The Edge of Madness

So - what's the over-under on how long it takes them to realize they made a huge mistake replacing the live Halloweekends band in the Red Garter? A DJ & singers won't hold a candle to a good live band.

Yea, This show was really bad.

There is already another thread about halloweekends here..........

http://www.pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/23856.aspx

Do a lot of people go for shows? (this is a serious question dont flame me) ;)

When we hit Halloweekends we almost always took the time to see both the Red Garter show and the Edgar Allen Poe Trio of Terror, both of which were really good and worth the time.

I agree with andy.

Both of the best shows in the park are now gone.

The loss of the live band really stands out in The Edge of Madness. For some reason they have the same number of performers as last year (eight singers/dancers instead of a four-member band with four singers), so it's hard to tell if this was entirely a budget-minded decision. Do musicians require a higher pay than singers for Live E?

I loved the live shows, in fact theres a few screamsters who will catch the show on saturday before there make up time or will stay on sunday to watch the shows.

Just some anecdotal evidence about the Garter in particular (though not directly pertaining to the Halloweekends show)...

The few times I went to the Garter this summer for the show, I had a lot of tables to choose from, even a few minutes before the show started, which would have been impossible in previous years. In fact, I believe they even had the balcony closed my last trip, that's how empty it was (and this was on a decently crowded day in August).

The last few years if you wanted a seat in the Garter during Halloweekends, you had to get there before the end of the show before the one you wanted to see to have a prayer at getting a seat. Come less than 10 minutes before the show, and you were more likely than not standing for the show. I guess we'll see how it pans out this year, though I wouldn't be surprised at all to find the Garter much emptier than it was last year.

I'll probably stop in at least once to see what it sounds and looks like and to warm up, but without the band providing that wonderful live energy I probably won't stick around or stop for the show again (warming up for a few minutes maybe, but it won't be for the show if I do).

I thought I heard somewhere that they were going to bring a band in for the halloweekend shows. I guss that's not true now.

I knew going into the season that the band was not going to be in the garter for the summer show and that it would be differant, but it has really made more an impact on the excitement and energy of the show than I thought.

The few times I poked my head into the garter durring a show, it was almost a ghost town compaired to what it used to be.

I have zero interest in seeing the show without a band. And if I don't see the show, I also won't likely buy popcorn and a beer. Park fail.

Agreed that the lack of a band really impacts the show in a negative way. But, if they have a couple of hot chicks to look at I'll still watch the show. :)

The Edge of Madness uses a lot of the same songs as previous Monsters Rocks and Nights of Darkness (maybe the lessen the blow of losing the band) but the pace and general vibe seem off somehow. The arrangements and flow of the whole thing feels different than previous Red Garter shows.

That's because there is no band.

Like I said, there in no excitement or energy like there used to be with the band.

I think a lot of the excitement and environment that the band created came not only from the crowd interaction, but also the feeling that it was very much like an intimate concert, whereas the vocals with backing tracks isn't quite as engaging since the music is absolutely inflexible in every way. It was really a full on intimate short-run concert in the Garter with the band, with some of their versions of songs possibly being better than the original...*cough*Jimi Hendrix's "Fire"*cough* In general the backing tracks used for these performances tend to be on the bland side and not near as good as the original recording. I also think they suffer from the lack of flexibility on the individual instrument levels, but that's an entirely different auditory discussion.

Pete said:But, if they have a couple of hot chicks to look at I'll still watch the show. :)

Fear not Pete.. :)

I caught the show last weekend and although I definitely missed the band I still enjoyed the show. The cast is still a talented group and I am sure the show will gel more when they get a few more performances under their belt. Last weekend wasn't even Halloweekends so I say we give the kids a chance. I am sure they would rather have a live band, too. The fact that there are still 8 performers makes me think maybe there was more to the band being cut than the budget alone.

I am just happy that it is finally Halloweekends! Time to turn on the fog machines so we can all have a scary, good time!

Thanks for representing the dirty old men out there, Pete!

Okay. I've finally crossed over. I've been a long time reader and was always informed, and mostly amused by your posts and now I've officially crossed over into actually posting. Having grown up an hour northwest of Indianapolis, I always went to Kings Island as a kid. It wasn't until one of my childhood buddies started working fulltime at Cedar Point that I finally went up there for the first time and completely fell in love with it. How does that relate to this topic?? Well...

That buddy of mine (Brandon Kenechtel) worked in the entertainment department for the past 8 years or so as the fulltime music guy. He was the one who wrote up all the arrangements, music directed and rehearsed all the performers including the band members who were in the Garter. I think he even wrote/produced the parade theme song and was the original creator of the Monsters Rock shows. Anyways, I don't know if you knew this or not, but Brandon resigned his fulltime position last winter and has since moved down to Orlando where he's been doing part time music contracting/directing/and occasionally some recording work.

I believe he wrote the music and produced the tracks for the regular season Garter show and the Signed, Sealed, and Delivered show but not the Garter Halloweekends show. From what I understand the last time I talked to him was he put in a bid to do the Garter Halloweekends show but got turned down cuz they wanted to do it "in-house" at Knotts. That should hopefully clear up some of what you have already noticed:

TimChat2 said:
but the pace and general vibe seem off somehow. The arrangements and flow of the whole thing feels different than previous Red Garter shows.

The girl who choreographed the Garter shows in the past ended up taking his fulltime position so there wasn't any type of music person on staff. Maybe that might be why they got rid of bands? Just taking a guess on that one

It's a shame that Brandon left Cedar Point because his sensibilities for writing Live E productions seemed pretty spot-on, particularly in the Red Garter HalloWeekends shows. Hopefully the park will contract work with him more in the future.