The lighting is one of the first considerations when planning a rock show. Designers combine various color lights with spot lights that seem to dance to the rhythm of the music. Lights focus the audience's attention to areas on the stage that the band wants highlighted while darkening areas that are being prepped for the next big segment.
Rock bands of the 1980s made pyrotechnics practically a necessary part of any rock show. Flames that shoot from behind the drummer or flank the stage at dramatic points in the show are common place in even small rock shows today. Bigger shows may use more elaborate pyrotechnics, shooting aerial fireworks prior to or just after encore performances. For any rock show to use pyrotechnics, it must have a permit and have a licensed pyrotechnics expert overseeing the entire set up.
Rock shows have made the stage part of the show. With components that move, designers can alter the feel of the stage at different times of the show, making some songs seem like they are in a more intimate setting while others maintain a grand scale feel. Plasma televisions may come together behind the stage. Drummers may be housed in a cage that rises above the audience for amazing drum solos. Flanking runways may drop in or out and extend the stage giving performers room to reach different parts of the audience.
Effects specialists use fog machines to create a mysterious illusion. Fog may create a layer over the bottom of the stage, hiding trap doors or giving artists the illusion of floating across the stage. It can also be pumped into the crowd intermittently to make the ambiance more intense.