Concert Lighting, 3rd Edition

1 THE BIRTH OF ROCK AND THE RISE OF THE CONCERT LIGHTING FIELD

It is difficult to pinpoint the actual beginning of concert lighting as we think of it today. Certainly the Grand Tour could be seen as having been the byproduct of opera in the mid-nineteenth century. The term was often given to a star's travels through Europe, presenting solo programs in the European cultural capitals. Later, the Grand Tour came to the Americas. Through the years it also came to include the popular figures of show business, encompassing not only opera but also the stars of dance halls, vaudeville, and the circus. In the late nineteenth century, despite their isolated locations, even small Nevada gold rush towns had opera houses to show the world how “cultured” they ...