Farewell To The Paul McKenna Band

[WEDWDW]

Looks like today was their last day-Best wishes guys-really enjoyed your shows.

Here is the schedule for the new talent per Steve Soares.

Quickstep
Lively, acoustic musical repertoire from Scottish, English and Irish traditions.
Sunday, Wednesday & Thursday at 12:45, 1:45, 2:40, 3:30, 4:10, 5:20 & 6:15pm
Friday & Saturday at 11:00 & 11:50am, 12:45, 1:40, 2:35, 3:30 & 4:45pm
Length of show: 15 minutes

 

[ultra63]

Whenever I saw them they did not seem to enjoy performing in an amusement park.

 

[Disneylover99]

I've walked past them several times and I have never seen anyone stop to watch. I stopped briefly once, but they just didn't draw me in.

 

[carlyle688]

Every time I tried to watch them, they looked so bored and uninterested that they were painful to watch. Not sorry to see them go. Disney was obviously not where they wanted to be.

 

[Tomh]

I sat and listened to them a bit while the rest of my party used the restroom. Just happened that they set up to play right behind where I was sitting on the curb. They were alright, but I'm not sure that I would have stopped to listen on purpose.

 

[BeerMe]

We enjoyed them. Very understated

 

[epcotty]

Yeah we thought they were all right that one time we saw them even though the song was repetitious

 

[MataHari22]

I didn't get to catch them last week. I planned on stopping and giving a listen if I passed by and saw them.

 

[WEDWDW]

DPB now has info on Quickstep.

I "think" the drummer is the same drummer who played with Paul McKenna the first part of their run(or is her identical twin!lol)

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...buts-in-the-united-kingdom-pavilion-at-epcot/

 

[winthropf]

DPB now has info on Quickstep.

I "think" the drummer is the same drummer who played with Paul McKenna the first part of their run(or is her identical twin!lol)

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...buts-in-the-united-kingdom-pavilion-at-epcot/

It does look to be the same drummer that never smiles and looks like she wants to be anywhere but playing in the park. Some of the other members look like they may have at least be fill-ins with McKenna.

 

[Magpie]

Where was the Paul McKenna band? I don't recall ever having seen them...

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Every time I tried to watch them, they looked so bored and uninterested that they were painful to watch. Not sorry to see them go. Disney was obviously not where they wanted to be.

Is this the one in the UK? Because I agree.

And if not, there is another bored band running around.
LOL.

We did stop for them. And they were good. But their attitude really soured things. They did nothing to attract the crowd.
Basically, they just dialed it in and yes, it was painful to witness.

 

[Accident]

Did quickstep do a trial in September because they look like the band I saw playing on that trip. If that was the same band I completely agree with PP that they didn't seem to want to be there and while I love music it was uncomfortable to stop and watch. Even in the disneyparks blog, the drummer just looks annoyed.

 

[Disneylover99]

The new band really does look like the Paul McKenna band to me.

 

[bauer1168]

Yeah, it's the same lady with the drum that was with Paul McKenna.
Paul McKenna did seem to have a reputation for being a bit miserable. If he didn't have a crowd after 2 songs, he would normally cut the set early and go backstage.
The new act seem to have more personality.

 

[GatorChris]

Paul McKenna....don't let the door hit ya on the way out. I just watched a video of Quickstep on youtube. I like them better the PMB, but not by much. They dress like me. They play instruments like me. It feels like a "local" act that often plays at the wharf or in front of a baseball stadium. There's no stage, no gimmick. Just mood music. There used to be something like this in Norway 13 years ago. They'd play folk music, but dress up in the Norway CM costumes. No one stopped to hear them either. Just atmosphere.

They really need to just bring back an act that attracted the people. If they want to put Quickstep back in the pavilion stage, that's fine. But World SHOWcase seems to be missing the SHOW.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I don't really get what Disney is doing or hoping to accomplish in World Showcase. They took away World Showcase Players and Off Kilter, two rather popular acts, it appeared. World Showcase Players had been at Epcot since the 80's or early 90's. Off Kilter had been around since the 90's. Then they were replaced by acts that barely stuck around a year. Is there plan to start changing out acts every year or two? If so, does Sergio need to be worried? What about Serveur Amusant? If that isn't the intent, could they not have done a little more research to figure out acts that would be successful and would stick around a while?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

What they did was remove acts that were actually employed by Disney and replace them with contractors who were under obligation to Disney for a year. There are some advantages for a business to use contractors, who are not employees and are not entitled to benefits like vacation, sick time or a health care plan (and Disney doesn't need to provide them with costumes or some forms of equipment either). After that year, they could be re-signed or they could go their own way. I don't know the contract terms for most of the current acts. I believe that Voices of Liberty are Disney employees. The others, not so sure about.

I would not miss Sergio or Serveur Amusant (the whistle drives me batty) but should either they or Disney wish to terminate their contract, they could do so, most likely when the contract expires and the decision is to be made whether to renew it or not. Remember Miyuki in Japan decided herself to end her contract, and Disney got into some sort of dispute with the owner of PUSH the talking trashcan so that contract was not renewed. But there are examples of long-term (continuously renewed) contractual agreements with entertainment acts.

As for whether Disney always intends for some acts to be contracted on a temporary basis, we will need to wait and see on that...from what I hear, McKenna wanted to leave, but I think the lumberjacks would have been willing to renew and were just not renewed by Disney.