A Tribute...to a Tribute

WOW! Rain - A Tribute to the Beatles was one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen! I absolutely adored every second of it and recommend seeing it to every Beatles fan or music lover. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

Super-Cool Poster my Brother bought Me :)

On December 8, 1980 at 11:07pm, John Lennon was pronounced dead in New York City after being shot in the back four times by Mark Chapman. About an hour and a half south, in Eddison, NJ, my dad was frantically making phone calls to family. With each call, a family member said, "John Lennon's been shot," and my dad returned with, "Elaine is in labor." Nine hours later, at around 8am on December 9, I was born.

I can't say for certain but I'm pretty sure I've been a Beatles fan since that moment. I can say for certain that I've been a fan as long as I can remember. Always believing I was the reincarnated spirit of John Lennon, I've naturally felt a kinship with him my whole life. Deep down though, I had a crush on Paul. Oh Paul, with his soft voice and sweet, sad eyes. Yesterday makes me weep......(and did at the show). As I got a little older, my heart thumped stronger for George because, well, I'm a sucker for guitar players. Play a guitar in front of me and I will love you for life. The only one I've never really felt anything about is Ringo.....but Octopus's Garden is pretty bad-ass.

Fast forward 30 years to 2010. After a lifetime of swooning over a band that I could never see, my mom called to tell me my 30th birthday present. On December 11 at 2pm, there I was (along with my mom, spouse and siblings), sitting in the Neil Simon theatre on Broadway in NYC, ready to see Rain - A Tribute to the Beatles.

And then it started......a video of Ed Sullivan played, "Ladies and Gentlemen....the Beatles!" The lights came up on the unmistakably famous set of the Beatles' first American appearance and there, right in front of me in black suits and mop tops, were the Fab Four. I heard, "Close your eyes and I'll kiss you..." and I cried. I'm not gonna try to hide it, I was so overwhelmed that just sat there, staring in disbelief, with tears sneaking out the corners of my eyes. A handful of songs later, my very, very, very favorite song, I Feel Fine, came on...and emotion pooled again between my eyelids. I'm such a weenie.

Thankfully the crying ceased for awhile as we jumped to our feet for Twist and Shout and watched Rain recreate the famous Shea Stadium concert. We laughed at the videos and images of young Beatlemaniacs screaming, passing out and clutching to fences - overtaken by Beatlemania.

The set quieted and switched to the oh-so-wacky, and yet oh-so-amazing, days of St. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour. We sang along, cheered and danced! Each of the actors/singers not only sounded like the musical gods they were impersonating, but they looked like them too! It was unbelievable! They busted out Hello Goodbye, All You Need is Love and then Strawberry Fields...and I welled up once again.

They then gave us a couple of songs off the Rubber Soul album and changed into Abbey Road garb. They reminded us to Give Peace a Chance and told us all about A Day in the Life (serious chills.....but no tears). And while I can't remember every song (and might have gotten the order a little mixed up), there were two classics that stood out as missing when the show ended after 2 hours and 15 minutes. I patiently waited for the encore.....

Sure enough, they came back on stage and the entire theatre swayed back and forth in a sing-a-long of sheer happiness while Rain flawlesslly and beautifully crooned Let it Be. Minutes later, Hey Jude ended the show. I probably would have cried again but instead I was belting out every word in my own tone-deaf bliss, screaming, "Nah....Nah....Nah.... Na-Na-Na-Nah..... Na-Na-Na-Na.... Hey-y Jude!"

Wow. Wow. Wow. I absolutely recommend seeing Rain when they come to your town or to a town near you. Tour Dates Here. My amazing family met us later that day in the city and we spent the afternoon toasting each other before heading over to Rockefeller to stare at the most unbelievably striking Christmas tree. I could not have asked for a better 30th birthday and I owe it all to my wonderful Mom, super siblings, incredible family and Amazing Spouse. Thank you All!!

I also scored these awesome periodicals about John Lennon

Thans Mom & Aunt Edna :)