Tobacco smoke has finer particles than standard glycol-based smoke machines. For concert lighting, tobacco smoke gives a much better effect if all you want to see are the light beams, glycol is a bit coarser and not as smooth-looking in comparison.<p>You can get a fair bit closer to that look by using an oil-based cracker. Those have finer particles than glycol-based, but they have their own drawbacks as they rely on an air compressor that&#x27;s either noisy or needs to be placed somewhere far away, and the oil tends to get on every light fixture and surface in the venue. It looks fantastic though.<p>When they introduced a smoking ban at the concert venue I worked at, I noticed that we had to run our smoke machines a lot harder to get the same looks we previously got &quot;for free&quot; from the punters smoking tobacco.