INVASION OF THE BEATLES FANS
Thousands of Beatles lovers from around the world will “come together” in Vegas for a marathon three day Beatles Fest early July celebration of several major anniversaries in the Beatles’ calendar—the first ever to be held here!
Luxe Life has all the exclusive details! The event takes place at The Mirage on July 1st, 2nd & 3rd and salutes four historic dates in the band’s history:
• The 40th anniversary of the band’s landmark “Sgt Pepper” album
• The 50th anniversary of the “Birth Of The Beatles,” the day in July 1957 when John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met.
• The first anniversary of the world premiere of the Beatles-Cirque du Soleil musical spectacular “LOVE” at The Mirage here on the Strip.
• The 40th anniversary of the world’s first-ever global TV satellite link-up in which the Beatles gave a live performance of their new Summer Of Love anthem “All You Need Is Love” to 400 million TV viewers worldwide.
To commemorate all these anniversaries, fans will enjoy three full days of noon-to-midnight Beatles entertainment—including a visit backstage after watching the record-breaking “LOVE” show on its own first anniversary. With the Mirage’s Beatles-themed Revolution Lounge open daily till 4 a.m.,festivities are expected to continue almost non-stop for the three days—making it a virtual Beatles “Love-In.”
Highlights to commemorate the Fab Four anniversaries include:
• A special live performance of the entire “Sgt. Pepper” album
• A re-enactment of the legendary “All You Need Is Love” happening
• Performance of songs John & Paul played the day they met
• Live performance of songs from the “Love” show & album
The other Beatles-related activities in several ballrooms include concerts, photo & art exhibits, reminiscences by close pals and associates of the Beatles, Q&A panels, autograph sessions, talent contests for bands and individuals, trivia game shows, Beatles memorabilia assessment (by a top “Antiques Roadshow” appraiser), merchandise marketplace, screenings of rare Beatles videos, exhibit and sales of fine art created and signed by the Beatles.
There will also be the first-ever Vegas online Beatles auction—conducted by famed auctioneers ItsOnlyRocknRoll.com.
The Mirage is set to become a veritable treasure trove for Beatles fans! To further help this three day “Love-In” go with a bang: The Vegas party celebrating the Beatles will be staged “With A Little Help From Their Friends…” Nine of the Beatles’ friends who socialized and worked with them have already signed-on to be Special Guests throughout the Festival reminiscing in special on-stage discussion sessions, performing concerts, signing autographs and interacting with the fans:
• Peter & Gordon—Good friends of the Beatles who also had ten US Top 40 hits! (“Peter” is legendary record producer Peter Asher, whose sister Jane was Paul McCartney’s mid-1960’s girlfriend).
• Pete Best—The Beatles’ first drummer will attend with his own band.
• Victor Spinetti—actor & very close Beatles pal, co-starred in three of their films!
• Denny Laine, Laurence Juber & Denny Seiwell—Three members of Paul McCartney’s band Wings. Also played music and socialized with the other Beatles.
• Mark Hudson—Beatles pal who became record producer for Ringo Starr (as well as Aerosmith, Bon Jovi & Ozzy Osbourne)
• Larry Kane—The only US broadcaster/journalist to have accompanied the Beatles on BOTH their 1964 & 1965 US tours, and who became a trusted road companion.
I’ll even be making a special appearance because I emigrated to New York just three months before the Beatles’ U.S. invasion in February 1964 and covered their 1964 & 1965 visits, including their “Ed Sullivan” debut for the British music papers.
I’d originally turned down manager Brian Epstein’s invitation to travel with the then Gold Bugs to the underground music caverns of Germany—but think it best to hold off on all the other gossip until I speak at the Festival.
Other guests will include Perry Cox, considered the top authority on assessing Beatles records. He is premiering his latest edition of “The Beatles Price Guide for American Records” at The Fest.
Neal Glaser, owner of Celebrity Arts, will be exhibiting the art of the Beatles, which include Lennon’s drawings, McCartney’s paintings and now Ringo Starr’s computer art. Glaser is the exclusive representative for Starr’s recent line of computer art. There will also be other Beatles authors, historians and photographers.
Master of Ceremonies is my good friend and fellow Brit, humorist Martin Lewis—who has a 40 year history working on Beatles-related projects as a producer, researcher and consultant and is among the world’s leading Beatles scholars.
The live performances of the entire “Sgt. Pepper” album, “All You Need Is Love” and songs from the “Love” show will be given by one of the world’s leading Beatles tribute bands—Liverpool—who will additionally give daily full-length concerts of Beatles and solo Beatles songs. Liverpool will also provide musical back-up in the concerts given by Peter & Gordon and in the reunion concerts by the three members of Wings.
The songs celebrating “The Birth Of The Beatles” will be a special performance of the early rock and roll songs that John Lennon (then age 16) and Paul McCartney (then age 14) are known to have sung on that historic day in July 1957 when they first met. An all-star band will perform the 50th anniversary salute.
Though the Beatles disbanded 37 years ago, the group continues to enjoy unprecedented popularity among three generations of admirers. Their recent hits compilation “1” has sold over 32 million units worldwide (over 10 million in the USA). The Beatles-Cirque du Soleil show “LOVE” at the Mirage has been a major box-office and critical success and often outsells all other Cirque shows on the famed Vegas Strip.
Husband-and-wife team Mark & Carol Lapidos who created America’s first Beatles fan celebration in New York in 1974 with the blessing of John Lennon (“I’m all for it – I’m a Beatles fan too!”). They have produced 104 Beatles fan conventions in the past 33 years in a range of cities including: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco.
“The Fest For Beatles Fans” has cumulatively totaled over 600,000 admissions. Over $475,000 has been raised for various Beatles-supported charities. This is their first Las Vegas production.
Beatles scholar and Event MC Martin Lewis told me: “The Beatles “Love” show at the Mirage has made Vegas a new Mecca for Beatles fans from all over the world. This event will be a wonderful gathering where Beatles devotees will celebrate these historic anniversaries among fellow Beatles enthusiasts. It’s going to be like the ‘Summer Of Love’ again… All crammed into three days! I say Viva LOVE Vegas!!!”
For information and tickets check www.TheFest.com or telephone 1-866-THE-FEST.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Sunday, July 1 • Monday, July 2 • Tuesday, July 3
• 2 p.m. to midnight Sunday, and noon to midnight Monday and Tuesday
• After-hours Beatles jams continue until the wee hours of the morning
• Itsonlyrocknroll.com live/Online auction on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
• A real Beatles Wedding. On Sunday, July 1, at 6:45 p.m. Lisa Loflin and Richard Barton of Montgomery Village, MD, will be married on the Main Stage at The Fest.
CONCERT SCHEDULE
Sunday, July 1, at 7 – 8:45 p.m.
• Liverpool – World’s finest Beatles Tribute Band
• The Pete Best Band
Sunday, July 1, at 10 p.m. – midnight
• Liverpool
• Three members of Wings in concert
• Mark Hudson, Liverpool and other musicians perform a 50th anniversary salute of the music John and Paul played on the day they met
Monday, July 2, at 7 p.m.
• Laurence Juber acoustic concert – Voted “Guitarist of the Year” by Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine
• The Pete Best Band
Monday, July 2, at 10 p.m. – midnight
• Liverpool performs “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in its entirety
• Peter & Gordon Reunion Concert
Tuesday, July 3, at 7 p.m.
• Liverpool
• Three members of Wings in concert
Tuesday, July 3, at 10 p.m.
• Liverpool - “All You Need Is Love” reenactment
• Peter & Gordon Reunion Concert
• Grand Finale with all of the musical guests