Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular....

[Displaser]

Just got tickets to the show next weekend - balcony center. This makes #5 for me over the years.

Looks like this show's theme is "The Best of Floyd". Last show that I saw was DSOTM synched to The Wizard of Oz - balcony seats as well. I remember seeing the inflatable Sky Guy towards the end of the show emerging through a fan effect of beams centered between floor and balcony seats at the venue; pretty wild looking.

Looking forward to an hour+ of coherent light.....

Greg

[carmangary]

They are show it where I live next week. I was thinking of going but can't decide.

[Displaser]

Gary,

If you haven't seen it before, I'd give it a shot. I whine about the price each time I go, but considering I won't see this much hardware anytime soon, it's worth doing. The local planetarium stopped doing laser shows years ago, so this is my fix for lasers away from home.

Besides...Pink Floyd and Lasers - does it get any better than this?

Greg

[buffo]

If it's the one that Paramount is promoting, then Ryan Waters is the laserist that is running the show, and it's all new. We saw it in early spring in Florida last year, and they were just working the bugs out of the new show. Several photonlexicon members were there. I actually saw it twice, once on Friday with Aaron (Allthatwhichis) and once again Saturday night with the rest of the group.

It's a hell of a show. (Even Clandestiny was impressed, if that tells you anything!) Lots more emphasis on lighting and digital video in this new show.

I, too, saw the old show with the wizard of oz playing, and that one was pretty tame. This one has a lot more going on, even when the lasers aren't doing a lot. (And when the lasers *are* doing a lot, it's pretty damn awesome.)

They have a 4 watt coherent purelight doing graphics and lumina effects, another 4 watt purelight doing full color beams and grating effects, and a 2 watt argon on an old-school beam table full of GM-20's and turrets that does beams with the bounce mirrors mounted around the venue. And yeah, they still have the inflatable sky guy.

They also have 18 intelligent lighting fixtures mounted on a large truss structure, and 3 DLP high-def projectors throwing video up on three rectangular screens between the trusses on stage. (The screens are turned vertical, which is wierd, but it works...)

I think we paid like $28 to get in, and as it turned out Ryan had provided free tickets for us anyway, so that first night we wasted our $$$, but it was worth it to see the show. We also got to meet Ryan and go up on stage to see the laser projectors. Of course everything is running on Pangolin. (They have a couple CD-2000's that run the whole show.)

Well worth the cost of admittance, in my opinion. Even if you aren't a Floyd fan, it's a hell of a show. And if you are a Floyd fan, well, it doesn't get any better than this...

Best seats in the house are front row in the balcony. If you can't get in the first few rows of the balcony, try for the middle of the ground floor. Don't get too close to the stage though, or you'll miss a lot of the overhead effects that are aimed at the balcony. (Same thing goes for seats in the back on the ground floor.) But if you're too high in the balcony, the lasers don't look as impressive either.

If you're really curious, I posted a review of the show back in March when we went to see it in Florida.

Adam

[clandestiny]

Let me qualify my opinion a bit more-

I lived in san antonio ( paramounts base of operations ) at the tail end of my military carrer-
which at the time was then my beginnings in commercial laser display - circa early 90's

So, I am familiar with the shows roots and the players involved-
I will say that the current revamp of the show is 100 times better than it had been previously

The massive upgrades in screens, video, and intelligent lighting have finally brought this show to a respectible level, personally, while a small purlight is fine for indoor graphics presentations, they lack the bite of say a pair of 15 watt mixed gas units-

Let me be real fair. The show has run for a long time. Things I may want to see in a show are not always practical in the way their dates and locations are scheduled.
Remember profitability. How much can you fit in a given size truck, plus expenses in personel- vs venue size and ticket sales.

the last show I attended in lakeland fl- with other members of this forum- was really an ideal venue for what they had. plus the fact that it was multiple dates probably afforded them a greater cushion for load in time and tweaking ability

in contrast, ive seen the show in a less than ideal situations- house of blues comes to mind -where everything was so scaled down that your 300mw rgb home setup would have given it a run for the money-
but in that show their load in was rushed and if I remember correctly they only had about an hour and a half to strike the whole thing as it was a afternoon event and the next act needed to load in for something else that night-

So in closeing, At this point- I would recommend to see it once and have your own review.
I couldn't always have said that. It is worth the ticket price in its current incarnation-

[dsli_jon]

If it's the one that Paramount....Even if you aren't a Floyd fan, it's a hell of a show. And if you are a Floyd fan, well, it doesn't get any better than this...

Hey Adam -

Well, I'd agree with ya up to that last sentence - obviously, you've never been to a Laserium-Floyd show!! (true??) yes, they do not use video / lighting fx; no, it is NOT as 'elaborate', etc - but it is cause they don't HAVE to - the Laser Images projectors have SO many different types of fx, you get color washes, lumias, starfields, gratings, BEAMS, BEAMS, BEAMS (and nowhere-else-seen fx like beams that terminate on giant quartz-crystals (I mean like 2' H x 3' W!!) and make wild glowing sculptures...) and 2-3 scan-head animations / graphics - they ARE the show...but the real difference is, the CRAFTSMANSHIP of the almost-lost ART of 'synaesthesia', with multi-layer abstracts, where you feel like you are SEEING what you HEAR - it is so 'tight', there are points in their shows where you are nearly (and sometimes are) moved to tears... (at LEAST a good 'lump in the throat!..)

Paramount calls it 'Laser Spectacular' yet they rely on video & lighting to 'augment' the show, cause they really don't have all that much 'under the laser-hood', compared to a PURE-laser show, like Laseriums' - and it is ALL done with 1- 16W Sabre WL, 1- 5W Purelight WL, and 2 projectors...(so MORE does not always mean BETTER) - Sorry, but NOBODY does a pure-laser lasershow like Laserium!...

I have personally done some Shows WITH Paramount, (ie: as a NYS 'licensed operator') and yes their kit is nice, and yes Ryan and Dave are great guys - zero crit, here of them OR the show - DO GO see it - very well done!- and NOT 'attacking' you, Adam, or your assessment, either - but just begging to differ on the 'doesn't get any better than this' part - until you've been to Laserium's show... it is almost unreal how fully they've explored so MANY types / combos of fx...and it ain't over yet!! Laserium is coming BACK to the world in 2008...champions of true laser-ARTISTRY...

http://www.laserium.com/gallery/carpets.jpg

If you're ever out California way (and this goes for ALL PL-members) lemme know, and I should be able to get you hooked up with tickets (for weekends they HAVE shows - depends on other workload...) - peace!

- J

[buffo]

My "it doesn't get any better than this" line was more of an off-the-cuff expression than a measured evaluation of the show...

I agree that a Laserium show would probably be better that this Pink Floyd show. (I've had the opportunity to view a couple gfx shows that are used in Laserium, and they were quite impressive, so I'm sure that the full deal would be even better.)

But then again, Laserium is shown in a Planetarium, which is an ideal venue to start with. (Not so with your average theater.) Also, Planetariums don't go on tour around the country. So it's not really fair to compare the two.

Best bet is to go see the Pink FLoyd show, then go see a Laserium show. Sort of a "better, best" progression...

Adam

[dsli_jon]

My "it doesn't get any better than this" line was more of an off-the-cuff expression than a measured evaluation of the show...
But then again, Laserium is shown in a Planetarium, which is an ideal venue to start with. (Not so with your average theater.) Also, Planetariums don't go on tour around the country. So it's not really fair to compare the two.

Hey Adam -

LOL, brother... I think I accidentally 'bumped the fins on the rocket' a bit what I was GETTING at is you've gotta see Laserium
DO FLOYD - Like I said, I agree - Paramount puts on a great show - I would even agree to calling it 'spectacular' - it is a full-sensory experience - elements that Laserium shows don't have - but what makes Laser Images' Floyd show SO much better, is the craftsmanship and their 'interpretation' - it is a real journey ('err, I should say TRIP!) and the ART they create with JUST laser-light is mind-blowing...

And, yes, again, Dave and Ryan deserve all the kudos there are to pass out - I've even HELPED them on load-in / out / operation a couple times, and they are animals!! They have got it down to a SCIENCE. But by the same token, the ONLY reason Laserium has not done the same, and eclipsed them, is that was just not their biz-model - they were not limited to the Griffith, it was just a lot more profitable and less 'hassle' to have the 'people come to YOU', ya know?

And they DID travel - they have done gigs in DOZENS of major cities around the world, not just at planetariums - here's a shot from a 500-over sold-out show they allowed us to help on (we had the privledge of providing the 'scrim' (go mosquito net, go!) and one of our 5W's for beams...) at the Ford in Hollywood in June, '07...you should have SEEN the standing ovation!! yep - 'ideal theater', but even if you come and see their Floyd show in their 30' x 50' 'Studio-B' in VanNuys (a LOT more crammed than ANY theater) it will still blow you away, from the sheer ART of it... I mean LOOK at this effect! http://www.laserium.com/gallery/bullseye.jpg LASER-LIGHT ONLY! (and yes, I know the colors here look awful - it was shot on film, not digital...but you can 'extrapolate' - I know you know how pure the colors are in real life!...)

Anyway, I think I have beaten this poor dead horse plenty so I will shut-up now - I think we were both agreeing with each other, just on 'different frequencies'! peace..

- J

[mixedgas]

Holy Necroposting Batguy..

Got to see the show last night as a guest.. It Plays in the Key of Awesome. Wonderful.

Love the 35 Watt Beam-table with excess Red. And I do mean glorious excess RED.

Ye Olde Gas Guys like Me love Red, as it used to be very, very difficult to have enough RED

Steve

[absolom7691]

Ye Olde Gas Guys like Me love Red, as it used to be very, very difficult to have enough RED

Definitely! Back in my MWK days, 15mW of red was a $400* refurbed or used HeNe with a $150* PSU brick that may or may not have matched. To get more red was either an ungodly huge HeNe that was way out of my 18 y/o price range or a Kr which was way out of my 18 y/o price range and difficult to operate (power reqs and cooling reqs)!

*1989~1990 dollars