They would be held in planetariums (usually), the seats would go back so far there was a real danger of falling asleep when the lights went down…until a rock album was played (Dark Side Of The Moon, The Wall etc) and the laser light show began. Does anyone remember going to these, and do they still exist?
There was a Laserium in Cleveland in late 1977. I took a date there but it was sold out, so we went to a club or something. But around that time I went to see Todd Rundgren’s Utopia on the Oops! Wrong Planet tour and they did a laser show too.
I always wanted to go to one.
The Adler Planetarium, here in Chicago, still does a show (though, apparently, not necessarily a laser show) to Dark Side of the Moon on more-or-less a daily basis.
Not I: I never lived near enough to a planetarium (and was maybe a bit too young for their heyday).
But Fountains of Wayne did.
Freaks and Geeks remembered them:
I remember going to a laser Pink Floyd show in Edmonton in the early ‘80s (as a pre-teen with my cousins). Looks like the science centre there still does a laser version of The Wall.
Their no longer existing is topical enough that it was the A plot in an episode of Bob’s Burgers.
My partying pals and I went into NYC to see Laser Floyd at the Hayden Planetarium in the early 80s as late teens - a good, trippy fun
Back in college I went to a Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular at the House Of Blues in Chicago. We took acid on the way down, but apparently not enough to really do anything.
About the only thing I remember is while waiting to get in, one of the guards at the door bellowed “WHO SMELLS LIKE MARIJUANA” and then a few seconds later said “Just kidding” as the crowd let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.
ETA, I remember one other thing, it was raining and the car was slipping trying to get up some type of metal grate in front of the venue. I had to take a look on google maps just now to make sure I didn’t make that up.
Laserium is a fascinating documentary about the guy who invented the laser light show, and its rise and fall. It’s on YouTube.
The Rochester planetarium was an early adopter, so I started seeing them early. Which might have been a mistake since the technology and the artistry increased over the years. Also I didn’t do drugs, apparently the secret sauce.
They still exist in Seattle at The Laser Dome! Laser Dome - Pacific Science Center
They definitely elevate the experience.
Cite: college, late 90s, in the (for Texas) freewheeling city of Austin. Good times.
The city of Cleveland often puts on an orchestra-concert-and-show outside in Downtown on or near July 4. Lasers projected on the side of a building were part of the show, at least the last time I went (which would have been some time in the last decade, anyway).
For big outdoors spectaculars, though, I think they’ve been largely replaced by drone shows.
I saw Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin laser shows at the De Anza College Planetarium in the late 70s.
Concert-wise, I saw the Tangerine Dream tour that paired them with a full-blown Laserium light show. To a lesser degree both Blue Oyster Cult and Deep Purple utilized lasers in the 80s. In the case of Deep Purple, they projected an animated Beethoven above the stage during Ritchie Blackmore’s solo for “Difficult To Cure”.
Stone Mountain also had one projected against the granite side with the Confederate memorial carving. The classic show, which (in keeping with carving) had plenty of Lost Cause themes and imagery (as well as Lee Greenwood, singing about “where at least I know I’m free”), was apparently replaced by a “drone and light show” a few years back. And judging by the folks pictured on their web site promoting the show, they are apparently trying to appeal to a new demographic, so that’s at least somewhat positive - I hope content of the show is similarly inclusive.
Yes, used to go to the ones held at the Noble Planetarium in Fort Worth. Doesn’t look like they do them anymore.
Same here. I seem to recall they would alternate Pink Floyd one weekend, and then Led Zeppelin the next. Went a bunch of times.
I clicked on one effects provider, and their gallery has a bunch of photos from 2010–2020: https://www.tlciscreative.com/effects/lasers/#laserLightShows Point is, it sounds like if you want a laser show as part of your production, today, there are enough people around to make that happen safely.
They still exist right here in Portland!
Scroll down to “January Featured Shows.”
My wife and I went twice last year, once for Billie Eilish and another for Daft Punk.
I just went to this a few years ago, and it was life-changing! Saw Dark Side of the Moon there, and the lasers projected war imagery and animations and such.
As a child of the 80s and 90s, I grew up listening to MP3s on home earphones, and this was my first real “produced” experience in a purpose-built venue. It was amazing.