Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Show

Mad Alchemy is an analog liquid light show in the great San Francisco tradition of Bill Hamm, Glen Mckay and Brotherhood of Light from the heyday of the Bay's psychedelic ballrooms. Principal Lance Gordon has been involved with this art form since 1971 and learned the essence of liquid projections from a former member of the Brotherhood of Light at 17. With a team of 3 to 4 people, Mad Alchemy typically blends 6 to 9 projections (all overhead), together creating a dramatic montage of color always moving and changing.

Sensing a renewed interest in this kind of projection 6 years ago, Lance has devoted all of his attention to reviving this analog style and taken Mad Alchemy on the road, completing seven US and two European tours. The most recent US AND European tours (late October, November, and December 2014) were in support of the Temples from the UK. Throughout the tour we performed in Iconic venues like the Forum, London; Trianon, Paris; Ritz, Manchester and the domestic greats Irving Plaza in New York and the Fillmore in San Francisco.

Mad Alchemy has a constant presence in San Francisco, performing regularly at the Chapel and other venues in the Bay Area. In addition, Mad Alchemy can be found performing at many festivals and other popular venues throughout California. Mad Alchemy has performed with the top bands in psych rock and several other genres. Just to name a few: Temples (UK), Toy Uk, Jacco Gardner (Netherlands), Graveyard, (Gotthenberg, Sweden), Allah-Las (LA), Mystic Braves (LA), Morgan Delt (LA), Mr Elevator and the Brain Hotel (LA), Radio Moscow (San Deigo), Fever the Ghost (LA), Moon duo (Portland), Woods (New York), Real Estate (New York), White Fence (LA), Chris Robinson Brotherhood (San Francisco), Motherhips, The Shrine (Venice Beach), Scorpion Child (Austin, TX), Blank Tapes (LA), Dead Meadow (LA) and the Buffalo Killers (Ohio).

When Lance Gordon first performed analog liquid light shows in the 1970's, he shared the stage with the likes of Roky Erickson, Big Brother and the Holding Co., Its a Beautiful Day, John Lee Hooker, Boz Skaggs, The Tubes, Tower of Power, John Cipollina, Copperhead, and Elvin Bishop.