Timberwolf Memories

[BavarianBeatle]

1986 Jimmy Buffet. It was the concert that the term

Parrot Heads was coined. Too many margaritas, we had to

let every car leave the parking lot to find ours.

pilotank

Which is something a lot of people don't realize.

That is one of TimberWolf's Claims to fame.

That's really cool!!! It needs to be included in the History pages here on KIC.

[CoastersNSich]

I've seen Sharon, Lois & Bram; Wild & Crazy Kids; "Weird Al" Yankovic (2-3 times); Styx; a Pink Floyd laser show, and the Sean Hannity Freedom Concert (LeAnn Rimes, Lee Greenwood, Montgomery Gentry). I think I also worked at the park during Britney Spears in '99.

The surroundings ain't bad, but the amphiteatre itself is nothing special. You have to leave the premises to use the restroom, and it is overall not so good compared to other outdoor venues. If it were me, I'd make TimerWolf more intimate, maybe cover the closer sections, add resrtrooms and permanent concession stands. Or taer it down and build a new attraction.

[CoastersRZ]

And, a few years back, Jimmy Buffett made a live CF from his show at Riverbend. And in one of the songs, he mentions how the whole "thing started many moons ago, back at Kings Island."

Having driven by Coney (I can`t recall having ever worked the day of a Jimmy Buffett concert), the day of a Buffett concert, I can guarantee you things still get crazy. I drove by at 5:15 in the afternoon, and you would have thought that everyone in Cincinnati was converging on Coney!

[WooferBearATL]

Yeah, Jimmy used to do 3 & 4 nights at TimberWolf and would sell out every night.

Merchandise stores throughout the park would stock Jimmy Buffet style stuff and all the employees could wear floral type leighs <sp?> on the day.

He would actually go down to the Island's in Covington (now ain't that a blast from the past!) and do some smaller and intimate performances (unannounced of course).

[The Interpreter]

...The surroundings ain't bad, but the amphiteatre itself is nothing special. You have to leave the premises to use the restroom, and it is overall not so good compared to other outdoor venues. If it were me, I'd make TimerWolf more intimate, maybe cover the closer sections, add resrtrooms and permanent concession stands. Or taer it down and build a new attraction.

[emphasis added]

RRC of olde lives.

And only a few will even understand that!

[bsktgrvy]

Dan Fogelberg 2 times (Once solo - once with a band), James Taylor, and Chicago.

[pilotank]

And, a few years back, Jimmy Buffett made a live CF from his show at Riverbend. And in one of the songs, he mentions how the whole "thing started many moons ago, back at Kings Island."

Having driven by Coney (I can`t recall having ever worked the day of a Jimmy Buffett concert), the day of a Buffett concert, I can guarantee you things still get crazy. I drove by at 5:15 in the afternoon, and you would have thought that everyone in Cincinnati was converging on Coney!

The pre-party at Moonlite Gardens isn't bad either!

I've seen campers across the street on Kellog two days before the concert.

You may not remember the Dead Heads camping out days before the Grateful Dead concerts.

They would take baths in the Ohio River.

pilotank

[CoastersRZ]

Yuck! I wouldn`t want to take a swim in the Ohio River, let alone a bath in there! And I certainly would not want to take a dip in Lake Como either. That water is not the cleanest, and a large amount of gas gets dumped into it every year from the bumper boats. I have, on accident, gotten one of my legs up to mid thigh drenched in Lake Como when working the bumper boats my first year. I smelled like lake water the rest of the shift.

[WooferBearATL]

And, a few years back, Jimmy Buffett made a live CF from his show at Riverbend. And in one of the songs, he mentions how the whole "thing started many moons ago, back at Kings Island."

Having driven by Coney (I can`t recall having ever worked the day of a Jimmy Buffett concert), the day of a Buffett concert, I can guarantee you things still get crazy. I drove by at 5:15 in the afternoon, and you would have thought that everyone in Cincinnati was converging on Coney!

The pre-party at Moonlite Gardens isn't bad either!

I've seen campers across the street on Kellog two days before the concert.

You may not remember the Dead Heads camping out days before the Grateful Dead concerts.

They would take baths in the Ohio River.

pilotank

Oh Man!

I remember a Grateful Dead Concert up at Canada's Wonderland.

You'd get a contact high just walking down the aisles!

[pilotank]

Yeah, Jimmy used to do 3 & 4 nights at TimberWolf and would sell out every night.

Merchandise stores throughout the park would stock Jimmy Buffet style stuff and all the employees could wear floral type leighs <sp?> on the day.

He would actually go down to the Island's in Covington (now ain't that a blast from the past!) and do some smaller and intimate performances (unannounced of course).

I actually saw Buffet up in Mt.Adams before his heyday. That's where he actually

got his real start in Cincinnati. Apparently his song Fins is based on a girl

from Cincinnati that picked him up hitch-hiking, somewhere near Eden Park.

pilotank

[WooferBearATL]

Yeah, Jimmy used to do 3 & 4 nights at TimberWolf and would sell out every night.

Merchandise stores throughout the park would stock Jimmy Buffet style stuff and all the employees could wear floral type leighs <sp?> on the day.

He would actually go down to the Island's in Covington (now ain't that a blast from the past!) and do some smaller and intimate performances (unannounced of course).

I actually saw Buffet up in Mt.Adams before his heyday. That's where he actually

got his real start in Cincinnati. Apparently his song Fins is based on a girl

from Cincinnati that picked him up hitch-hiking, somewhere near Eden Park.

pilotank

He would actually run around Mt. Adams even during his hey day.

[MindyB]

Kid N Play. Not sure the year- sometime in the 90s.  

[King Ding Dong]

3 hours ago, MindyB said:

Kid N Play. Not sure the year- sometime in the 90s.  

Welcome to KIC!  Enjoy your stay.

So you saw a Children’s indoor party center at Timberwolf in the 90’s?   Interesting. 

[HandsUp]

Dead Heads FTW--Weir still everywhere!

Have never seen a single show at Timber Wolf. Would love to but they never book anyone lol. But my best memory related to the place was late 80s/early 90s when my brother and I had passes but could not drive. It was all about figuring out rides-we always wanted to stay all day but rids are that's what would dictate our days at the park.

One day we had been there since morning and had a ride scheduled to pick us up at passenger pickup ~4 or 5 (think it was my aunt). So we're walking down I-street on the way out, kinda bummed we have to leave. As we are just about to pass out the gate, our dad comes bounding down the steps to the International Restaurant! 

Turns out that he and my mom decided last minute to see the Moody Blues @ Timber Wolf that night so that meant we could stay for another 5-6 hours! (Beast at night woo hoo!) No cell phones or anything, they just kept a look out of the window when they knew we'd be heading out and caught us before we left. To this day it is one of my best memories of the park-and of an era where everything wasn't so organized and digitized. 

 

[robintodd]

I used to go all the time.  I've seen Heuy Lewis and the News (twice), Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Gloria Estephan and the Miami Sound Machine (3 times), Pat Benatar, Feetwood Mac, James Taylor (twice).  I took my mom back in the day to see Air Supply.  Lightning hit the stage and they had to stop the concert (blew the amp system).  Guess we know what mother nature thinks of Air Supply.  Wish they would do concerts like that again, now I just go to see Skillett when they are in town!

[Joshua]

I remember seeing The Beach Boys there. I haven't seen a show since the very early 90s. Spirit Song, which keeps the amphitheater on life support, isn't really my thing. It'd be nice if they'd book at least one other type music festival, something more metal, punk, or heck even country. But definitely metal, punk, or indie rock. (Honestly, if it were up to me, Timberwolf would book the likes John Williams, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, and Michael Giacchino, but the chances of that in a midwestern amusement park...) 

I wonder if Timberwolf will still be here in 2030. 

[retrofan22]

may i ask why dont Kings Island allowed rock groups to at Kings Island anymore or any other groups did something bad happend would love to see kiss or motley cure poison play there

[KingsMills79]

So...graduated from Kings High School 1979 (Beast opening year) and for our Grad Night was had Hall & Oates & Chic (Nile Rodgers). 

Yes, we had LOTS of Beast night rides. IIRC, the park stayed open until 2:00 am so you can bet we took advantage of it.

[HandsUp]

15 hours ago, retrofan22 said:

may i ask why dont Kings Island allowed rock groups to at Kings Island anymore or any other groups did something bad happend would love to see kiss or motley cure poison play there

I doubt if it is a KI policy. I'm sure the park would love to have big rock acts like those knocking down their doors. With the rise of streaming-no one really pays for music anymore. You don't pay $15 for a CD of one band anymore- you pay $10/month to have the music of every band at your fingertips. So live music ticket sales have instead become a primary revenue stream-this has built up the cartel of promotion companies, ticket distributors, and venues. My guess is that CF/KI hasn't put forth the necessary effort to become a preferred venue (for a variety of reasons) and because of that they're simply passed over. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I went to Spirit Song in both 2014 and 2015. I saw Chris Tomin, Third Day, TobyMac, Skillet, Lacrae, Matthew West, and tons more here those 2 years. I didn't go to any of the concerts that they held this past year. I did hang around Action Zone when the Avett Brothers played, but it wasn't long. I also was up on the tower working when 3 Doors Down played so I got to see a little bit of that. It was nice they finally brought concerts back and I'm still holding out hope they do them again next year and if they bring in an artist that I would likely be interested in then I'd probably go, but we'll see. 

[MDMC01]

Oh man, where to start... I've been to Spiritsong countless times over the years! My first was around 2001 or so and I remember seeing the Newsboys, Michael W. Smith (I think, my memory is a bit foggy - I think I remember him performing the song I now know as "Live the Life" as well as a worship song, I think it was "Above All") and Superchick (they were brand new at the time - I specifically remember them rocking out in jumpsuits to their song "Get Up"). Throughout my teenage and young adult years, I went to Spiritsong most summers and saw Kutless, Red, Thousand Foot Krutch (saw them perform live for the first time there and it was garbage, however, their shows at The Underground were amazing), Hawk Nelson, Family Force 5, Group 1 Crew, and many others (I even worked Spiritsong one time while in Park Services!). More recently, I was given tickets to the 2018 version while at the park and saw Trala and For King and Country. Saw Crowder in 2019 (as part of SpiritSong) and that was a good show. This year, I saw both Skillet/Jordan St. Cyr and Berlin at Timberwolf and those were both fun shows in their own ways. And speaking of seeing shows from the Effial Tower, I saw part of Skillet's 2019 set from the Tower as well as heard Ledger (and later Tedashii) earlier in the day while walking through Action Zone.