exmouth for the experience were also interviewed as part of the documentary.
This year will also see another major eclipse on October 14 in North America, with Pink Floyd running a campaign on the band’s social channels to encourage fans to play The Dark Side of the Moon during the eclipse and upload videos and photos of their experiences with the hashtag #pfeclipse. The best submissions will be reposted across Pink Floyd’s social media presence.
Planetariums worldwide are celebrating the 50th anniversary with an immersive experience that combines visuals of the solar system and The Dark Side of the Moon. The all-encompassing surround sound and visual experience features a different theme for each track, to “transcend reality and take you way beyond the realms of 2D experience.”