Pink Floyd’s timeless Dark Side of the Moon album, released in March of 1973, is emblazoned with a now-iconic image of bright, focused light entering, and being refracted through, a prism. That image proved to be prophetic, unintentionally anticipating the wedding of laser technology and rock music soon to follow. Laserium, the Los Angeles event that first featured a full evening of laser effects presented with a program of recorded music (including selections from Pink Floyd’s pre-Dark Side period), premiered in November of the same year. Indeed, the basis for many laser effects involves more or less the same high-intensity beams and refraction seen on the front of the album made historic by its unprecedented 15-year (736-week) stay in the Billboard Top 200.
For a band so notable for its pioneering light shows and special effects, Pink Floyd was surprisingly late to join the laser game, not opting to use the gargantuan glowing beams on tour until the late 1980s, more than a decade after groundbreaking uses of lasers in rock shows staged by Led Zeppelin in 1975 and more extensively soon thereafter by The Who. (In fact, it’s a commonly held—and internet-reinforced—misconception that Floyd was among the first to integrate lasers into their live shows.) Nonetheless, Pink Floyd and laser shows have become forever synonymous. In the 45 years since Dark Side and Laserium both reared their mesmerizing heads, the laser show has evolved from a live-performance enhancement to a standalone event. One of the longest-lasting such attractions is the touring Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular, which in 1986 began cementing the now-rock-solid bond between the spacious, expressive music of Pink Floyd and the graphically simple but highly sympathetic and oversized atmospherics provided by lasers. This year’s tour includes a stop at Nashville’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 10. Showtime is 8 p.m.
“When you see our show, there is no difference between sitting in our show and sitting in front of a major rock show with the laser effects, except that there’s no band onstage,” says Steve Monistere, producer of the Floydian laser extravaganza. “And our show is, you know, it’s lasers, it’s lights, it’s videos; it’s a multimedia show, so we have a lot more lasers than most of the concerts do.”
Monistere tells the Pulse that lasers have become smaller and far more portable than the cumbersome 300-pound beasts they were (not to mention their 400-pound power supplies and the backstage water hoses needed for cooling them) when he began staging Pink Floyd-based shows in the mid-’80s. This, he says, makes transportation of the star attractions far more efficient, “and the shows are more spectacular because you’ve got more lasers, right?”
The soundtrack, which includes the entirety of Dark Side of the Moon coupled with mostly well-known tracks and a few surprises from the band’s deep catalog, is provided by remastered source tapes of the highest quality available, exclusively licensed from Pink Floyd for use in North America. (Earplugs are recommended, by the way, for the faint of eardrum.) Monistere, asked if he’s ever actually had exchanges with the musicians (two of whom are now deceased), says, “Not the band members. They’re walking their grandchildren down Abbey Road in a stroller, you know? No, we deal with their management,” explains the gregarious producer, laughing. “But my agreement does have all the band members’ signatures on it, if that means anything!”
For tickets or more information, go to tpac.org or call the box office at (615) 782-4040.
