For the first time since the Hansen Planetarium closed its doors in 2003, a local planetarium is bringing Led Zeppelin to the masses.
It seems like an established rite of passage for American males to go through a "Zeppelin Phase." For some it lasts a month. For others, it lasts a lifetime.
For fans who came of age after drummer John Bonham died in 1980, Led Zeppelin can never be experienced live the way it was intended. That's where the planetarium came in.
In the 1990s, weekend laser shows at the Hansen Planetarium lured fans into a world normally reserved for star-gazing, where employees beamed laser animations onto a dome ceiling while tunes from bands such as Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and U2 played on the planetarium PA. It wasn't quite the same thing as being at a concert, but it was a step up from lying on the shag carpet in the basement listening to headphones.
Starting April 15, the Clark Planetarium will bring the old "Laser Zeppelin" experience into the age of 21st-century CGI, offering a special 45-minute Zeppelin experience for $8 a person. It still isn't a live concert, but in many ways it's the next best thing.
This time, instead of leaning exclusively on lasers, the show is built around surrealistic CGI environments, custom-made for what Planetarium production manager Mike Murray calls an "immersive theater" experience.
After the outer space tones of "In the Evening" get the show started, the set list hammers its way through classic radio standards such as "Black Dog" and "Whole Lotta Love." While many of the CGI effects are simple geometric patterns, other songs are given the full-on "world building" treatment, taking patrons through rock-dotted ocean landscapes and dense forests.
Best of all is the sequence saved for the "Rock and Roll" encore, which features a futuristic motorcycle race across a Moab-like desert landscape that looks like a cross between the pod race from "Phantom Menace" and a scene from "Easy Rider."
In addition to the CGI, the planetarium still uses lasers and fog effects to accent the experience. And though the set list leans heavy on the radio regulars, the production demonstrates Murray's intimate understanding of the Zeppelin catalog. Along with appearances from the acoustic "Bron Y Aur" and Bonham's "Bonzo's Montreux" drum solo, a series of gold CGI rings emblazoned with the four Led Zeppelin logos provide a nod to the "Lord of the Rings"-inspired lyrics in "Ramble On."
All the CGI environments are created in-house by planetarium staff, rendered on platforms like 3D-Max and Maya, and projected through six machines to create a single composite image. The music is played in a simulated 5.1 surround sound.
Murray has been working on the local laser shows since back in the Hansen Planetarium days. Though he has been involved in the U2 and Floyd shows, Led Zeppelin holds a special place in his heart. The son of a DJ, Murray was 12 when Zeppelin landed in 1969.
"I went nuts over Zeppelin right off the bat," he said.
It's a familiar story.
As great as the songs sound, there still may be ways to push the experience closer to the "next-best-thing-to-a-concert" concept the planetarium covets. Swapping out the original album tracks with music from one of Zeppelin's concert albums could create more of a live feel. It might also help to integrate some animations of the band members themselves, if only to show off Robert Plant's hair.
Rumors of Zeppelin reunion tours come and go (most recently after the band's three surviving members played a one-off show in England in 2007), but until that day materializes, the Clark Planetarium has done its best to give Zeppelin fans that experience.
Sensitivity rating: The show is billed as being for all-ages, but parents should note that some of the 1960s and '70s-era imagery could be construed as drug references, such as a fleeting view of a psychedelic mushroom world. For those who want to know exactly what they'll be hearing, the set list is: "In The Evening" (excerpt); "Black Dog"; "Over The Hills And Far Away"' "Whole Lotta Love"; "Immigrant Song"; "Dyer Mak'er"; "Kashmir"; "Bron Yr Aur"; "Stairway to Heaven"; and "Rock and Roll."
Led Zeppelinlaser show
Where: Clark Planetarium, 110 S. 400 West
When: dates and times vary
How much: $8 for adults, $6 for children 12 and under
Phone: 801-456-7827