April 4th:
The dust has settled, but the buzz hasn’t even come close to dying down! This truly was one of our all time greatest FESTS. The attendance was the biggest in years and a super weekend it was! First, Pattie Boyd was magical. Just being in her presence made you feel good. Her exhibit had a sampling of her photographs and actual fashion dresses she wore in the 1960s, when she was a Vogue cover model. We estimate that she signed over 800 copies of her book and she was very gracious in meeting the fans and taking the time with each one. She tried to get to all the fans, but that was just not physically possible. Pattie has written her autobiography, Wonderful Tonight, and will also be joining us in Las Vegas and Chicago. So if you haven’t made plans for either one, don’t delay! Both FESTS are going to be high energy. Pattie will be joined in Las Vegas by Donovan, Billy J. Kramer, Spencer Davis and others. In Chicago, we have Pattie joined by Neil Innes, Billy J. Kramer and The Smithereens. Mark Hudson will be at both FESTS and in Chicago his brother Brett joins us for the first time. Fans were also thrilled to meet Nancy Lee Andrews, Ringo’s girlfriend and fiancee in the mid to late 1970s. Her book of Photos (A Dose of Rock ‘n’ Roll) was an instant hit. We are happy to announce that Nancy has been added to our list of Guests for both Summer FESTS. Our other guests also added greatly to the festivities. First timers Former U.S. Manager of Apple Records Ken Mansfield ( The White Book) and Photographer Allan Tannenbaum (John & Yoko: A New York Love Story) were charming and filmmaker Tony Palmer treated us to a sneak preview of his All You Need Is Love DVD Set coming out in May.Across the Universe was a Golden Globe nominee for Best Picture of the Year and Beatles fans couldn’t agree more. We were so delighted to present three of the stars of the movie on the Saturday show. Dana Fuchs, T.V. Carpio, and Timothy Mitchum spoke in the afternoon, signed autographs for a few hours, and then for the first time in public, performed the Beatles songs they sang in the movie, plus they each did one additional Beatles song. They each received wild ovations to a completely packed Grand Ballroom (ok-overpacked). And if that wasn’t enough, they were followed by a Wings set with former members Denny Seiwell and Laurence Juber. Laurence has been our guest many times over the years and treated us to amazing acoustic concerts each day. This was Denny’s first NY METRO FEST and his presentation featured his live drumming to some of his best known songs he originally played on. Together they played Smile Away, Live and Let Die (which Denny originally played on), Coming Up, Rockestra (which Laurence originally played on) plus Band on the Run for good measure. What a hot set! Then Mark Hudson came out for some jamming and he was joined by Denny, Laurence, Dana and Tim for rock and roll at its highest energy level. Of course, Liverpool backed all the musicians in the nearly three hour concert. Their great set included a big chunk of The White Album (its 40th Anniversary) and they never sounded better. A fan on You Tube exclaimed “That was hands down the best concert I’ve ever been to!!”The headline all around the world read: Rolling Stone Invades Beatles Convention. It’s true. It may have been 1:30AM late Friday night, but Ronnie Wood wanted to visit Pattie, so he did. The fans who were still in the lobby singing and jamming till the wee hours got to see him. Our MC Martin Lewis had the musicians play I Wanna Be Your Man and declared Ronnie the 5th runner up in the Ronnie Wood Look Alike Contest!! He got a nice sense of what goes on at The FEST and then went to have a visit with his old friend Pattie. Other Beatles related celebs to drop by included Billy J. Kramer, Sid Bernstein and Pete Bennett. The winner of the Battle of the Beatles Bands was Mystical Majesty Band. Yoko sent many items for the Charity Raffle and Auction and helped raise nearly $6,000.00 over the weekend, passing the half million mark in money raised since our first FEST in 1974. We are trying to get lots of photos uploaded in the next week or so. If not, you can sign up for our email blasts from our site. This is a free service.We are opening up our blog for your comments for the first time and you are welcome to add your thoughts.Peace and love,Mark and Carol
My friends and I had a wonderful time. I think you (Mark) and Martin Lewis (Sp?) do a fantastic job with all that it must entail to insure things run smoothly. The only complaint was the poor elevator service -very slow and only one elevator working. That aside, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and all agree, it truly is one of the highlights of our lives. PS Would love to see Juluian Lennon at one of the fests??? Thanks again
THANK YOU for sharing! Some of us will never be able to attend such an event. So this is great to hear all about it!!!
I had hoped to attend the Fest this year, but by early March I knew I could not. I really wanted to meet Pattie Boyd and see the Wings reunion with whatever number of members were going to attend.
But my vast disappointment vanished last Saturday, when I discovered the live feed over the internet! The interviews with Pattie, Ken, Bruce, all the musicians, and all the performances! I’m completely blown away be Liverpool: what other band could ever perform Strawberry Fields and Tommorrow Never Knows with all the special sound effects? And Laurence Juber is undoubtedly the most skilled acoustic guitarist on this planet…. maybe even across the universe!
Thank you so much for broadcasting the Fest on the web for those who cannot attend in person, no matter how much we want to!
Bravo Mark & Carol Bravo. One of the Best Fest so far. Sincerely, your friend in the Beatles, Shaun Weiss
i didnt make it this year
but my sister and her friends did and another friend did as well …all reviews were great!Hopefully nx yr!
Hi Mark & Carol,
I have been attending Beatlefest for years. This one was special because I brought my son at age 14. I’m gratefull to see the next generation interest & love for the Beatles. The Beatles have inspired my son to play the piano & drums, he loves music & the Beatles. I play guitar for 30 years.
I have personaly had the pleasure of meeting,speaking, and shaking hands with two Beatles, ( John & Ringo )
Do you ever think that one day we will see a Beatle stop into The Fest ?
That would really be a fantastic surprise for the fans at the fest.
Well thank you for the memories.
Best Regards,
Howard Scott
Have to say this was one of the best Fest ever. However I was also one of the first to get Patti Boyds autograph. I had my own book but was charged $25.00 just for the signature. It was a pleasure to meet her but, I was told that I should have not have been charged for the autograph because I had my own book. Also was upset when I tried to get autographs of the stars from Across the Universe at around 8:00 on Sat night. We was turned away. They were only there for one day. I love the Fest and been coming now since 1992 here and in Chicago and Vegas. Keep up the great work.
Hi Carol and Mark,
The Fests are GREAT!!!! I would like to make a suggestion to have Chad and Jeremy as special guests. Also, it would be a pleasure to see Mickey Dolenz appear at the Chicago Fest. And also bring back Donovan please.
Thank you so much.
Love/Peace Forever
Nice website!!
Hi Mark and Carol,
I have always loved your Fests and wanted to compliment you both on the hard work it involves to run one. I also want to compliment your daughters (who are lovely, btw) and your staff who are top notch! You all should be very proud of yourselves!!
I am sorry to say that I was a bit disappointed in the Vegas Fest this year. It lacked the energy I KNOW it can have. I wonder if it’s because in Vegas there are SO many distractions that the Fest itself becomes an ‘afterthought’ for so many people.
I am SO looking forward to the Chicago Fest…(I live there) where the excitement and energy is ‘in the air’ non stop!!
I hope to chat with you at the Chicago Fest. I also hope you are not offended by my comments about Vegas…JMHO..
Peace and Rock On!!