Live from the Space Stage: A Halyx Story

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

My wife Kelly and I watch lots of videos about forgotten Disney theme park attractions, so this crowd-funded feature-film documentary about one of the best was right up our alley. It covers Halyx, a Star Wars-inspired sci-fi rock band that played nightly in Disneyland's Tomorrowland in the summer of 1981. The band may have been assembled by a corporation and prone to cheesy costumes and gimmicks, but by all indications here, they were actually good, much better than anyone could have expected. It's hard to imagine the entire band having a life beyond the Disney stage as intended, but the lead singer was so talented that she should have had a real career if the stars had aligned. You can see how the band maintains a cult following 40 years later.

The documentary itself is pretty good, benefiting from the lack of heavy narration that drags down so many YouTube videos, instead relying exclusively on interviews with the principals and (sadly grainy and distant) VHS footage of the band performing. It would have been nice to have up-close film-quality footage, but no stretch goal on Indiegogo could have funded that into existence. As to whether I'd recommend this to you, it really depends on your interest level in the topic; this launch trailer pretty well captures its vibe. The entire film is on YouTube if you'd like to watch it.

− March 21, 2021 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply