Interview with Jay Goeppner of the the Beatle Brothers

By |2021-07-23T07:28:33-07:00August 28, 2017|Beatle-inspired, concert, Covers, Covers, Interviews, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, The Fest for Beatles Fans|

Chicago-based singer Jay Goeppner pours his fervent love for the music of the Beatles, and John Lennon, into every performance. His voice, and his energy onstage, are almost eerily similar to Lennon's. I've seen several of his Beatle Brothers shows, and can testify that the only time I've gotten a stronger Beatles vibe was at Paul McCartney's concerts, since rock and metal concerts have always been my favorites and I even look for metal concerts near me every time I can. I caught up with Jay by phone recently, as he was returning from a last-minute road trip to fill in for [...]

Fest for Beatles Fans Chicago 2015

By |2015-10-08T11:11:13-07:00September 29, 2015|Covers, Harrison family, Live, The Fest for Beatles Fans|

In the "better late than never" department, herewith some notes about attending a day of #ChiFest15 -- the first such I'd ever been to. My 16-year-old daughter accompanied me, and we met up with fellow Dullblogger Michael for part of the day. -- Nancy Carr Two Fest helpers -- the one in the white hat and sunglasses looked unnervingly like Yoko from some angles Events:  A lot, and quite varied. Most fell into one of the following categories: authors talking about their books, people with some affiliation with the Beatles talking (often about their books), and a grab bag of alternatives (sing along contests, a FABratory of Beatles-related science, [...]

Off to the Fest for Beatles Fans! And a nugget…

By |2015-08-14T11:11:57-07:00August 14, 2015|The Fest for Beatles Fans, Uncategorized|

OK, OK, we're uniting...sheesh So the redoubtable Nancy and I are planning to meet up at Beatlefest Chicago tomorrow. Nancy's daughter is also coming. I am not at all sure she realizes what she's in for, so pray for her. You should go, if you can. The Chicago Fest is a great one (never been to NYC, plan on changing that). On top of all the Beatley goodness, the Fest for Beatles Fans is always a hell of a time-machine: nothing evokes the heady mix of bewildered hope, outsized ambition and creeping angst that was Mike Gerber's teenage years, quite [...]

Mitch O’Connell McCartney poster

By |2015-08-04T08:16:35-07:00August 4, 2015|"New" album, concert, Paul McCartney, The Fest for Beatles Fans|

Artist Mitch O'Connell created this unofficial McCartney poster for the current "Out There" tour -- in my opinion, it's more interesting than the official one. Thanks go yet again to commenter Hologram Sam for bringing this to Hey Dullblog's attention. Sam, we have to get you writing posts for us! On his site O'Connell notes that "I combined about 50 references in the drawing, a few obvious ones being the walking pose from Abbey Road, the profile from Revolver, the garb of Sgt. Pepper, the lettering from Magical Mystery Tour, and on and on and on, all rendered with a nod to [...]

The Future of Beatlefest

By |2015-07-25T17:31:14-07:00July 23, 2015|The Fest for Beatles Fans|

Mark Lapidos with Paul and Linda McCartney, 1976 ...and yes, I know it's The Fest for Beatles Fans. But to me, it will forever and always be "Beatlefest," because that's what it was when I was 14 and the world still made some kind of sense. So now that we've set an appropriately crotchety tone for this post, onward. (Actually, not quite yet. The ungainly name that Mark Lapidos' wonderful convention has been shackled with since 2002 brings up something to keep in mind as you read: what Beatlefest was, is, and will be, is entirely up to the 800-pound [...]

Where’s Ringo?

By |2014-12-10T11:49:46-08:00December 10, 2014|Beatles merch, books, The Fest for Beatles Fans|

In Pacific Palisades, I think Back in October at LA's Fest for Beatles Fans, I was taking a final gallop through the merch bazaar before Kate came to pick me up. A few final hugs and handshakes for vendors I'd spoken with or seen talk about their books; a quick glance here and there to see if there had been anything I missed. Frankly, I'd already spent too much and was determined not to spend any more -- and then I found a charming book called "Where's Ringo?" It's a lively Waldo-style hunt-and-find, with each detail-crammed illustration taking place at [...]

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Who should I interview at The Fest?

By |2015-08-14T11:11:41-07:00October 7, 2014|Beatles in LA, The Fest for Beatles Fans|

I just booked my hotel for LA's edition of The Fest For Beatles Fans, and am incredibly psyched. I plan to spend this coming weekend immersed in sun-drenched SoCal Beatledom, writing down things to share with you. I also hope to interview as many people as I can, but I want to know who you'd like most, so I've embedded a poll below. Vote for the guests you'd like me to try to corner, and I'll make a special effort to chat with your favorites. Put suggestions for questions in the Comments! [polldaddy poll=8358662]

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