Liquid light show

Liquid light shows surfaced on both sides of the Atlantic around 1966 and were an integral part of the psychedelic music scene well into the seventies. Shows could be as simple as a single operator and two or three modified slideprojectors or overhead projectors and a couple of color wheels or as complex as shows with ten or more operators, 70 plus projectors (including liquid slide, liquid overhead, movie and still image models plus a vast array of highly advanced (for the time) special effects equipment). The style and content of each show were unique but the object of most was to create a tapestry of multimedia live event visual amplification elements that were seamlessly interwoven, in a constant state of flux and above all, reflected the music the show was attempting to depict in emotional visual terms. While the shows on both sides of the Atlantic had much in common they differed in two important ways. First, the American shows tended to be larger, with seven operators and over thirty projectors not being exceptional. In contrast, the shows in England and the continent of Europe seldom had more than three operators and ten or so projectors. Second, American shows were generally built around the overhead projector with the liquids in large clock cover glasses. Shows in England and Europe, in contrast, used modified 2" sq. slide projectors which had their dichroic heat filters (one or both) removed and employed two three or even four layers of slide cover glasses with one or two liquids (oil and water based, in the early days) between the glasses. Alternatively different coloured water based dyes were used in each layer, which slowly boiled producing pulsing vapour bubbles when exposed to the heat of the projector lamp with the heat filters removed. Consequently, randomly pulsing and moving blobs of colour were projected on the screen creating the light show. Before the projected layers totally dried out a new slide would be switched in the projector slide holder, meanwhile the old glass would be removed, cleaned and refurbished with new dyes and the projection process would continue. The surface tension of the liquids largely retained the mixtures between the glass slides, but the process was nevertheless very messy indeed and operators had their hands almost permanently stained by the dyes. A popular choice of colored liquids for light shows was Flo-Master ink, a product developed for use in permanent marker pens, also Vitrina which was intended for painting on glass. While these inks were very vivid they also had the problem of staining the operator's hands very deeply. Two groups that are associated with the light shows they worked with above all others are Jefferson Airplane and the Headlights light show in America and Pink Floyd with light artist Mike Leonard in England. ==Leading shows==

• Light Sound Dimension (LSD) was possibly the first psychedelic lightshow and was operated by Bill Ham. Ham pioneered kinetic lighting and actually used this technique at the Red Dog Saloon back in 1965. It was also at the Red Dog Saloon where Chet Helms first met Bill and asked him to produce lightshows at the Avalon Ballroom. • The Holy See (SF) was formed by Ray Andersen (who had been a manager at the Matrix) and his wife Joan Andersen with the help of their friend John Blackwell and his wife. Their vivid lightshows were a staple during the psychedelic music heyday and they did light shows (usually at the Fillmore) for such bands the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, the Doors, Ike and Tina Turner, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, It's a Beautiful Day, Yardbirds and many more. "We used about 15 to 20 projectors simultaneously in an evening," Ray Andersen stated. "We used overhead projectors and color wheels, strobes, clock faces, and dishes in various sizes. We mixed dyes, liquids, and oils and manipulated them. We used as many as a dozen carousel slide projectors or other slide projectors and as many as five movie projectors that would run either reels or loops. We used everything; you really had to work the limit." Ray also went to England to do lights for The Carnival of Light in 1967 featuring Paul McCartney. • The Heavy Water Light Show (Mary Ann Mayer, Joan Chase and John Hardham, SF), did shows and album covers for Santana, the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead before moving into planetariums in the 1970s. The cover of the LP Santana III is an image (or set of images) from their show. Their work is characterized by extensive use of photographs and film sequences in addition to psychedelic oil effects. • The Pig Light Show was started by Marc L. Rubinstein in July 1967 as Saint Elmo's Fire and included Larry Wieder, Patrick Waters and Mark Miller as its core in its early years. The name was changed after (in his own words) • Little Princess 109 became a house light show for Bill Graham Presents (BGP) in 1968. Little Princess 109 worked at the BGP venues Fillmore West and Winterland, in San Francisco, California, continuously from December 1968 until Fillmore West closed in July 1971. Little Princess 109 worked for Graham longer than any other of the West coast light show groups, and performed more concert nights than any show for the entire Fillmore/Fillmore West/Winterland period. Diogenes’ light shows can be seen credited on nearly all of the psychedelic posters done for the shows, many by Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelly and others. ==See also==