Here are pictures and a report of the first day of Abbey Road on the River from Bob Gannon. (You can find Bob's pictures and additional report on the John Lennon sing-a-long at the Lincoln Memorial Thursday night held in conjunction with the festival here.)
Here's Bob's report:
"The site here in Maryland is huge and according to sources, ticket sales have been good which fares well into possibly bringing the festival back to this area. Today (Thursday) was a light schedule as the Thursdays tend to be.
"The main lawn stage is wonderful and is where all of the acts played tonight. I caught the Itchycoo Park and Sir Frankie Crisp sets and both were great.
Itchycoo Park mixed in Beatles with some British Invasion favorites to the enthusiastic but smaller crowd. probably in the area of 250 by end of the night. Sir Frankie Crisp, the band from Italy, took us through some George Harrison solo gems. There was a curfew at 10 p.m., so tonight's activities at the grounds stopped there.
However, a special event was cleared for fans wanting to take a late night Magical Mystery Tour. They got a permit to have a sing along on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with approximately
75-100 fans joining in a sing along celebrating the life and upcoming birthday of John Lennon.
All in all, it was a great first day and we're looking forward to see what day #2 brings. An online vote on AROTR.com has a poll of the biggest events of this festival and the winner was the 11:45 p.m. - 02:00 a.m. combination show of two bands that are very good friends of mine: Itchycoo Park from Scotland and Staten Island's own The Blue Meanies. So if you're in the area, these two very fun bands will surely be fun to watch.
Hope to see you there.
Bob
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Comments
The Thursday event was held on the hotel lawn. The lawn makes a sort of natural (although I'm sure it was manmade) amphitheater. The audience faced the stage which was set on the banks of the Potomac River. The back of the stage was open so the audience had a clear view of the Woodrow Wilson bridge and the river. As the sun set over the river providing a magnficent backdrop, Itchykoo Park from Scotland performed Waterloo Sunset. It was perfect!
My favorite band from Thursday is Lucy in the Sky from Koln, Germany who performed imaginative arrangements of some Beatles classics including Strawberry Fields.
I am looking forward to the rest of the weekend.
Believe me when John Lennon Lovechild daughter gets known soon everyone will want to be at these festivals. Get ready for a heartbreaker of a story so ugly it will make you weep for days. Now you will learn what stealing is all about also why John Lennon was in depression in the 1970's. Hopefully, this daughter will finally get her truth and justice. All the rock bands will stand behind her in tribute to her father John Lennon and the truth John Lennon wanted her to know. It is 46 years late but better than 64.
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