Saturday, January 25th: The Rock Dinner Show
As I mentioned earlier, this was one of Steve's rare requests. He LOVES music...the louder, the "rock"-ier, the better....so when he caught wind of this new dinner show, he really wanted to give it a try. When this "bonus" trip got scheduled, I thought it was an idea time to work it into the plans.
Our overall out-of-pocket cost for the show, for 2 people, was $15 (how could we say no to that???). At that time, they only had one tier of tickets....I see now, on their website, they offer 3 levels which guarantee you better seating with each higher price point....but back in January, it was simply "General Admission" with seating assigned at their discretion. The regular price then was $65 each, but thank's to a fab Groupon offer, an extra discount code, and a Rakuten bonus, we whittled ourselves down to a $15 price tag. So we were able to go into the event with the knowledge that even if the show was a bust, it wasn't coming at any kind of grand expense. I love those low risk type of experiences!
The show is held at the Orlando Forum, which is on International Drive (past Sand Lake Road, more toward Universal). It's a bit easy to miss because the building is sandwiched in among the hookah lounges and gift shops that span both sides of the street. There is free parking behind the venue, which was a nice surprise as we had expected to pay extra for that (you pay for parking at Pirates Dinner Adventure, which is in a similar location). In addition to The Rock Dinner Show, they have several other events held on various nights of the week in that same building, one of which is a Luau (the other shows currently slip my mind, but I know there were several advertised on posters outside of the door).
There was already a good assortment of people in line when we arrived, but the doors didn't open until about 30 minutes before show time. It was a beautiful late afternoon, so it wasn't an issue to wait, though the air was starting to cool and I kind of wished I had brought a sweater or jacket. They had a couple of gazebos there with padded seats if anyone needed to sit until they began to admit guests. Both gazebos also had fire pits but neither was running. It would have been nice to have those lit for both atmosphere AND warmth!
Getting guests inside seemed to take quite a bit of time but I'm not certain what the hold-ups were. By the time it was our turn to check in, they scanned our Groupon and we were on our way quite quickly (after purchasing the Groupon, we had to call their box office to book our specific show date, so I'm not sure if the delays were due to people just showing up and paying at the door?). Once inside the banquet hall, we found a nice atmosphere with a dark yet colorful theme.
Round tables accommodated a maximum of 8 people. We weren't immediately stage side (nor did we expect to be at the Groupon price and the reasonably late booking) but we were only one row back and just to the left. A good view for sure.
Taking a quick peek around, it was easy to see that the venue was "multi-purpose". There was actually a large section behind us, with sofas and tables and it's own separate bar, that wasn't in use for this particular event at all. While we didn't venture over to explore the other side, I suspect it may have been the same on the opposite end of the room a well.
The centerpieces were floral arrangements made with old cassette tapes. Definitely "hand crafted" but we gave them points for remaining consistent in the musical theme.
Each seat had a beverage menu waiting, and a server was there promptly to take drink orders (unlike some of the dinner shows in Orlando, alcohol was not included with this meal).
Drinks were pricey *but* they included your glass, which we always find to be a useful souvenir. Since the tickets cost us basically nothing, we felt no guilt in ordering a couple of beverages to enjoy while we waited for the show to begin.
Steve had a beer, I had the "Hound Dog Hurricane". Very tasty *and* a decent size. The glasses were super cute and we knew we'd put those to good use at home on the nights we enjoyed a nightcap in the hot tub.
Also while we were waiting for the show to begin, a photographer came around to each table to snap a picture of each couple, family or group. A little while later, she popped around with printed pictures and the option to purchase. These were actually pretty well priced at $10 for a 5 x 7 in a Rock Dinner Show matte, and it was better than the silly selfies we had tried to take, so we decided to buy it. While paying by card was an option, I was glad that I had brought along some cash as it was just easier to pay that way than to send her scurrying off to get the mobile credit card reader.
We thought, for the longest time, that we might be the only folks sitting at our table, but just before things got underway a party of 6 retirees were seated with us. We were young enough to be any of their children, but they were a truly fun bunch of seniors and we got along famously with them despite our age gap. Steve was quite impressed that they knew the lyrics to most of the songs and they clapped and sang along with all of them. One of the gentlemen grew up in Michigan (very close to where we are currently living) so we had a nice chat with him about life in the mitten. We couldn't have asked for any nicer table company, which definitely helped maintain the overall enjoyment factor of the night. Communal seating can either be very good or very bad depending on who is seated next to you.
The show kicked off promptly with a sing-along of some rock-and-roll favorites with our host who played a piano on the far side of the building (sorry, no pic....I wasn't able to capture a good one from our spot across the room). The songs were well chosen and as much as I would have cringed at the concept of a sing-along, it actually set the mood really well and got the dinner show guests really "into" the event. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, so I always hesitate to sing when in the presence of other people (for their sake and mine LOL). Steve, on the other hand, was in his element and was belting out the lyrics with gusto.
With the crowd jazzed up and food beginning to be served at some tables, we welcomed the first performer of the night:
This guy was fantastic, and easily our favorite performer of the entire evening. He sang an assortment of songs by traditional rock artists (Bon Jovi, etc.) and did every single one of them justice. The live band that played the entire night was equally as awesome, and we both agreed that we'd come out to see just this guy do an entire show all on its own if it were offered. I wish I had been able to capture a good shot of the back of his jacket, where it said (in big, hand-painted white letters) "Rock & Roll Saved My Soul".
The special effects were also very well done, from the smoke machines to the lighting. It rounded out the feel of the night really well. Two thumbs up to the sound quality too....while it was loud (it was a Rock Dinner Show after all, so we rather expected that) it wasn't deafeningly so, and the speakers were well placed and well balanced.
During this initial number, some tables (in no particular order, oddly enough......some at the front, some at the back, it was very random) began to get the first course of food delivered. Our server had long since come over to inquire as to whether we wanted soup or salad to start, but hadn't been back since. Thank goodness the alcoholic beverages were large because service was a problematic issue throughout the night and I suspect getting refills may have been difficult to impossible once food service commenced. The servers they had were working their tails off and were incredibly pleasant to deal with, but there was noticeably too few of them for the number of people in attendance. Lunch time seemed a long time prior and we were starting to get very hungry (especially since we could smell the scents of dinner emanating from the kitchen). I also tend to be a bit of a lightweight where alcohol is concerned and that Hurricane was going straight to my head on my empty stomach!
More to come in the next post!
My dear hubs waited in line for 9 hours with me so I could ride Hagrid's on the last day of our vacation in June because he knew it was so important to me. We are blessed with great husbands!
