Meanies, Moptops, Tanktops and George's Birthday!

I'd like to take you all back in time… to a time when Liverpool was a cold, hailstormy kinda place, and no not back to the 60s, but back to February this year when a group of mad, bad Beatles fans got together and celebrated the life of George Harrison.

I'd heard that plans were afoot for a long weekend in Liverpool for George's birthday, and I just had to be there, even though I'm a 100% John girl myself.

Along with three crazy George fans (Amanda, my usual sidekick, and Di and Alli), and wearing my Traveling TWILbury hat, I arrived in Liverpool and went to investigate the weekly phenomenon that is known as the Blue Meanies. They were playing one of their regular Thursday night gigs at Baty's on Mathew Street. Arriving early (to bag the front table), we got decidedly giddy for a bunch of over 30's! Although I'd personally forgotten to pack the Tena Lady to mop up Amanda's drool as I'd promised, Alli had packed a brown paper bag for her to hyperventilate into, so we were all prepared for a fantastic gig by the lads.

Well, what can I say? These four young lads from Liverpool certainly know how to liven up an audience. I'd only seen the Blue Meanies once before at the George Tribute in the Cavern in December, having missed them at Beatleweek. They had improved so much it was unbelievable - even in such a short space of time. Highlights of the set for me were Jimmy (John) doing I Want You (She's So Heavy) and Dear Prudence and Stu (Ringo) performing a great With A Little Help from my Friends, although I dare to say my George fan mates most definitely preferred the dulcet tones of Gavin (George) who had a great repartee with the George fans in the crowd. They are such an excellent young Beatles tribute - and it's hard to believe that they perform every week on Mathew Street, definitely an incentive to move to Merseyside ASAP. Not only have they got the Beatles stances and mannerisms to almost perfection, they are also a tight little band musically. Tony (Paul) plays bass unbelievably well for someone so young, and it's eerie that he and his brother Jimmy (John) look so much like their Beatle counterparts when on stage.

The show was over all too soon and then it was time to have a stagger down Mathew Street to see the new gold disc put up for George getting to number one again with My Sweet Lord. (Unfortunately also noticed his disc is next to Atomic Kitten and below Sonia!) Also had to have my regular cuddle (a-hem) with the John statue…

The next day, Friday, we had free. A first for us, to have a complete day to do as we pleased. Just a shame that the weather wasn't better, but we found lots to do, especially with the Beatles Shop and Mathew Street Gallery open. It was in the Mathew Street Gallery that we were having an innocent discussion about tanktops and how groovy people look in them, when we heard a voice behind us "I'm wearing a tanktop!"… yes folks, Howard in the Gallery is now the coolest bloke in Britain. We were so excited by this that we now have a website dedicated to tanktops at: www.tanktop-gods.co.uk If you like a giggle feel free to have a look, although there is a lack of Beatles on there it has to be said.

So it was an early to bed, early to rise kind of day Fri/Sat. There were quite a few of us booked on the George Day tour organised by Jackie at Live@Pool tours. On the way to meet up with everyone at the Beatles Story, we were caught up in what can only be described as a torrential hailstorm. But despite the bad weather we remained cheery, and embarked on our journey on the coach tour for George, accompanied by one of George's cousins and his wife.

Highlights of the tour for me were singing My Sweet Lord on the bus, complete with Jean C our personal autocue. Hare Rama!! Followed by the children of a local school singing a selection of George songs for us in the Palm House in Sefton Park (those who were there will agree, it was a real lump in the throat moment), having fun with friends and ending the daytime activities off with a delicious Indian meal.

Just time to get to the hotel and changed before meeting up with everyone again for the second part of our George Day - a night out at Aintree Institute with the Blue Meanies playing again. Excellent stuff, although for some people being in a 'club' atmosphere 'up north' was a bit of a new experience. We were all made to feel very welcome though by the locals, and a fabulous night was had by all. Once again the Blue Meanies put on an excellent show and the night ended with the Beatles fans and the locals all up on the dancefloor having a bit of a wild boogie and then a singsong to My Sweet Lord. A great day, and a lovely way to remember George.

Sunday started off slowly, with another meander around Liverpool, including another visit to see our new friend and tanktop god, Howard. We worshipped at his feet awhile, spent a little time in the Grapes and then prepared ourselves for the highlight of the whole weekend - the George Harrison Tribute concert at the Liverpool Empire.

Having been lucky enough to secure front-row seats we had a fantastic view of all the stage. Starting off with the Ivy League who warmed up the crowd well and gave us a few giggles, followed by a 'strange' set by the Merseybeats ('Live & Let Die'… for George??). The cheeky young Blue Meanies had somehow managed to blag themselves a spot on the stage after hanging around the Empire all day (good on 'em!) and they gave us a couple of numbers and came across really well, despite their obvious nerves.

The second half's musicians included Ralph McTell, Steve Harley (one of my heroes, so a big thumbs up for his performance, especially of Here Comes The Sun), Pete Wylie (previously of the Mighty Wah), a superb set by Indian musician (and pupil of Ravi), Shakil Shankar, and our very own Rick Alan and Hare Georgeson who never fail to deliver a stunning performance. The finale came all too soon - Ric Allen leading all the other performers in a rendition of My Sweet Lord, including backing vocals from the disciples of the Radha Krishna Temple. After all the build-up to the evening, I have to say I felt a little deflated once the finale was over. Although I'd had a wonderful evening, I felt somehow that George deserved more.

Then it happened - the moment we'd all been hoping for. Our compere for the evening, Radio Merseyside's Billy Butler, mentioned that there was an 'old drunk' who wanted to give us 'one last song'. And out walks Paul McCartney onto the Empire stage, to rapturous applause from every single person in the 2,500-seater theatre. After a few nice words about George he sang 'Yesterday' completely unaccompanied, and brought tears to the eyes of everyone when he changed the lyric to 'why HE had to go…' a very poignant moment, especially as Paul himself was so obviously choked with emotion as he sang.

After Paul finished, the performers all came back onto the stage. One of the best moments was Jimmy and Tony Meanie being way too excitable at meeting their idol on the stage and holding him like they never wanted to let him go. The smiles on their faces lit up the whole theatre, and expressed the love we all felt for one another that night, all together to celebrate the birthday of George Harrison.

Judy Pru
TWIL Issue Eight August 2002