Light Show Takes Denton to the Dark Side of the Moon Once a Month
Warped clocks ticking away, wild staring eyes and marching hammers rocked UNT’s Sky Theater during its first Pink Floyd laser light show last month.
The sold out show in UNT’s Environmental Science building was created by Lazer Ed of Liquid Floyd. He said he plans to return to UNT with a new show on the first Friday of every month. For the uninitiated, a laser light show uses a combination of lasers and projections moving in time with music to create a dizzy, psychedelic experience. During some songs, Ed performs on electric violin.
Ed has been working with lasers since 1989, when he began his career at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History Omni Theater, but he said his obsession began long before then.
“It started when I was a little kid, playing with lights,” he said. “Give me a cigarette lighter, give me anything, and I’ll give you a show. It’s not the technology. If it’s visual and I have music, I just want to create. It just how I’m wired.”
He said he’s taking audience suggestions, and a Queen or Beatles-themed show might be next.
Rick Hellmen, who creates laser light shows for Pink Floyd cover band Bricks in the Wall, attended the show as well.
“People have been making laser light shows to Pink Floyd since the 70s, it was a perfectly made match,” Hellmen. “The timing is interesting. There’s been this resurgence of interest in Floyd, especially this summer.”
Cover bands Brit Floyd and Aussie Floyd are both touring this summer. The Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular, which claims to be the longest-running laser light show, played at The Bomb Factory in Dallas two weeks after Laser Ed’s show and Roger Waters will begin touring the US in May. Hellman said, in his opinion, the band’s appeal is timeless.
“That’s why it keeps coming back,” he said. “The same themes keep coming back up in the world and those songs still apply, unfortunately.”
Bricks in the Wall vocalist Tiffany Belle said the renewed interest is great, but she doesn’t think Floyd ever faded from people’s minds.
“I think there’s something kind of nostalgic, something very classic, it’s one of those bands that wasn’t just one certain style,” Belle said. “I think the influence of jazz really gave them a long-term shelf life.”
The ages of those in attendance varied that Friday varied widely. The theater was filled with students and older fans as well as families with younger children.
“I don’t think it ever stopped being the ‘It’ thing,” Belle said. “I can honestly say that I’ve met people whose ages ranged from my parents’ age, in their sixties, all the way through to my children’s friends and their younger siblings. They all like Floyd.”
Tickets and more information are available at www.LiquidFloyd.com and https://www.facebook.com/lazeredcreativeproductions/.
Photos by Emily Cline
Header image design by Christopher Rodgers