In our last class, we discussed how flashing images of light can be taken as a form of narrative in itself. When certain patterns emerged, a story was told through sound and visual explanation. I suddenly thought of music as a narrative in itself, live music in particular. The first thing that came to my mind was the improvisational rock band, Phish.
Phish is comprised of just 4 members but most fans claim that there is a 5th member in the band, Chris Kuroda. Kuroda is the lighting designer/operator for Phish. Just as each concert is unpredictable, his lighting effects are just as much unpredictable, seemingly communicating telepathically with the band. He knows when the musical "peak" in a jam is going to occur, when a jam is going to be more ambient than rock-sounding, and when to cut off the lights altogether.

Read more . . .