The FAB FOUR
I saw the real Fab Four in 1966 at Maple Leaf Garden in Toronto, a place built for hockey, not music.
I say saw because all I heard was the screams of the teenage girls behind and in front and beside me standing on their chairs and yelling at the top of their lungs from the instant the boys walked on stage until the ran off, after a very short set. I can't recall one song that they played.
It was memorable moment of Beatlemania and earns me bragging rights to this day, but from an esthetic perspective, it was a debacle.
I remember that Bobby Hebb (of Sunny fame) and the Cyrkle (Red Rubber Ball) opened the show. They were both very good.
The late Frank Zappa of the Mothers of Invention famously said that if music was a competitive sport, then perhaps it would have arenas built specifically for it. We are still waiting for that day, Frank.
The Fab Four, probably the very best Beatles tribute band with the eerily identical Ed Sullivan impersonator introducing the lads from Liverpool, was a much less historic, but more pleasing evening. The band played everything live, had a wonderful Liverpool banter going, nailed the nuances of the originals' stage presences, and when I closed my eyes, I was hearing the Beatles, live.
It was total fun and we danced two feet from the stage. We were too busy remembering the 60s to do much filming so check out the FAB's website if enjoy these teases. Better, yet catch them live.
Here is a snippet from the early Beatles:
Not bad, eh?
Here is a memory from the colorful post Sgt. Pepper 60's. Enjoy:
We had a splendid time. Thanks to my young friend Alec of the Anglomaniacs for turning me on to this special experience. Alec and I met because of the Beatles watch that I always wear for good luck and high platelets (See JBMA or Journal of the Beatle Medical Association 1960-1970 by Drs. John, Paul, George and Ringo on the Positive Effects of Wearing Beatle Paraphernalia on Various Blood Indices).
Who says that those who can remember the 60s weren't really there? Not true.
