Musical Diversion: The Laser Light Show

The projector

I am going to make a wild assumption, Dear Reader. My guess is that you are of an age with us. Growing up, "Classic Rock" was just Rock. You remember vinyl, 8-track, cassette (yay, mix tapes) and the introduction of both the Walkman and CDs. And for a really important date, you scored tickets to either Pink Floyd or Led Zepplin at the planetarium for a Laser Light Show. That was one AWESOME way to spend a weekend night. Great music, LASERs (!), and reclining chairs in the dark. If you were a nerdy goody-two-shoes (sorry, Adam Ant), that was cool enough. If your shoes weren't so "goody" you may have had some awareness-altering substance before entering the Planetarium. As a teen, my shoes were plenty "goody" enough, thanks. Those were the days, though. As cool as fireworks, good music, no mosquitoes. Can it get any better?

My first and only Planetarium show was in 5th grade or thereabouts.  I don't remember the music, but I do remember getting freeze dried ice cream, and it was a school trip of some kind.  I remember it was fun, too.  But ... just not the music ...

But fast forward a few (ahem) decades, and this was buried in memory.

We were thinking of something easy to do on Saturday Night during Labor Day weekend, and came across an advertisement for the local planetarium putting on a laser light show to music.

We missed out on the 3D Glasses!

I guess they never went away!  Music, laser lights in a sky-like ceiling ...  a ton of fun!  A collection of Beatles Songs set to laser lights and other Planetarium effects.  A solid hour of fun for $5-7/each.

Hello, $5 - $7? Potentially cheaper than a movie? Given that we, as a family, couldn't agree on a movie to see, this was a perfect activity. The kids hadn't been to the Planetarium since some elementary school field trip to see "I See The Sky" or to participate in a Challenger mission simulation. Go Lasers! Every one of us knew the Beatles; we didn't have to worry about a lack of Zepplin or Floyd in the teenagers' lives.

It sounded better than I remembered, though most of the Beatles recordings had the heavy hand of bad technical production (such as Phil Spector) on them,  which means this show wouldn't be of Audio Perfectionist standards.  Though at these sorts of things, imagine "decent movie theater" for the sound quality.  But again, part of that would likely be our buddy Phil Spector.  And frankly, the music was good enough to enjoy the various shapes and patterns sprayed on the domed ceiling.  I forgot how psychedelic these things were - I went away understanding why they were so popular in the 1970's ...

Honesty time. There may have been some kind of 3D glasses experience that we just didn't know about. Hello, back in the late 70s and early 80s, laser shows were laser shows. It never dawned on me to look into the 3D glasses they offered for sale. Whatever. Also, after watching the lovely dancing lasers play across the dome, I think I would like to try a Cosmo or two before our Floyd experience, as long as we go without the kids. Those two have enough reasons to mock the Parental Units. Us giggling during a laser show is more than they need to hear.

Phil Spector

The Planetarium! (The shadow is the 4 of us)

We had a blast and are looking forward to the Pink Floyd version coming up! !!

If you are at a loss for something to do as a family- give a laser/music show a try! Even young ones will love the laser pictures on the ceiling, and you never have to tell them that you are reliving a walk down that nostalgia trail.