The 1989 Pink Floyd Venice Concert That Ended in a Court Trial

There are rowdy rock and roll shows that make for wild memories and fun stories, and then there are rowdy rock and roll shows like Pink Floyd’s 1989 concert that ended in a court trial. The psychedelic rock band wanted a feature of their appropriately titled ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ tour to be unusual concert spaces, and they certainly got their wish when they performed on a floating barge in Venice’s Grand Canal on July 15.

From logistical nightmares to political outcries, Pink Floyd certainly left its mark on Venice, the 200,000 in-person attendees, the 100 million audience members tuning in via satellite TV, and Venice’s political players that fateful night.

The Show’s Planning Process Was Full Of Give And Take

Pink Floyd’s 1989 concert was full of reluctant compromise from both the production team and the city of Venice. Although the canal city didn’t normally host events of this nature, the city council argued—against the then-mayor’s wishes—that Venice ought to avail itself to growing trends of the time, including hosting rock and roll events. But without a venue large enough to accommodate the wildly popular rock band, Pink Floyd opted to set up on the water.

After city officials expressed concerns that the concert’s high decibel volume might damage the surrounding historical structures, threatening to shut the show down for this reason alone, the band agreed to move their floating stage further back on the water and lower their stage volume. Some band members deemed this step unnecessary. “A PA sitting a quarter of a mile out in a lake is going to damage buildings that have been there for 700 years? Give me a break,” frontman David Gilmour said.

Still, these preventative measures were not enough to convince the Venetian council, which had since changed its mind about wanting Pink Floyd to perform in its city. “We’ve always believed it was the councilors who had made things difficult for us,” drummer Nick Mason mused. “They’d got an official barge and decided to moor it right in front of the stage to the fury of the crowd. We were really rather pleased when the crowd took it upon themselves to start hurling whatever they could at the barge. It was very amusing: the waiters assembled like Roman centurions and used their trays as protection from the barrage” (via LouderSound).

The Pink Floyd Concert Ended In A Trial For The City Council

Despite the difficulties leading up to the concert (including a musician who couldn’t make it to the barge in time to perform with the band), Pink Floyd performed their 90-minute set to their Venetian and television audience without a hitch. However, when the swarm of 200,000 people left Piazza San Marco, the city of Venice couldn’t believe what they had left behind: 300 tons of garbage, 500 cubic meters, and an unknown amount of human excrement as a lack of public toilets forced attendees to relieve themselves elsewhere.

Incessant public outrage eventually forced a parliamentary hearing, which ruled that all members of the Venetian city council step down from their posts immediately. Ironically, the city council that replaced them consisted of largely the same members, causing the public to nickname it the “photocopy council.” “The newspapers were furious and criticized us,” Casellati recalled (via LouderSound). “The Court of Auditors called us for accountability. We were absolved of any wrongdoing, but the consequence for me was that I had to resign as mayor.”

Photo by Richard Young/Silver Clef/Shutterstock