Wilt Dasney
Well-Known Member
They didn't just do Beatles songs, though..even though that was certainly their bread and butter.
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The British Invasion leaving Epcot?
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
They didn't just do Beatles songs, though..even though that was certainly their bread and butter.
Biff215
Well-Known Member
If it was Disney's decision, then I count this as a really unacceptable cut. While all cutbacks are painful, some of the past bands and entertainers were simply preshows. As much as I love Four For a Dollar/Return 2 Zero, I realized that that BatB would continue without most guests even noticing.
This is a huge loss that could potentially leave that area completely empty. It did eat a lot of people and kept them hanging out by all the shops back there. Without entertainment like this, it will simply mean yet another country in WS that my family will walk right through in a minute or so.
I might be a bit concerned if I were Off Kilter the way this is going!
This is a huge loss that could potentially leave that area completely empty. It did eat a lot of people and kept them hanging out by all the shops back there. Without entertainment like this, it will simply mean yet another country in WS that my family will walk right through in a minute or so.
I might be a bit concerned if I were Off Kilter the way this is going!
menamechris
Well-Known Member
I may be jumping the gun here - but my gut is telling me that entertainment is pretty much being eliminated from WS. Two entertainment acts gone within a matter of months? It seems like Disney is honoring the contracts until their expiration and choosing not to renew. So we will see if there is any real entertainment of substance this time next year... In the meantime, I am sure we have a ticket price hike to look forward to in August!!
Wilt Dasney
Well-Known Member
Yes, yes, and yes. Without atmosphere, World Showcase is nothing but a bunch of postcard facades and pricey eateries. It's not like other areas where live entertainment feels like an "extra." These things are absolutely the soul of WS.
I usually shrug off these kind of changes, but this one really bugs me.
That being said, I'll hold out hope that WS will always have interesting and culturally relevant entertainment, even if the acts change over time. Fingers crossed and eyes open, I guess...
A year or two ago my family had a great time listening to the British Invasion. My daughter even got to dance with the Pooh characters for a couple of songs. The FB page does make it sound like the band decided to quit a while back. If that's the case I can certainly understand it. I always wonder what it's like to play the same songs over and over again.
I'm 100% with everyone else in hoping that a good replacement of some kind is found.
I'm 100% with everyone else in hoping that a good replacement of some kind is found.
From what I read, in a post on another site (Illuminating Epcot, could I link to them?), one of the members of The British Invasion said leaving was the band's choice - based upon the contract Disney offered.
I liked TBI, especially seeing guests' reactions - kids rocking out make me smile. I do hope Disney brings in more entertainment.
And I don't follow things nearly closely enough, but isn't there a difference between TBI and other 3rd party groups and Off Kilter? Isn't Off Kilter made up of CMs? Please correct me if I'm wrong - I think I read it on another board, and I trust here more.
I liked TBI, especially seeing guests' reactions - kids rocking out make me smile. I do hope Disney brings in more entertainment.
And I don't follow things nearly closely enough, but isn't there a difference between TBI and other 3rd party groups and Off Kilter? Isn't Off Kilter made up of CMs? Please correct me if I'm wrong - I think I read it on another board, and I trust here more.
menamechris
Well-Known Member
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
Off Kilter's founder, Jamie, was a CM, but Off Kilter is not a Disney-run group. They are an independent group.
http://www1.offkilter.net/index.html
http://www1.offkilter.net/index.html
Thanks, I stand corrected. I think I know that Off Kilter's founder was a CM. I'd seen the OK site before, and its absence of direct Disney affiliation made me wonder.
Mukta
Well-Known Member
I agree with this completely. The World Showcase feels like a living, breathing entity. Tearing out live entertainment will kill it. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come.
DiPSU224
Member
So unfortunate. I'm really glad we finally got to experience them in February. Always wanted to hear them and our timing was never quite right. We finally caught them on their 8pm set one night. It was like we walked into a street party. People dancing, drinking, singing...an amazing atmosphere and such a great time.
Quoted for truth...so well said.
Quoted for truth...so well said.
Yes, yes, and yes. Without atmosphere, World Showcase is nothing but a bunch of postcard facades and pricey eateries. It's not like other areas where live entertainment feels like an "extra." These things are absolutely the soul of WS.
I usually shrug off these kind of changes, but this one really bugs me.
That being said, I'll hold out hope that WS will always have interesting and culturally relevant entertainment, even if the acts change over time. Fingers crossed and eyes open, I guess...
I agree - couldn't have said it better myself.
If the performers don't want to continue working in Epcot, Disney can't really do anything about that, and a little bit of time to find a replacement is acceptable for Disney. However, they need to go out and find a replacement for these guys as soon as possible because live performances are pretty much the lifeblood of World Showcase. While they're at it, they need to get replacements for the Chinese acrobats and Spelmanns Gledje, too. Just allowing live acts to disappear without replacement is bad show.
Biff215
Well-Known Member
I agree, but the real question is what is Disney offering in the first place? Here we have an experienced band that has proven it can bring the crowds back to that area, and they turned down the contract. Disney isn't likely to offer that same contract to someone new, so will they even be able to get the same kind of quality for the money they are offering?
Of course I'm assuming it wasn't a great contract, so I hope I'm wrong. I just wouldn't be surprised given Entertainment's track record as of late. The easiest way to justify cuts is to offer less and then blame the other party for not sticking around.
If there is something decent back there in June while I'm there, I'll gladly eat my words!
raiden
Member
David S.
Member
VERY dissapointing news.
My enjoyment of World Showcase increased MULTIFOLD once I began slowing down and treating the World Showcase live entertainment as "ATTRACTIONS" in their own right. So I typically spend a full day just in World Showcase, doing not only the 2 boat dark rides, 4 movies, American Adventure, Friendship Boats, and all the walk-through Art Galeries; but also seeing most of the live entertainment playing that day.
And as a HUGE Beatles fan, British Invasion were, without a doubt, my World Showcase musical favorites.
I will say my favorite era of British Invasion was the first three years I experienced them (2006 - early 09) when they were still exclusively doing Beatles material. The format they had up to early 2009 was AWESOME. If you watched all 5 of their shows in a given day, you were literally watching the Beatles evolve before your eyes. The first show had them dressed as the "fresh faced young lads" of the early 60's Beatlemania era of "She Loves You", "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", etc.
With each show their costumes, instruments, and sound would evolve, leading up to my favorite 2 shows at 7 and 8 PM.
7 PM was usually the Sgt Pepper show, which saw the band dressed in the Pepper costumes, and the Sgt Pepper logo was on the bass drum. The band performed the "psychadelic" material from the 1967 albums Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour (my two fave Beatles albums) during this show. Such as "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds", "When I'm 64", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", and "All You Need Is Love". This was a real treat, as even the Beatles themselves never performed these songs on a tour, as they stopped touring before the Pepper album came out.
And the sound was VERY faithful to the album versions, thanks to being able to play the sophisticated string, brass, and woodwind parts on the keyboard. Plus, the guys had the guitar, bass, drums, piano, and voice parts down perfectly. If the Beatles themselves had toured Pepper in 1967, I'm not sure that they themselves could have sounded any better!
Then the 8 PM show saw the band paying tribute to the last 3 Beatles albums - The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be. Sometimes they would even play a John Lennon solo track, "Imagine", near the end of the show.
On a weekend trip in fall, 2009, I noticed the chronological, themed shows were gone as were the more esoteric Beatles numbers; replaced with covers of other British groups from the 60's. Only the most well-know Beatles songs were retained, and these represented about half the sets. I asked one of the band members about this, and he said, "We're not happy about the changes, but the entertainment department made us do it."
Whether the band leaving was Disney's decision or the band's, I can't say this surprises me, given the recent loss of both the Dragon Legend Acrobats AND Si Xian from the China pavilion, and the loss a few years ago of Spellmann's Gledje from Norway. ALL of those were personal favorites as well.
When I first moved to the area seasonally in '06, these were my fave WS entertainers that I pretty much never missed on a full WS day (clockwise):
Mariachi Cobre
Spellmann's Gledje (gone)
Dragon Legend Acrobats (gone)
Si Xian (gone)
Oktoberfest Musicanten (depending on crowds, I am not always allowed to go in and watch the show, since I don't eat there)
British Invasion (soon to be gone).
I also enjoy the Voices of Liberty, Japanese drummers, Miyuki, MoRockin, and Off Kilter, but the ones listed first are/were my faves. The only stuff I don't get into are the "interactive comedy players" audience participation type stuff, so I skip those.
When the Acrobats left a few months ago, I told an entertainment manager how dissapointing it was for me, especially in the wake of already losing Si Xian and Spellmann's Glidje. He said to expect more changes in the coming months. I said "Mariachi and British Invasion are safe, right?" He got a squeamish look on his face, and said "I can't comment on that". Now I know what he was referring to
Then he started going on with the cliches about how "the parks aren't museums" and how "Walt welcomed change to keep things fresh".
So I said, "How is taking away Lights Of Winter, the Epcot tree lighting show, the Pocahontas show at AK, and the live music in China and Norway, with no replacement in sight for any of them, "keeping things fresh" or a change Walt would have supported, as his big thing was "PLUSSING"?
He had no reply to that.
My enjoyment of World Showcase increased MULTIFOLD once I began slowing down and treating the World Showcase live entertainment as "ATTRACTIONS" in their own right. So I typically spend a full day just in World Showcase, doing not only the 2 boat dark rides, 4 movies, American Adventure, Friendship Boats, and all the walk-through Art Galeries; but also seeing most of the live entertainment playing that day.
And as a HUGE Beatles fan, British Invasion were, without a doubt, my World Showcase musical favorites.
I will say my favorite era of British Invasion was the first three years I experienced them (2006 - early 09) when they were still exclusively doing Beatles material. The format they had up to early 2009 was AWESOME. If you watched all 5 of their shows in a given day, you were literally watching the Beatles evolve before your eyes. The first show had them dressed as the "fresh faced young lads" of the early 60's Beatlemania era of "She Loves You", "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", etc.
With each show their costumes, instruments, and sound would evolve, leading up to my favorite 2 shows at 7 and 8 PM.
7 PM was usually the Sgt Pepper show, which saw the band dressed in the Pepper costumes, and the Sgt Pepper logo was on the bass drum. The band performed the "psychadelic" material from the 1967 albums Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour (my two fave Beatles albums) during this show. Such as "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds", "When I'm 64", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", and "All You Need Is Love". This was a real treat, as even the Beatles themselves never performed these songs on a tour, as they stopped touring before the Pepper album came out.
And the sound was VERY faithful to the album versions, thanks to being able to play the sophisticated string, brass, and woodwind parts on the keyboard. Plus, the guys had the guitar, bass, drums, piano, and voice parts down perfectly. If the Beatles themselves had toured Pepper in 1967, I'm not sure that they themselves could have sounded any better!
Then the 8 PM show saw the band paying tribute to the last 3 Beatles albums - The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be. Sometimes they would even play a John Lennon solo track, "Imagine", near the end of the show.
On a weekend trip in fall, 2009, I noticed the chronological, themed shows were gone as were the more esoteric Beatles numbers; replaced with covers of other British groups from the 60's. Only the most well-know Beatles songs were retained, and these represented about half the sets. I asked one of the band members about this, and he said, "We're not happy about the changes, but the entertainment department made us do it."
Whether the band leaving was Disney's decision or the band's, I can't say this surprises me, given the recent loss of both the Dragon Legend Acrobats AND Si Xian from the China pavilion, and the loss a few years ago of Spellmann's Gledje from Norway. ALL of those were personal favorites as well.
When I first moved to the area seasonally in '06, these were my fave WS entertainers that I pretty much never missed on a full WS day (clockwise):
Mariachi Cobre
Spellmann's Gledje (gone)
Dragon Legend Acrobats (gone)
Si Xian (gone)
Oktoberfest Musicanten (depending on crowds, I am not always allowed to go in and watch the show, since I don't eat there)
British Invasion (soon to be gone).
I also enjoy the Voices of Liberty, Japanese drummers, Miyuki, MoRockin, and Off Kilter, but the ones listed first are/were my faves. The only stuff I don't get into are the "interactive comedy players" audience participation type stuff, so I skip those.
When the Acrobats left a few months ago, I told an entertainment manager how dissapointing it was for me, especially in the wake of already losing Si Xian and Spellmann's Glidje. He said to expect more changes in the coming months. I said "Mariachi and British Invasion are safe, right?" He got a squeamish look on his face, and said "I can't comment on that". Now I know what he was referring to
Then he started going on with the cliches about how "the parks aren't museums" and how "Walt welcomed change to keep things fresh".
So I said, "How is taking away Lights Of Winter, the Epcot tree lighting show, the Pocahontas show at AK, and the live music in China and Norway, with no replacement in sight for any of them, "keeping things fresh" or a change Walt would have supported, as his big thing was "PLUSSING"?
He had no reply to that.
captainkidd
Well-Known Member
If it was the band's decision, then I'm OK with it. Not much Disney can do. If it was Disney's decision, then shame on them.
Either way, truth be told, Beatles tribute bands are a dime a dozen. They should be able to find a replacement in a matter of hours.
Either way, truth be told, Beatles tribute bands are a dime a dozen. They should be able to find a replacement in a matter of hours.
Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
Better a Floyd tribute act than 60s disposable pop.