ºoº Disney World GRAD NIGHT ºoº '72-'08

1998 — La Bouche, Backstreet Boys, Rhett Atkins, Allure, Reel Big Fish

I was there, fam.

Oh, found the final years here:

2009: Katy Perry, Lloyd, Metro Station, The White Tie Affair, Lesley Roy, Mishon, Wynter, Hayden Panettiere , Jaslene Gonzalez, Paula Meronek, Ryan Kehoe

2010: Paramore, Keri Hilson, All Time Low, Quest Crew, Boys Like Girls, Mario, Hey Monday, Beat Freaks

2011: Taio Cruz, 3OH!3, Pete Wentz,

xpost

Some of those mid-Seventies ones are outrageous

Either of these would be an incredible night of music
1975 — Kool & The Gang, Liberation, Sister Sledge, Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids, Hues Corporation
1976 — K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Natalie Cole, Ohio Players, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

holy shit:

Ready For The World, Rene & Angela, Animotion, Nu Shooz, Starpoint, Klymaxx, Miami Sound Machine, Sly Fox

Peak of WDW as Vacation Kingdom = peak '80s.

Also: Animotion two consecutive years!

I was there for Shanice.

haha, I was lookin' at KC's 2 years of company when my focus shifted:

1974 Kool and the Gang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umVRh0Rpi14

vs.

1975 Kool and the Gang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVM10K5D8js

xp

And this would have to be up there too, lots of quality mid-80s post-disco pop and with an absolute historic chance to see Run-DMC before they played Live Aid?! Maybe not as killer a line up as some of those disco jams, but def would be the bragging rights pick

1985 — Midnight Star, Shalamar, Teena Marie, Animotion, Run DMC, Shannon

Did you go to one PW?

Like KC in the 70s, Stevie B was reppin' Miami two years in a row as the 80s wrapped

My relationship with school got too contentious to get invited...although I went to WDW every 3 years or so back then.

By the mid'90s, I had season passes to obsess over the background music in the parks and act as one of Eisner's guinea pigs.

75 or 84 for me

It was a while ago, but my memories of Grad Nite '98 include walking past Reel Big Fish playing in Adventureland — maybe by the Tiki birds? — to a basically empty floor. I'm sure they got paid just fine

And I recall a big crowd for Backstreet Boys, maybe in Tomorrowland?, and walking by and being like "booooo," which I'm sure would get me called a raging homophobe or something from the ILX poptimism-uber-alles Carly Rae Jepsen B-side tears squad

raging homophobe!

1985 — Midnight Star, Shalamar, Teena Marie, Animotion, Run DMC, Shannon
1986 — Ready For The World, Rene & Angela, Animotion, Nu Shooz, Starpoint, Klymaxx, Miami Sound Machine, Sly Fox

ugh don't make me choose

i know there was one at Anaheim that was The Vandals and Oingo Boingo maybe 87

I'm trying to imagine hearing the snap of Rene & Angela's programmed snares in "I'll Be Good" on the Tomorrowland Stage.

2006 — Fall Out Boy, Omarion, Teddy Geiger, Simple Plan, Farnkie J, Fefe Dobson

my year

1985 for me

omgggg

1986 — Ready For The World, Rene & Angela, Animotion, Nu Shooz, Starpoint, Klymaxx, Miami Sound Machine, Sly Fox

Trying to figure out who Liberation was in '74 and '75, best guess so far was these guys:
http://southerngaragebands.com/liberation.html (also about halfway down this page: http://heybabydays.blogspot.com/2008/12/jokers-wild-metros-liberation-willie.html)

who only released a couple of singles but were on the same label as the Skull Snaps

http://www.45cat.com/artist/liberation

also, who the hell is Duck?

Australians?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB1K9gnwbaY

I guess they along with Crickett might have been Disney house bands (which apparently is what Saltwater Express was http://www.disneyavenue.com/2015/06/a-musical-souvenir-of-walt-disney-world.html)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

2005 lowkey goes the fuck off so i voted 2005

Either '94 (to see Tag Team trying to clean it up for a literal Disney crowd) or '99 (to see RBF on the same stage as Britney Spears)

I was at the '86 one! I don't remember Animotion being there, but I remember all the others. Miami Sound Machine played in front of Cinderella's Castle, which was the prime performance area with the most visibility. Sly Fox played indoors in that circular cafe/restaurant off of Main St. USA, whatever it was called. Nu Shooz played outside in Frontierland and Klymaxx played outside in Tommorowland - or maybe vice versa.

For those who don't know, the format was such that each act performed a set of about 30 minutes, took a break, then came back and repeated the same set, and this went on all night so that every act ultimately played 6 or 7 sets I'm guessing. Thus once you figured out which acts were playing in which locations you could go back and see the ones you liked multiple times. I was fascinated by Nu Shooz and kept coming back to them, so I probably caught bits of at least three of their sets.

I remember a rumor going around the crowd that Whitney Houston was going to perform somewhere, but that never happened.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

CLASS OF '86 RULEZ!!

I recused myself from voting, but I think these results are perfect. The top three are the ones I'd most want to see (again).

1973 is intriguing, however, for Helen Reddy at her peak. I wonder if the conservative Disney organization had any problem with her singing "I Am Woman"

wait, duck a disney house band? why are they covering so many frank zappa songs? also, memo to turner? that doesn't seem super family-friendly to me!

oh wait you're saying it's a different duck. sorry. i'm slow.

I was at the '86 one! I don't remember Animotion being there, but I remember all the others. Miami Sound Machine played in front of Cinderella's Castle, which was the prime performance area with the most visibility. Sly Fox played indoors in that circular cafe/restaurant off of Main St. USA, whatever it was called. Nu Shooz played outside in Frontierland and Klymaxx played outside in Tommorowland - or maybe vice versa.

Fantastic history. By the time 1992 came around all acts were on the Tomorrowland Stage iirc