BLACK & BLUE - COSMOS 1999
Olympic Stadium Montreal Canada - 10-11 October.1999

Party Pictures!

The Black & Blue party was filled with stunning visual effects. From the central lighting array on the stage, to the moving light fixtures on the islands and the PA stacks, to the awesome full colour laser show, to mylar sculptures of fish that "swam" above the dance floor and 20 foot tall inflated aliens that seems to be dancing and swaying right along with the music! There is so much equipment and effects that you are sure to miss something if you don't have the endurance to party for the full 14 hour event!!

The central lighting array on the stage in action.

DJ's eye view of the party (the DJ can be seen in silhouette in the foreground).

Attendance was estimated at 30,000 people but there was still plenty of space to dance!

Hundreds of glitter cannons erupt over the crowd so that it appeared as if 'metallic snow' was falling over the dance floor for a couple of minutes!

One of the giant fish sculptures, complete with reflective mylar 'scales' that 'swam' above the dance floor around 6 in the morning.

One of the 20 foot tall inflatable aliens that 'danced' through the crowd around 9 in the morning.

The 'museum' near the chill-out area that featured sculptures with lots of inflated condoms and safe sex pamphlets.

Advertising for next year's 10th anniversary party was plastered all over the speaker stacks and the porta-potties along with notices cautioning partiers not to mix drugs and alcohol as well as other drug awareness messages. The 'no sexual acts' poster is interesting in that many heterosexuals accuse gays of being obsessed with sex yet the only sex acts that I have ever seen at the Black & Blue parties were by the heterosexuals attending this gay event!

Images of the lasers at the party.

It was truly amazing to see 4 systems with 40 watts of full colour lasers in action at this event. Speaking as a professional laserist, I was disappointed by how the lasers were used. The lasers were utilised in a manner similar to strobes, as a special effect, to provide some flashy, unsynchronized effects that flailed about the space and were not well timed to the music... this was because the politics of the show are such that the lasers are run by the lighting crew who prefer to give the emphasis to the moving lights. I would have preferred to see the lasers choreographed with split second timing and with appropriate effects to illustrate and enhance the music!

One of a large group of 'fan dancers' at the party. I have only seen them at gay events as they twirl colourful fans and silks through the air creating undulating patterns that are hypnotic to watch!