Tell Me What You See :: Reviews of Beatleweek 2003

Here are my day-by-day highlights...

Thursday: Helen and I arrived giggling on the 12.30 train and were met by Ellie, as tradition dictates! We headed to the Adelphi where we were met by the usual torrent of abuse from Ray Johnson and Neil B... yes Beatleweek had arrived at last!

Having called into the Beatles Shop and Gallery to say Hi to Stephen, Jamie and A-M, we spent the afternoon down the Cavern celebrating Gill and Paul's upcoming nuptials with a few scotch and cokes (as tradition dictates... always S&C's on Thursday in the Cav!). Met up with Janine and Amanda and enjoyed great sets from Wonderwall, '62 & the Repeatles. Managed to catch Mike 'blimey, he can sing' Byrne and his band during the Merseybeat thing although we were distracted by the arrival of the Faux... on a Thursday?! Had a quick catch up with them and saw half of Skeggsy's set at the Pub (it's always nice to see some non-Beatles music at BW!) before heading to the Adelphi for *the* early night (around 1am!)

Friday: After brekkie at the Adelphi we did a spot of shopping before hitting the Cavern Club again for the excellent Return and Heyah. Ringer at the Barcelona were great and it was fun to see Grant Roberts and Steve McDonald playing with their old bandmates. Our friends The Beatalls were playing the Cavern at 6 so we made our way back there to see their BBC set which was fun, and then onto the Royal Court for Macca Over Merseyside. Chantal were amazing... and the seating in the RCT really made you sit and appreciate them properly. It was nice to see a 'classical' tribute getting such attention from the crowd, actually. I think people tend to hang out in the bar more when it's all standing, and just come and go for the acts they know they want to see.

Anyway, so Chantal were great. Lawrence seemed to be struggling a bit this year, and although I'm sure we all agree he has the enthusiasm and the voice, but his guitar playing is not quite strong enough to cope with the solo stuff. He really picked up when his son Clark joined him - perhaps he should concentrate more on working as a duo? What do other TWILer's think?

I really enjoyed Black Olives set, but then I'm biased because not only do I love their covers (they really do those earlier Hamburg/Cavern era songs well) I am also a fan of their own music... (quick plug - 'How About' is brilliant... get along to www.blackolivesmusic.com and order it now!!) They became one of my bands to follow and I attended everyone of their BW gigs this year (except the ferry one, obviously!).

I enjoyed BOTR's set, especially with the addition of Henry, Denny, Steve, Chris, Howie & Will but the seating arrangements really got annoying at this point as many people wanted to get up and dance. We started dreading the same scenario occurring on Monday, and began planning how we were going to ensure a front row spot! Also, perhaps it was because we were sat quite near the front but I really couldn't see Henry or either drummers as Kev's keyboard had been placed right in front of them! They sounded great though, and it was especially fab to hear live horns onstage at BW... something we don't get enough!

As I mentioned, we became Black Olives groupies (not literally, I hasten to add!) and dashed to see them at the Cav Straight after the show, before going back to the Adelphi for the four bars/twelve bands shenanigans! (sp?)

I spent a couple of hours sat talking to Frank in Waves bar, which was very pleasant, and we accosted Tony Skeggs enjoying Rocks Off in Friday's. Watched Black Olives 3am set there, during which Bill Heckle picked up my bag, slung it round his neck and proceeded to 'play' it on stage in the style of an accordion, egged on by Chris Hall who snapped the drunken antics on his digital camera. Andrei and co soldiered on; especially impressive when you consider this was their third gig in seven hours... and it was 3am!

Went to bed when the Adelphi staff started hoovering the foyer and generally being grumpy at us! I really can't decide if I prefer the music going on so late, or if I like the post-music winding down of previous years. The bands that play the last set must be exhausted, firstly to have to wait so late before playing and secondly because they don't really get a chance to relax after their set. What do others think about this?

Blimey, I've written a novel and it's only Saturday... better be a bit more concise!!

It rained on Saturday morning. Actually it wasn't even real rain. It was more warm snow!! So of course, with it raining and all, what else do Helen and I go and do but watch the Faux soundchecking in Chavasse Park!! It wasn't that bad actually and we soon dried off over a coffee and cakes in Starbuck's, courtesy of Uncle Will.

Caught Johnny Silver, Liverpool and Hare Georgeson back at Chavasse but decided to give Instant Karma a miss in order to freshen up for the evening's shows. Of course, the Fab Faux lived up to expectations and the two years gap since their last BW visit vanished into distant memory! I found the Reel Years concert a little slow, although once again this may have been down to the seating killing any suggestion of ambiance! I left the concert early with my friend Nick and having bumped into Will outside the theatre, we found ourselves in McDonalds making friends with a stag party dressed as super heroes and discussing the workings of Vox amps and the like... well they discussed, I nodded knowingly in all the right places!!

I seemed to spend much of late Sunday trying to find Cranberry juice in any of the Adelphi's many bars... but to no avail, but still managed to be in Friday's at 2am to see Black Olives and Lenny Pane! Hung out in the foyer with Ellie and Zara until the Hoovering began again and despite considering a mutiny on the lounge, headed up to our room to chill out. Finally got to bed around 7am.

Sunday was fun... I didn't have a stall so I could wander round the stalls quite happily!! Didn't buy anything but did manage to catch a few more bands in the Crosby Suite & Crompton's. Beatles Revival (they're from the Czech Republic, by the way... a minor piece of information I neglected to put in their programme bio!) were pretty good, and BR69 did a great version of Lady Madonna. Had a dance to Black Olives with Sent and Helen and saw Grant Roberts in his other guise with Fabz, as well as the Kazakhstan Beatles, who were OK. I found Rich Faux looking lost in the foyer trying to find Kim and Jools to celebrate Kim's birthday, and after excellent sleuth work on Mr Pagano's part, joined them and Frank for a cosy birthday drink. This lifted my spirits a bit since I was in a funny mood on Sunday... I think the lack of sleep was catching up with me, still I decided not to push to be on the front row with the usual suspects for the Faux, but rather to watch from the back. Unfortunately, the men operating the video screens had obviously been enjoying the Adelphi bar-fare all day and he did a rather poor job of picking out which Faux was singing each song. At one point, during Tomorrow Never Knows, an exasperated Billy H came up to him and pointed at Will saying 'that one!' Oh and they couldn't angle the camera's onto Jack at all, so most of the ballroom never saw his legs!

Pushing on... Monday was much less stressful. Dad came up for the day and we wandered around the stages catching a bit of The Maximum Who, Hare Georgeson and Liverpool. Janine and I made our way to the Royal Court to meet Amanda at 5.45 as planned, to ensure we got the coveted front row spot (Jimmy's side, so Janine could worship her God Ravi Oli!) The reactions of the audience during the show, outside the theatre afterwards and for the rest of the week is testament to how awesome it was. We were all speechless, and you couldn't help feeling a little sorry for the Bootleg Beatles, unwittingly waiting back at the hotel to perform the VIP show. I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't want to hear *any* music after that... as if another few notes would push out all those wonderful songs! Thankfully, I met up with Emil from Black Olives and he and I, occasionally joined by Andrei, sat chatting for most of the evening in the rear bar.

Said farewell to Frank, but missed the other guys... then the effects of one too many scotch and cokes got me unawares as Billy H insisted on dragging me up onstage to dance to Rocks Off. Quickly composing myself I stepped aside and let him make a fool of himself while I watched embarrassingly from the wings! Oh well, hopefully everyone else was too tired/drunk to notice too much!

The Adelphi staff really ruined Monday night with their confiscating of the sofa's and by throwing us out of the lounge before dawn. Thankfully, Helen had made friends with Pat from Ireland and so I found myself sat in her room along with a few other Irish fans, a German girl, Pete from the Aussie Beatals and Andrei. We had a great laugh and in the true Tuesday morning tradition went down to breakfast together. Didn't go to bed at all as the Adelphi had cocked up my checking out date again, and I had to go and sort that out before they came to throw us out!

Tuesday was quiet... we ate lunch with Janine in Wetherspoon's, then spent the rest of the afternoon watching the bands in the Cavern. The party in the Cavern Pub went on til dawn but I gave into sleep around 4am, enjoying an enlightening walk back to the Adelphi with Janine...

I loved pretty much all of BW2003... it was fun to catch up with friends and to see so many TWILer's all week long! I found this year to be far less hectic, although undoubtedly we stayed up later more often than in previous years, and I enjoyed drifting between the Cavern Club, Pub Adelphi and Mathew Street Festivals catching the bands I especially enjoyed. I managed to see 40 out of the 52 bands that played, which is quite good, and I met lots of new friends!

I just can't believe it's all over so quickly... I'm looking forward to BW 2004 already!

Nina :: Taken from The Word Is Love Yahoo Group, 1st September 2003

Reading Nina's review of BW makes me realise how diverse the whole thing had become as with the exception of 2 or 3 shows we saw totally different bands and weren't even in the same area of Liverpool! Anyway, here's my highlights of BW 2003.

Fab Faux
Fab Faux. I know that everyone has praised Fab Faux and they just go to show what high standards are expected for BW. Like everyone I loved the White Album show, and the guys are lovely off stage too, happy to spend an hour or two in the Adelphi with everyone. Frank, is a very active member of the TWIL forum and I was impressed with his detailed Faux set lists he posted on there after BW, complete with which amp blew up during which song and which songs were missed out. Bill Heckle was teaching Jimmy how to swear in English, which he decided to practice on me, which was totally surreal as this is a guy who looks like he's just stepped out of the "Sopranos". Jimmy dear, stick to the New York school of swearing which involves mothers and cats. As for Jack (sigh), what can I say, the man is such a flirt. After the White Album show I saw Will & Rich in the Adelphi bar and all I could say was "I just wanted to say that that was so....." and couldn't finish the sentence. Fortunately, they understood what I was trying to say!

Ringer
20 years? Blimey. Constantly fabulous, reliable and a real party band. Highlight for me was their version of Beach Boys' "Do It Again" at the Barcelona. Hearts will be broken now that Gregor's going. How will the new singer compete? At least we'll be able to see next year as the band are promising to be back concentrating on the next 20 years..

Best Bands
I saw that a lot of the other bands watched the Faux's "White" show and I hope there's no connection between that and the fact that some bands I spoke to on that Monday night said they weren't coming back next year. These are the bands that often play 2 or 3 shows a day during the week, have been coming for years and constantly entertain and surprise. So the following are my best bands of 2003 and I hope they come back next year because they will be greatly missed if they don't.

The bands that I love seeing year after year are all the Swedish ones. Liverpool have been coming for years. My favourite shows this year were the outside ones at Chavasse Park and Victoria Street as they know how to pick the right songs that will please both the BW folk like "I'm Losing You" and their own "Humans" and the Liddy crowd like "Yellow Submarine" and "Hello Goodbye" . Olle Nilsson as always, makes an excellent Lennon and guitarist Sebastian Roos provides healthy competition as he provides the Paul vocals. In Sweden they have played with a orchestra and I would love to see them do that in Liverpool sometime. I hope they come back next year otherwise who will Bill Heckle and Neil B play broom guitar with?This year they joined the band on the Monday night at the Adelphi and sung vocals for "Come Together"

Clube Big Beatles have never let me down. All their shows were excellent. Their theme this year was peace and I loved their t-shirts with the different peace signs that they wore. I still haven't recovered from the novelty being a part of the group for Hey Jude on Convention Day and I can't believe how hot that stage was under those lights. Another first for me was Saulo making a mistake and restarting a song. It was really endearing. New bassist Octavio said he hopes they come back as he enjoyed this year a lot and on the last Tuesday night he invited us and anyone remaining in the North Western to join a party on the 5th floor with the Brazilian bands, family and friends that were still there.

Lenny Pane have to get the award for providing a superb show whilst coping with technical difficulties which happened at both their shows in the Adelphi and Victoria Street. They were on top form this year and it was great to see Ollie back again with his emotional version of "Darling" . My favourite show was Reel Years at Royal Court where they played tracks from the film Yellow Submarine. They have been constantly innovative but now have reached the stage where they need to think of new things to surprise us or they won't come back until they do. They have so much scope I'm sure they'll think of something.

For those people (like me) who didn't get tickets for the Rolling Stones, seeing Rocks Off more than made up for it. They have so much energy and Tony "Jagger" Johnson not only sings and moves like Mick he even talks like him! Last year their show in the Adelphi was cut short due to time. This year, it seemed to go on all night! Highlights were "Sympathy for the Devil" and one of their fans jumping up on stage in a Mick Jagger face mask and Stones t-shirt and dancing with the band.

Live Peace in Chvasse Park
This was a recreation of George Harrison's "Concert for Bangla Desh" and was exceptional. Hare Georgeson was excellent and the Hazza Harem beside me were swooning at Rick's long hair and Paul Kappa's guitar. Having never seen a Bob Dylan concert, Dylanesque was a fine alternative. The sublime calm and beauty of Shalil Shanker brought back memories of last year's Concert for George and was a sharp contrast to the strange sight of a 1971 Yoko Ono in Instant Karma. I hadn't seen that show so hadn't a clue why "Yoko" was so out of tune and couldn't even clap in time, so asked Ali and Di what on earth was going on. They assured me that this was exactly what she was like at that concert. Oh dear! Still I was glad to see that this "Yoko" wasn't taking it too seriously and you could see her turning round to stop laughing. 24 hours before I was due to visit Mendips, bought and donated to the National Trust by an older and wiser Yoko Ono Lennon, I watched this Yoko "singing" and reflected that this is probably one of the most mis-understood women in music history. I then saw a new BW favourite in the making, with Gavin Pring's band George Harry's son, which I think is such a clever name. Their fan club and web mistresses were busy recording and photographing beside me and I could see why Gavin is so popular. Not only has he the George looks but he has the talent to back it up.

Best New Band
62 - even if the lead singer looked like Jack Osbourne's older brother. They played all the earlier material from Hamburg to the first 2 albums. With the exception of The Prellies, they were the only band to do so, so I made a point of seeing them whenever I could. Highlight of their set was Cry For A Shadow. It always seemed to encourage some synchronised sixties dancing in the audience!

Best Song
"Helter Skelter" by Fab Faux (White Album show)
"You'll Never Walk Alone" Max (Aussie Beatles) Beatle Stage, Victoria Street on Monday. He dedicated it to a friend of his in Liverpool who had recently died. The atmosphere in the street was electric.
"Birthday" - Anyone who played it as it was my birthday that weekend, so naturally it was "my favourite" song.

Most overplayed song
"Nowhere Man"

Birthday Treat
Seeing the inside of John & Paul's houses with Janine, then going out for lunch afterwards and having very deep conversations normally reserved for the Adelphi sofas on Tuesday evening.

Sound of Silence
Everyone (including myself) when we left the Fab Faux "White Album" concert on the Monday. Nobody wanted to talk, we'd just witnessed something amazing and small talk was redundant.

Best Novelty Act
Neil B and Stevie P in the Cavern on Tuesday night as one of the bands couldn't play so they filled the slot along with various band members who were around at the time!

Adelphi Award for Service
North Western. The regular staff Sue & Peter are always pleased to see us and remember us from year to year and look out for us. There's always a great atmosphere in the foyer.

Best & Worst Moments of BW
Best are on Thursday & Friday when people arrive and you're catching up with all the news since the previous year and watching the first bands play. Worst moments are on the Tuesday and Wednesday and you're saying goodbye & there's a whole year to wait!

Laura

'vention highlights!

- being introduced to Jackie Lomax, Saturday
- Instant Karma ('I Love You John', 'Shut up I'll tell you when to speak, alright...') and the Faux at Chavasse Park
- all the interviews in the Adelphi, Sunday
- Ringer, Club Clube Big Beatles Sunday
- FAB FAUX SUNDAY/MONDAY MORNING, Adelphi! Too much!!!
- Jimi Hendrix trib, Mathew Street Festival (close your eyes and...)
- Chantal - Royal Court. Moving stuff. Hal Bruce great also.
- Fab Faux Royal Court - Will on guitar, upside down bass playing, Howie Casey, 'Sexy Sadie', 'Monkey'..... mind blowing yet again!!
- a long chat and photo with the very sexy Bob Whitaker in the Mathew Street gallery - what a charmer eh!!!
- '62 in the Cavern. Every year there is a surprise and this band were a welcome breath of fresh air. Thoroughly enjoyed them.
- Jackie Lomax and Tony Sheridan in the Cavern - just awesome to see two legends do themselves justice. WOW! (PS did anyone else develop an instant crush on TS's drummer? ;-) )
- all the chats in the Adelphi and seeing friends ... 2003 was one of the best!

"Gimme a B-string" :: Another highlight: seeing Jimmy Vivino change and tune a string in about 5 seconds flat. Phew ;-) ;-)

Carol-Anne

'vention highlights!

- Mr Whitaker....Bob Whitaker. A cross between James Bond and the most charming man ever! (Sexybob is his ultimate code name...)
-package number 9...number 9...number 9..... :o)
-cheeky vimto's and the cheeky barman serving them!
-Zara "the bingo caller" Jones and her cone on Sitarday night. Thank you Ray Vaughan! SHABBA!
-Yam yam and the catchphrase of "oil geeve it foive...!" Also being told the difference between a Brummie and a yam yam!
-Rocks Off performing at 4am and still being ultra coo-el! Although Keef looked like he should've been a member of Robot Wars...
-Dancing in the aisles with Erica, Helen, A-M and the loving couple beside us to Banned On The Run and various Wings members! Tres cool!
AM missing Mary Has a Little Lamb and me being able to text her and let her know! (Evil? Moi?)
-being at the Convention wedding and blubbing when Gill walked in to "Calico Skies." I'm normally cynical about marriage, but that was beautiful. Gill and Paul had made their own wedding vows too, and what they said was gorgeous. Walking out of the Town Hall and feeling you should've been at Posh and Becks' wedding wasn't half bad either!
-Seeing Laurie and Christian and knowing BW is here again!
-The Beatalls playing Live At The BBC stuff in the Cav!

One thing I did miss though - the Overtures. Plenty of bands playing music other than the Beatles but not quite the same as the 'Tures! Although it was a good 'vention the atmosphere didn't seem the same as previous years - all in all an alright week.

Ellie

'vention highlights!

Highlights:
Chavasse Park Saturday
Fab Faux Sat/Sun/Mon
Hare Georgeson Sat/Mon
Paul Kappa Tues
Bill Heckle's "broom guitar" (I was wondering how he got stains like that on his shorts.....)
Seeing everyone again
The general atmosphere *apart from the Adelphi*

Lowlights:
The Adelphi being more shite than ever "Eh Mister! Can we have our lounge back?"

The 'vention's most laid-back performance:
Will Lee on "I'm So Tired"

Misconception of the year#1:
"I think the White Album is a sitting-down kind of show" (or words to that effect) - Anon.

Misconception of the year#2:
The Adelphi can't be worse than last year.........?

Front of Stage Productions Present...
The Bootleg Rodney Trotter Award: George Harry's Son's guitarist (no, not Gavin, the other one)

Jacaranda

Beatleweek 2003

I feel remarkably awake so soon after another BW so I thought I would make the most and write a few comments, although don't expect a review of the bands that played cause for some reason I didn't catch as many this year - apart from the mighty Fab Faux, Ringer, Lenny Pane, Banned on the run, Rocks Off, Instant Karma, Hare Georgeson and The Prellies. Which I think you'll agree isn't a lot when you see the amount of bands that do play throughout the week. I had many laughs and spoke to some lovely people - some of which write on here, hello Suzie, Gill, Nina, Janine, Helen, C-A, Frank, Lucy, Annie, Zara, Ellie and ... gosh I'm sure I've missed someone out.

Comedy moments are of course 'the dress' (and hey, don't forget the vest), and everyone ever lying in protest on the floor in the Adelphi foyer cause the bars had shut too early (yeah dead early - 5:00 am), The Prellies ala Slade conversations and Steve Holly remembering me from the time I had fish n' chips with him and his posse in a bar in Chelsea, NYC and many more anecdotes that would probably only amuse me anyway.

And I must apologise to the few people I spoke to late monday night (you know who you are)where I was saying 'it's just not the same anymore' - looking back it was the same and I was feeling sorry for myself from too much alcohol, lack of food, lack of sleep, and saying goodbye to good friends.

I sincerely hope that next year we have a band to equal the excitement that The Fab Faux create and I can only live in hope that we see a band as talented as the Faux play. Also, can we get rid of Chavasse and bring back a strawberry fields type event instead please. I hope everyone had a wicked week - I did, contrary to popular belief and thanks to everyone who came over for a chat. Now let's hear your views...

Charlotte (Who bloody missed the Faux doing While My guitar - grrrrrrrr!)

In response to Charlotte's message...

>I thought I would make the most and write a few comments, although don't expect a review of the bands that played cause for some reason I didn't catch as many this year

Hi Charlotte:
Me neither - though a few stand out: It was great to see 3 original Wings all in one place - and most talented musicians they were. I finally saw Lenny Pane, and their take on the Beatles - their rhythm section had a lot of pop, and they're not afraid to go for all the parts. I also enjoyed the sitarist in the park - amazing chops; and young Gavin's GH show. For (so I was told) a last-minute assemblage, the have the sound of a really good band already. I liked the Merseybeat Legends, too. No-nonsense- 2 guitars, bass, drum and 3 part harmonies - all one needs, really. Mike from the Beatles' Story and band were excellent, also, especially the guitarist. I wish I could have seen more that night, but that back room in the Cavern is almost uninhabitable for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. I also enjoyed Tony Skeggs' set at the Cavern Pub (though that's of course, more a weekly gig, than a strictly BW show); and Chantal was lovely - with cute, Rupert the Bear-like arrangements of Beatles classics...

>I had many laughs and spoke to some lovely people - some of which write on here
Me too - all you've mentioned, basically (we travel in the same circles, Charlotte... ) ;-)

> Comedy moments are of course 'the dress' (and hey, don't forget the vest)
Thank God you wore it the next night, to remind us what it's supposed to look like!

>Also, can we get rid of Chavasse and bring back a strawberry fields type event instead please.
I saw Strawberry Fields for the first time this year - and even though we always stay a few yards from Chavasse, I wholeheartedly agree - SF was dripping with vibe...

A favorite moment of mine was - immediately upon finishing "#9", hearing someone shout out: "Play it again"!...