Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon at the Neag Planetarium in Reading

TL;DR: Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon is a fulldome show at the Reading Public Museum's Neag Planetarium on four dates this September: Friday the 18th, Sunday the 20th, Friday the 25th, and Sunday the 27th, with showings at 5:30, 6:45, and 8:00 PM. Tickets start at $39.90 with fees, the album plays start to finish under 360-degree visuals, and late entry isn't allowed. Book on the show's site, and get there early.

If you've ever wanted to hear "Time" with the clocks going off over your head instead of in your earbuds, this is the month. The show that has toured planetariums around the world lands at the Reading Public Museum's Neag Planetarium for four nights in September, and each date has its own listing on our concerts calendar with the showtimes and the ticket link.

What is the show, exactly?

It's the whole album, in order, with the dome doing the work a stage would do at a concert. All ten tracks of The Dark Side of the Moon play from the planetarium's sound system while visuals wrap the entire dome above and around you.

Some of the imagery draws on the band's history and the album's own artwork, and some of it heads somewhere new. The production comes from NSC Creative, a studio that makes fulldome films for planetariums, working with Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis, the design partnership behind the prism cover and most of the band's sleeves. More than a million people have seen it in domes around the world.

So is it a laser show? No, and that's the distinction worth knowing before you buy. The laser shows planetariums have run for decades put beams and patterns to the music. This is a film made for the dome: rendered scenes that fill your whole field of view, timed to the record. You lean back in the seat, the lights go down, and for the length of the album the ceiling is the show.

When is Dark Side of the Moon at the Neag Planetarium?

Four dates, three showings each:

• Friday, September 18 at 5:30, 6:45, and 8:00 PM
• Sunday, September 20 at 5:30, 6:45, and 8:00 PM
• Friday, September 25 at 5:30, 6:45, and 8:00 PM
• Sunday, September 27 at 5:30, 6:45, and 8:00 PM

The album runs about 43 minutes, so the showings are spaced to turn the room over between them. The 8:00 showing is the one to pick if you want to walk out into a dark parking lot with the music still in your head, which is, I'd argue, the point.

If you're bringing kids or want dinner afterward at a reasonable hour, 5:30 does the job. One showing, the 5:30 on Sunday the 20th, was already sold out when we checked, so don't assume there's a seat for you at the last minute.

How much are tickets, and where do you buy them?

Tickets start at $39.90 including fees for an adult seat. There are junior tickets, reduced adult tickets, a VIP+ option, and a priority-entry add-on that lets you in ahead of the line, which matters more than it sounds like it does in a room where every seat faces up. Wheelchair spaces are sold as their own ticket type. All of it is refundable up to 30 days before the show.

You buy through the show's own site, not the museum's box office and not the museum's regular planetarium schedule.

Go to the show's Reading page, pick your date, pick your time, and choose your ticket type. Our event listings link straight to it.

Where is the Neag Planetarium?

The planetarium is on the Reading Public Museum campus at 500 Museum Road in Reading, in its own building a short walk from the museum itself. If you've only ever been to the museum, don't head for the main entrance. Follow the signs for the planetarium, and give yourself ten minutes more than you think you need for traffic, parking, and finding the door. Your ticket lists a check-in window, and the doors close at showtime.

Two things to know before you go.

First, there is no late entry. Once the show starts, the room is dark and the dome is full of moving imagery, and the staff won't seat you after the lights go down. It's a safety rule, and it's a firm one. Be in your seat before your showtime, not walking up to the building at it.

Second, the show is fully immersive. There's no strobe lighting, but there are some fast flickering transitions, so anyone who deals with seizures should weigh that first. The visuals move across your whole field of view, and most people find that's the best part. If you get motion sick in the front row of a movie theater, sit toward the back of the dome, where the picture is a little less on top of you.

Who is this for?

Longtime fans, obviously. If you've owned this record on three formats, you already know you're going. But I'd also send anyone who's curious what a planetarium can do now, because the Neag's dome is a serious piece of equipment and this is the kind of program that shows it off. And it's a good pick for a parent and a teenager who don't agree on much, because the album is old enough to be the parent's and good enough to be the kid's.

Make a night of it. The museum's neighborhood is a few minutes from West Reading's restaurants along Penn Avenue, and our Where to Eat pages can settle the dinner argument before or after.

Frequently asked questions.

How long is the show? The album runs about 43 minutes, and the showings are spaced 75 minutes apart, so plan on about an hour door to door.

Is it appropriate for kids? There's a junior ticket, and the content is the album and its imagery. Younger children who don't sit still for a movie won't sit still for this either, and there's no leaving and coming back once it starts.

Do museum members get a discount? The show is sold by the producer, so the museum's own admission and membership pricing doesn't apply. Check the ticket types on the booking page for the reduced options.

What if my date sells out? Pick another of the four. One Sunday showing was already gone a week out, so the earlier you book, the more choice you have.

The four dates are on the Berks County events calendar. Pick one and go.