palace blackpool

[peza2010]

today I was working a corporate show at the sands venue in blackpool which is what the old palace nightclub was changed into.

 

behind a door marked private is essentially a big chunk of the old club, untouched. I was litterally blown away by one of 3 lighting rigs in there. bassically lots and lots and metal work, and lots and lots of pinspots and other early 90's disco kit.

 

having spoken to the in houee tech about the rig he told me that all three of them could move on a large track to different parts of the room, and then be lowered down, which added to my intetest of this beast!

 

unfortunatly I couldnt get photos due to low phone battery but does anyone have any info on this install?

I imagine it cost a small fortune, and in its day must have looked the dogs....

 

cheers, George

[dbuckley]

Some photos here.

 

I think this has been discussed previously on the Blue Room, but I cant find it :( My memory is hazy, but there may be someone who was involved in it here or here abouts...

[bigclive]

In the bad old days it was the decor and lighting rig that sold the venue. A new club would try to have the most lavish centrepiece light possible, and if it could lower down from the ceiling and move about in an exaggerated manner then so much the better. And lets not forget elevating DJ booths and entire dance floors that would rotate and raise up and down during the night.

 

I installed stuff like that in my younger days. Each lighting effect generally had its own dedicated controller and a mass of cables running to it for control of the lamps and each motor. There didn't tend to be gobos back then. It was generally halogen pinspot lamps or capsules behind various dichroic glass and lens assemblies.

 

I suppose it's easy to forget the lighting systems of the heyday of disco. Youtube inevitably has videos of the collections of people who hoard vintage lighting equipment like that.

 

Oh, and let's not forget heated haze pots. :unsure:

[Young Johnstone]

Heated haze pots? Forgive my youngness.. I'm guessing not the normal 'haze' we know!? :P

[bigclive]

A haze pot was a heated crucible that you put Sal Ammoniac (Ammonium Chloride) in. When heated it creates a very fine particulate haze in the air that catches light well. It was used before the advent of the glycol smoke machines.

 

The haze actually occurs in nature, as indicated in this interesting article:-

 

I just read your article about the air quality in Chilliwack. I am a chemist and let me explain what that white haze you see during hot summer days is about.

 

Particulates are not created equal. The white haze you see during hot summer days is an ammonium salt, most likely ammonium chloride and ammonium sulphate resulting from the very basic nature of the area.

 

You see, Chilliwack sits in a valley that is mostly farmland. Those lands emit a great amount of ammonia that will react with acids (like hydrochloric acid or sulphuric acid) also emitted from farmlands and other activities, not all anthropogenic in nature. The ammonium salts are clearly visible and affect the visible spectrum but are not as damageable to our health than those famous particulates.

 

In fact, they help sequester chemicals that would otherwise be very harmful (i.e. acid rain). The ammonium salts will precipitate back to the land with the next rain or when the temperature drops enough and act as fertilizers.

 

Next time you see that haze, don't blame anyone but nature itself and think about the good produce our valley grows.

 

Ray Belanger

 

Chilliwack

[Young Johnstone]

Oh so it was haze! I was expecting something to do with drugs maybe! Haha