Until I met him at the 2014 Los Angeles Fest for Beatles Fans, Steve Marinucci was just a pleasant, suntanned face under a broad-rimmed beach hat. Until I met Ken Michaels at the 2016 New York Metro Fest, he was just a wide smile and beautiful eyes. I\u2019d just seen a face\u2026<\/p>\n
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And before the many Fests I\u2019ve attended over the last few years, Pete Best was just a legend, not the humble man who scratches his neck when embarrassed, who downplays his importance and talent, and who never utters a mean word about anyone, ever. Chas Newby was just the lad who walked away from The Beatles, the gifted bass player with other dreams. He wasn\u2019t the thoughtful, kind, dear friend he is now. And he never would have been, without the Fest.<\/p>\n
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And Freda Kelly? Well, Freda was just The Beatles Fan Club Secretary, not the strong, funny, gentle, honest, loving, and yet no-nonsense friend she\u2019s become. All of these people have blossomed into Living Color and 3-D since I saw them standing there.<\/p>\n
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Through the Fest, I\u2019ve met almost every one of the dear friends in my life. Come to think of it, I can count on one hand the friends I have who weren\u2019t introduced to me via The Fest. \u00a0Wow. Maybe I\u2019m amazed\u2026<\/p>\n
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Tonight in church, I was thinking how much what we experience at the Fest is like a church service. No, no, hear me out\u2026it really is! (Lennonesque disclaimer here: This is not to say the Fest is bigger or more popular than the church!!! Ahem!) But truly\u2026 we gather; we sing; we pass the peace; we tell the story; we share one another\u2019s woes and joys; we pray for one another; we study and learn together; we know each other\u2019s families; we help one another through good times and bad\u2026and yes, (you knew it was coming) we get by with a little help from our friends. And although you can be a Beatles fan without going to a Fest (just as you can certainly practice your religion without entering a church or synagogue or mosque or whatever), you\u2019re sincerely missing out on something wonderful and meaningful if you don\u2019t attend.<\/p>\n
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For the last month (ever since I left New York), I\u2019ve been mulling over the meaning of the Fest and trying to come up with the most apt and picturesque words to describe it to those of you who\u2019ve never attended. But like Paul (McCartney, not \u201cof Tarsus\u201d) I stumble and fall short, so “I\u2019ll say the only words I know, so you\u2019ll understand.”<\/p>\n
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The closest I can come to giving you a glimpse into the way you feel after attending a Fest for Beatles Fans is this: “You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.” From the moment you open your car door in the hotel parking lot, you\u2019re surrounded by people just like you. For three happy days you\u2019re with people (of all ages) who share your collective memory, who understand. You are with those who know why you think and act as you do.<\/p>\n
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They may be teens or thirty-somethings or Baby Boomers, but they all \u2013 every one! \u2013 get it. They know why you say “Number Nine, Number Nine,why you snarl, “You\u2019ve failed, haven\u2019t y\u2019jeweler?” or wink, “I am not what I seem.” They know what “God is a concept by which we measure our pain” means. And they know why you respectfully won\u2019t wear red tonight. They\u2019ve read the books you\u2019ve read. They\u2019ve memorized the songs you\u2019ve memorized. They\u2019d rather stay up all night and sing under the stairs than anything they can Imagine. They\u2019re happy just to dance with you. \u00a0And at a moment\u2019s notice, they\u2019ll do the Cavern Stomp.<\/p>\n
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These are the friends you always wanted in junior high and high school\u2026the perfect friends you couldn\u2019t find. Some have blue hair, heavily glittered eye shadow, and 12-inch heels. Some wear sensible shoes and carry a cane. Some dress all-out Sgt. Pepper. Some tug on T-shirts and jeans. Some come for the speakers and miss everything to hear Pattie Boyd or Louise Harrison or Ken Townsend.<\/p>\n
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Others come for the bands and are breathless over Mark Hudson, Mark Rivera, Peter Noone, Gary Van Scyoc, and Billy J. Kramer. And still others come to introduce their children to the “act they\u2019ve known for all these years,” so they beeline to Bob Abdou\u2019s puppet show and his children\u2019s parade\u2026to Lanea Stagg\u2019s popular class on making Savoy (chocolate) Truffles, and to the Friday night family dance featuring “Liverpool.” Our “clique” is completely and uniquely diverse\u2026but we, in all the important ways, are exactly the same.<\/p>\n
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My husband works at a university, and several months ago, the President requested that his Administrative Cabinet submit their holiday schedules for the year. When he saw Rande\u2019s list of events (six days for the New York Fest and six days for the Chicago Fest), he scribbled a quick note in the margin saying, “What? No vacation? \u2639!” But Rande and I only smiled, knowing that by “Festing,” we are headed for the greatest holiday of them all. Roll up for the magical mystery tour!<\/p>\n
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For the last few minutes, I have been desperately trying to tell you about the Fest, but (as John Sebastian once observed) it\u2019s “like tryin’ to tell a stranger about rock\u2019n\u2019roll.” It\u2019s like trying to explain “hope” or “tangerine trees and marmalade skies” or the feeling of being “home, warm and dry.” It\u2019s inexpressible.<\/p>\n
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But since I\u2019ve been on a bit of a Paul spree in this blog (which is “very strange” in and of itself), let me close with Sir Macca (\u2026and let that be an end to it, end to it!). Give this song a listen, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KZc_qGLP0qY<\/a>\u00a0 and then perhaps you\u2019ll understand. Perhaps you\u2019ll quit saying “Someday.” Perhaps you\u2019ll come to the Chicago Fest and meet the friends who\u2019ve “been waiting a lonely lifetime” to meet you. Perhaps at last you\u2019ll find us. Will I see you there? \u00a0“I Will.”<\/p>\n Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series:\u00a0www.johnlennonseries.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations —\u00a0@910PubRel<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter and\u00a0910 Public Relations<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Until I met him at the 2014 Los Angeles Fest for Beatles Fans, Steve Marinucci was just a pleasant, suntanned face under a broad-rimmed beach hat. Until I met Ken Michaels at the 2016 New York Metro Fest, he was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baby-boomer-beatles-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6424"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6566,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424\/revisions\/6566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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