Event Notice: Sept. 19

After doing some research (Google is a wonderful thing :)) here are the seating capacities for the Cedar Point theaters:
From the Cedar Point History Page

1975: The Cedar Point Cinema with IMAX projection system opened in June. "Man Belongs to the Earth" was shown. The Cinema had a total area of 19,000 square feet. The area was divided into the Cinema Showcase and the Main Theatre. (The Main Theatre housed one of the world's largest indoor motion picture screens -- 66 feet high by 88 feet wide.) 950 guests watched the film in the Main Theatre while guests in the Cinema Showcase were entertained by the zany Show case performers. The Cedar Point Cinema was converted to the Good Time Theatre in 2002.

1999: The Aquatic Stadium, a 1,600 seat capacity complex featuring Splash!, an innovative and daring high diving demonstration opens (originally opened as Oceana dolphin stadium in 1980. Breakers Tower is added to Hotel Breakers. "Extreme" is shown in the Cedar Point Cinema.

So the Aquatic Stadium seems 1,600 and the Good Time Theater seats 950. And for comparison from Cincinnati.com:

Timberwolf Amphitheater - Kings Island
Seating capacity: 9,400

I was surprised that the Aquatic Stadium would hold that many, and that the Good Time Theater holds that few lol.

So I was on the low end...better than overestimating. :)

The Good Time does seem a lot bigger than it really is, though after doing some visual comparisons, it makes sense. I still think the seating number for the Aquatic stadium is rather generous. I'm starting to get kind of intrigued by the possible effects for Toledo during the summer if Cedar Point would open a dedicated concert facility, and to a lesser extent Cleveland. Could Cedar Point be more appealing than Toledo, especially for a multi-day festival like Spirit Song with the the resorts, or just in general with a regular captive audience of 10,000+?

I highly doubt that it would have any effect whatsoever on the concert venues in those towns. I know I would rather go see a concert OR go to Cedar Point, generally not both. Going to one at Cedar Point would be a little overwhelming and creates unnecessary crowds and possibly would cost more depending on the band playing. As an avid concert goer, I would not readily attend a concert played on Point.

This is clearly going to be their trial run. I'm sure they weren't attempting to get a big name performer to come and play there, because I personally haven't heard the name Tobymac since the late 90's. No offense to anyone who is a fan, but he seems to have a very limited following, which makes it a good opportunity for Cedar Point to work out the kinks of holding something like this.

factory81 said:
You know Kings Island almost looked fun, until I saw it on Live maps, haha.

Well the joke would be on you because it's a nice park. You're looking at overhead views in winter with no leaves on the trees and typical off-season mess.

factory81 said:
Make the Aquatic Stadium shows cost additional money and the ones in the night lights area free for all obviously.

I was thinking the samething.

Why not have the concert right by WT on the beach. They could easily wall off the beach (and thus charge another admission fee) to get into the concert area.

Pete said:
I doubt the Aquatic Stadium is even close to being big enough to hold the event.

Not only that, but putting up a concert sized PA and blasting it towards that stadium would be a FOH engineers worst nightmare, along with the fact that there isn't any sort of lighting rig there and they'd be hard pressed for stage area.

Being in the concert production industry, short of them assembling their entire concert rig out in the parking lot, I don't see anywhere other than right in front of the Hot Summer Nights screen that this would go. There's already ample PA put there (of course, there's always room for more ;) and the screen is an excellent use for video and graphics without having to bring in anything new. Plus, whats a concert without fireworks!

All joking aside, from the number of concerts/tours I've done in the last two years, I think your only two options would be the parking lot or that midway, and the aquatic stadium is DEFINITELY out.

The beach would be awesome, but they'd have to figure out restroom facilities.

^Yeah if only you could buy portable toilets that somehow needed no plumbing...

Touchdown said:
^Yeah if only you could buy portable toilets that somehow needed no plumbing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_toilet

I think they make those already....... ;)

^That was kind of my point, forgot to add the ;).

Hey no harm done, I just couldn't resist!

Gerg said:

Not only that, but putting up a concert sized PA and blasting it towards that stadium would be a FOH engineers worst nightmare, along with the fact that there isn't any sort of lighting rig there and they'd be hard pressed for stage area.

Actually there is already speakers set up for the All Wheels Extreme show, they could use those and probably add some fill speakers if needed. That setup would cause a lot of reflection but you would be surprised at how much sound human bodies suck up. There is rigging for lights on the shell of the amphitheater above the patrons heads, and temp rigs could be brought in easily enough.

Being in the concert production industry, short of them assembling their entire concert rig out in the parking lot, I don't see anywhere other than right in front of the Hot Summer Nights screen that this would go... All joking aside, from the number of concerts/tours I've done in the last two years, I think your only two options would be the parking lot or that midway, and the aquatic stadium is DEFINITELY out.

I have done concert work for the last 10 years, mostly on the small scale, 500 to 1,000 people, which is the numbers that they would be shooting for to use that theater. And I can already say that I would love to have that setup for a concert! Heck I have done shows in park based amphitheaters that house less than 1,000 and they turned out great.

Now if you are looking to bring in 2,000 or more people than, yeah the parking lot would be your best bet. I don't think they could even get that number on the midway, but the beach is actually a good location (size wise, would not want to think about the wind and spray from the lake, in September) there is plenty of room, and any tour group that is used to festivals would have all the gear needed. The biggest problem with that I feel is the closeness to the hotel. Of course they can always make sure that people checking in for that weekend know that there is a concert and to expect to hear loud noises till Midnight, which most people would expect that from the park anyway (if not in the park in the first place, or at the concert)

Those are all reasons why I think that the most likely place this will be held is the HSL Midway. The screen supports also provide easy support and access to the kind of speaker rigs that are usually hung above the stage. The location provides for a theoretically *unlimited* capacity, as well as providing a very central location with existing supporting infrastructure. I would be interested to see if they would use the show control building for the light and sound engineers, as it provides a great sightline over the crowds without taking up midway space, and likely has all of the electricity they would need. The only problem I could see is the audio snake and any lighting controls running from the stage area. I would assume locating controls in the building could also give them the ability to use the park's speakers in the immediate area, or even throughout the park should they so choose (not like they need it anyway, but still).

*I say unlimited in that there is a free flow of traffic, no real "seats" to speak of, so no artificial or realistic limits on the "total" capacity for the concert below what the actual capacity of the park is.

So is this concert really happening or not? And if so, when was the last "concert" held at CP? I cant seem to remember there being a concert there in my lifetime (I'm 31)...Walt mentioned something about the Big Band area...just wondering if this has been confirmed. If so, it could set a precedent for future concerts.

Sep. 19, 2009 at CedarPoint in Sandusky, OH

Toby Mac, Family Force 5, Brandon Heath, Tom Richter, Bluetree, Rich Praytor

Children - $39.99
Gold Circle - Early Bird through August 21st - $49.99
Regular Adult - Early Bird through August 21st - $43.99

^So they are charging extra, that means that they are either closing down a section of the park to foot traffic, or its not in the park. I think a beach or parking lot location is looking more and more likely.

In case anyone was still curious, the premier festivals web page says that it will be held in the Soak City Parking Lot.