Take a visual journey through space against the backdrop of one of the best-selling albums of all time. The Adler Planetarium has licensed legendary rock band Pink Floyd’s new planetarium show, The Dark Side of the Moon. NBC 5’s LeeAnn Trotter reports.
Take a visual journey through space against the backdrop of one of the best-selling albums of all time. The Adler Planetarium has licensed legendary rock band Pink Floyd’s new planetarium show, The Dark Side of the Moon.
It’s much different than the band’s past laser shows, says Mike Smail, the Adler’s senior director of theaters and visualization.
“It’s not as aggressive and over the top as you might remember, but it’s a very fluid very steady show it’s beautiful to watch," Smail said.
In partnership with the International Planetarium Society, Pink Floyd wanted to visually showcase its’ newly remastered 50th anniversary edition of its’ most iconic album, The Dark Side of the Moon.
Pink Floyd biographer Mark Blake says before this album was originally released, Pink Floyd only had a cult following in Europe.
“Dark Side of the Moon blew it wide open for them, especially in the United States. It really took off for them. It was a game changing record for them," Blake said.
The new show opens Friday, March 31, and will run for a full year in the Adler’s Grainger Sky Theatre, which has a 180 degree, 36-foot domed ceiling.
Local
“A lot of people have described it as 3D without the glasses. When it gets dark, and the lights go down, you’re in space and you’re floating and drifting. You feel like you’re there. It’s wonderful,” says Smail.
Pink Floyd has a long history with planetariums around the world. When the original Dark Side of the Moon album was released 50 years ago, the band mounted a show at the planetarium in London. Blake says they decided the sound wasn’t good enough and refused to attend, “So they boycotted their own launch party, which is a very pink Floyd thing to do.”
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
These days sound technology is much more advanced. Smail adds, “It was still a transformative experience, and frankly, really kicked off the long connection between Pink Floyd and planetariums.”
Tickets to see Dark Side of the Moon at the Adler Planetarium are $20 in addition to museum admission, and must be purchased in advance.
