Oct 21, 2026–What would make a concert experience more illuminating for an audience?
Try doing it in the dark.
That was the spark of inspiration that came to Will Taylor, a composer, violinist, and all-around impresario who created the Concerts in the Dark Austin collection.
Taylor and his musical crew will present the Dark Side of the Moon Halloween Concert in the Dark & Costume Party at Rockbox Theater in Fredericksburg on October 30.
Inspired loosely by Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, the show includes chamber music, blues, rock, and original pieces played on acoustic instruments in an intimate theatrical setting. The event begins and ends in darkness. In other words, it is not your typical concert experience.
“Obviously it’s a concert, but within that concert setting, it’s that ancient ritual of people coming together to sit in a room and have one focus on just being in that space together without distractions.”
To accomplish that feeling, Taylor has woven together theatrical bits, vocals, and music distilled down to just three instruments–a piano, cello, violin–to come up with an interpretive performance. The most distinctive ingredient, perhaps, is the audience itself.
“We ask the audience to imagine if they went back in time,” he said. “I don’t want to give the whole show away for you, but these are classical instruments. Would Pink Floyd work for a classical piano trio?”
The answer to that is part of the larger concept Taylor is creating with his Concerts in the Dark collection.
“The whole idea for Concerts in the Dark was to give people a different experience for hearing music, closer to pure. What do you call it? Not pure darkness. More like if you’re seeing a movie or maybe going to a concert hall. It helps turn down the other senses and turn up the sense of hearing, and you are pulled more into the journey. If you go to a standard concert, a bar, a club, or the dance hall, there are a lot of distractions–people dancing, talking, clicking glasses. The music might be loud. This is more focused on the the music being the centerpiece of the evening, along with there being a story element.”
The experience promotes an element of mindfulness. Taylor starts the show with a very short meditation… sort of.
“I do it in a way that is not off-putting,” he explained. “All people aren’t into spirituality. So I also include a lot of humor throughout the whole show.”
The show itself is constantly changing and growing.
“We started adding an accordion. Occasionally I’ll be reading a poem over the music. It’s an experience. It’s something different than a usual band just playing the songs and maybe doing their usual patter in between. It’s very intentional.”
Dave Madden, Will Taylor, and Tony Rogers are the team that presents Concerts in the Dark.
With the concert happening on the eve of All Hallows’ Eve, Taylor thinks it is the perfect excuse for the audience to go all in. He invites guests to show up in costume and be ready to sing along.
“That’s an added bonus since it’s Halloween and and it’s fun to get people to reactivate their imaginations. We want everyone to get into the spirit of of that music and that time.”
Like he says, this is not your typical concert.
“This is something that’s really going to take you on a journey. It’s going to take you out of your head and back into being connected with people. It’s a unique experience that is going to wrap you up with this amazing feeling of connection with your people in your community around acoustic music and hearing this album in a totally different way.”
Details:
Tickets for the Dark Side of the Moon Halloween Concert at the Rockbox Theater in Fredericksburg on Friday, October 30, at 7:30 pm, can be reserved by visiting www.rockboxtheater.com or by calling (830) 997-7625. Rockbox Theater is located at 109 Llano St, Fredericksburg, TX.