Authors Jude Southerland Kessler and Bruce Spizer, whose tables were
next to each other at Beatles Fest West 2009. Bruce's finger is pointing
to the words "Hey Jude" on the label of the record on the cover of
his "The Beatles on Apple Records" book. (Photo: Steve Marinucci)
Where to begin? There were so many highlights from the second day of Beatles Fest West 2009 in San Francisco. Here's a full report from ground zero at Beatle Fest West:
There was a battle of the bands, so to speak, all day as each performer tried in their set to top the previous one. The Beatrips from Japan, who won that title Friday night, were the favorites going in and got a great reaction from the fans on Saturday. Drew Harrison's John Lennon tribute was a perfect compliment to the birthday sentiments from the day before still on everyone's mind. Then the Beafore from Germany came in and performed "Sie Liebt Dich" and "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" in their native language and seemed to have the nod. But that was all blown away as soon as All You Need Is Love from Canada took the stage and started with "Flying." You could literally hear the mouths dropping in the auditorium. The very loud set continued with songs that included "Rain" and "She Said, She Said." They ended with "Helter Skelter," but with a fantastic alteration: Singer Andy Forgie, clearly the most flamboyant vocalist of the show, paused, looked into the mic, and yelled, "Way dooooooown insiiiiiiiiiiide, woooooooooooman, yooooooooooooooou neeeeeeeeeed looooooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvee!!" in his best Robert Plant voice, then went right back into the final chorus of "Helter Skelter." The crowd's scream was incredible. It was the crowning moment of the night. The Sun Kings followed with a great set, but it was hard to get All You Need Is Love out of your mind.
Side note: Drew Harrison from the Sun Kings is performing his full Lennon tribute tonight at the Little Fox Theatre in nearby Redwood City. at 7 p.m.
Another performer who was getting great word of mouth -- and with good reason -- was Christina Trillo. Her first CD, "Something For No One," was being sold at the Fest. Her voice is tremendous -- and she'll be 18 Oct. 20. Trillo hails from Orange County, CA., and has been singing professionally since she was 8. Her amazing CD includes versions of "I'm Losing You," "Something," "For No One" and an absolutely wonderful version of "She's Leaving Home." Here's her MySpace page.
At the show, but not performing, were John Hasty and Mike Tyler of the Bartron Tyler Group, who were selling the group's CD "Yesterday Never Knows," featuring a great cover incorporating apples and a "Meet the Beatles"/"With the Beatles" design and covers of 11 beautifully arranged Beatles songs, including "I'll Follow the Sun," "Nowhere Man," "Because" and "In My Life."
Attendance was lighter than the organizers hoped, as it was on Friday, but everyone we talked to, dealers and fans, thoroughly enjoyed the show and said they hope it would happen again. Indeed, Dr. Robert of BeatlesRadio.com announced from the stage the news that the show will indeed be back next year.
Artist Sean Ward, who was selling his Beatles art at the show, told us he was able to get a perfect score on "The Beatles: Rock Band". Must be a young thing.
Jonathan Polk, who arrived Saturday to sell the Beatles "Box of Vision," revealed he has another project in the works, a companion set that will enable organization of solo Beatles CDs and vinyl. Target date is early next year.
To steal a phrase from the title of Jude Southerland Kessler's book "Shoulda Been There," Denny Lane coulda been there at Beatles Fest West 2009. Joe Orlando of the Cryers, who have played with him on some gigs, told us Denny wanted to be there, but it didn't happen. Denny, however, will be at West Fest, a massive free concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Oct. 25 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. Already confirmed for the show: Jefferson Starship, Leslie West of Mountain, Country Joe McDonald, David and Linda LaFlamme of It's a Beautiful Day, Ronnie Montrose, Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, Harvey Mandel, P.F. Sloan and John York from the Byrds. We heard about one other possible huge name who has yet to be confirmed. This should be fun.
Speaking of Jude (hey!), she wasn't able to stick around for the final day, but we have to say meeting her was a delight. She has an encyclopedic knowledge about the Beatles, and especially John Lennon. That's what happens when you have to research a book as thoroughly as she has.
It was also good to see author Bruce Spizer again. His talk on Saturday on the Beatles' arrival in America was fun to listen to.
The show concludes with a free "acoustic Sunday" lineup beginning at 11 a.m. PT.
For more info:
- The Beatles Fest West website
- Exclusive: Beatles Fest West 2009 rocks the house - an on-site report of day #1 (with pictures)
- Beatles Fest West 2009 filled with international Beatle tribute bands, authors, starts today in SF
Comments
I attended the Beatles Fest West and couldn't agree more with your assesment of the great acts in the show. I was floored by the Beatrips! Their George hit every note in the solos for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Later, when The Sun Kings were performing, they brought out a guest George guitarist to do "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". In all fairness to him, he had not been playing until he walked on, plugged in his guitar and went right into the song, so he wasn't warmed up. While his version was very good, it didn't hit it like the Beatrips George did. Maybe next year! I loved the whole show, every act and every song I heard. I too was a little concerned that the auditorium wasn't filled to capacity and hope the show will go on next year. I would love to get more info and buy some merchandise from the Beatrips but couldn't find any there at the show.
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