The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Long time, no write!

I've been running around like a madwoman, but things are finally getting back to normal (for a little while, at least... the summer is always crazy-busy -- why is that?). This past holiday weekend was spent NOT going to the Taste of Chicago with my visiting friend Nerdy P. It was just too hot out, and we weren't feelin' it. It sounds like we weren't the only ones: 2011 marked a 25-year low (2.35 million food-lovers) in Taste attendance, and now its future is a little bit up in the air. Yikes!

But rest assured that we did continue our annual tradition of enjoying the Sea Dog speedboat ride that leaves from Navy Pier and zooms up and down the coast of Lake Michigan. I think Nerdy P's son liked it. Would you agree?



OK, now on to the real subject of this post! The weekend before last (as in, the final weekend of June), my husband and I drove from Chicago to Pittsburgh for a charity event, and on the way we stopped in Cleveland to check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When we moved back from Boston in 2003, my poor husband drove a huge truck halfway across the country with all our crap in it (while I flew home) and attempted to visit the HoF then... but it was closed. I still remember how annoyed and disappointed he was. And so I was a little bit nervous about this place living up to his expectations.

The good news is that we both really liked it. We spent about five hours there and could've stayed a lot longer, but needed to get back on the road. The first thing we did was watch an hour-and-fifteen-minute-long presentation that covered all of the 296 inductees since the museum opened in 1986. But somehow we missed the big wall with everyone's signatures?!? D'oh.

I had figured that the majority of the building would be filled with rock memorabilia and outfits and props and whatnot, but in addition to all of that stuff, there were a ton of interactive exhibits and films and video clips. Much more than would be present in a "normal" museum. The one I found most interesting featured The Beatles (no surprise), as well as some members of their production team, talking about each of their albums and what they liked and didn't like about it.

Speaking of The Beatles, you may have heard that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame boasts the world's largest collection of items from The Fab Four. So I was kind of expecting A LOT of Beatles stuff... but it was really just one wall of about 70 things -- from jackets, to John's glasses, to handwritten lyric sheets, to Ringo's drum head. Don't get me wrong, it was cool and I loved it, but I guess I'd envisioned some huge room or display space that would take an hour to get through. When I started thinking about it, though, I realized that I can't recall ever having seen any authentic "Beatles stuff," so maybe it's just so spread out all over the globe that it simply doesn't take as much as I would've guessed to be considered "the world's largest collection."

One thing I found kind of funny was that in the special "Women Who Rock" exhibit, there was security guard dedicated to watching over Lady Gaga's infamous "meat dress." Which, by the way, absolutely (obviously) had something done to it to preserve it... but unfortunately it was to the point that it didn't really even look like meat anymore, but rather just a weirdly textured spray-painted-red, plaster-filled dress. On top of that, it was in a fully enclosed glass case. So I thought to myself, "They have a security guard for this, yet no one dedicated to, say, Michael Jackson's sequined glove or Elvis's jumpsuit or any of the other awesome items in the building?" Weird. Maybe Gaga made having a guard a condition of loaning out the dress. Who knows.

I would've included pictures of all the neat stuff that was there, except that -- as in many museums -- you weren't allowed to take any photos. The restriction was lifted in the atrium, though, which was where I snapped the Moby/Gwen props to the right, which were used in Gwen Stefani's Southside video (you can see them here from the 43-second mark on).

One last highlight that's worth mentioning before I wrap up: A wall dedicated to Rolling Stone magazine and its co-founder Jann Wenner. This display has tons of letters that famous rock stars sent to Wenner (as well as his replies), and there are also fascinating correspondences between Wenner and photographer Annie Leibovitz, as well as journalist/author Hunter S. Thompson (who wrote for the magazine in the early '70s).

When I was preparing to write this post and wanted to make sure I was getting my facts straight, I came across this section in Wenner's Wikipedia entry about how he's supposedly kept a lot of groups from being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... groups including my beloved Monkees! Damn that snob!

Despite that "who gets inducted" controversy, I would still highly recommend a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should you ever find yourself in Cleveland. Musicians (like my husband) will probably appreciate all the museum has to offer a little more than plain old music-lovers like myself, but I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't find most of the major exhibits worth seeing.

Rock on,
- e

One-Trick Towns

Last night I had the great pleasure of finally meeting one of my most loyal blog readers who I've been chatting with online for years -- Glen from the UK. He's in Chicago this week for work and surprised me with two boxes of Cadbury chocolates (yum!) and a bunch of cool Beatles memorabilia from Liverpool (his hometown) that I'm going to fight my husband over.

As I was excitedly going through all the goodies like a kid on Christmas morning, I was a bit caught off guard when Glen casually mentioned that he pretty much can't stand The Beatles. First I was like, "Huh? Whaa....?" and then I was like, "Boy, shut yo' MOUTH!" Blasphemy! How could he and I remain friends?

But then when he went on to tell me what it's like living in Liverpool, dealing with the constant stream of Beatles tourists, cover bands, festivals, museums, and statues, as well as not being able to remember the last time a day went by when he wasn't asked to take a picture of a Fab Four fan posing in front of some Beatles-related landmark, I began to understand. Seeing as how he lives extremely close to John Lennon's old home and just around the corner from Penny Lane (yes, it does exist), he's learned to adopt a good attitude about it all -- but draws the line when it comes to the band's music. Here's one of the funniest things I learned about his hometown: On Penny Lane there actually is "a barber selling photographs" (well, postcards now)... but the guy doesn't even cut hair anymore -- he's able to make a living off of all the tourists coming in and buying stuff just so they can say they visited the barber in the song. I love it.

These Liverpool stories got me thinking about a daylong drive my husband and I once took up the east coast. After spending a few hours in Salem, Massachusetts, all we could think about was how weird it must be to grow up in a place that was famous for witches and witch trials and hangings and burnings and whatnot. I mean, you cannot escape that stuff in Salem.

When I got home last night I was still a bit sad about Glen's Beatles Hate, but got over it by trying to think of "one-trick towns" (for lack of a better/catchier phrase) in the U.S. I can only imagine that because of the Twilight phenomenon, Forks, Washington, residents must be up to their ears in vampires and werewolf t-shirts and tchotchkes. And then there's Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, known only for its weather-predicting groundhog (and, subsequently, the film Groundhog Day). Glen said that when he visited Bangor, Maine, it was all about Stephen King (it's the horror-writer's hometown) -- his hangouts, his homes, and "where he did this, where he did that."

I know there are a lot of really, really small towns across America that boast "the world's biggest ball of yarn" or other random oddities like that in order to attract tourists (and more importantly, their money). But to me that's not the same as a Liverpool or a Salem or a Punxsutawney that has garnered worldwide recognition or association with ONE SPECIFIC historical or pop culture figure. Can you think of any others?

(And thanks again to Glen for all the Beatles loot -- I know it must have been tough for him to have to act like he was a fan/tourist when buying it!)

- e

The Fab Faux at Michigan Theater

As longtime readers of this site will remember, I'm a huge Beatles fan. So I was really looking forward to seeing The Fab Faux in concert this past Saturday night at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor.

I had been back on the University of Michigan Ross School of Business's campus that day to help determine the winner of a stock pitch competition (which served to confirm my suspicions that I could never be part of the panel on American Idol because I have a hard time "judging" others -- so please Fox, don't approach me). My friend Nerdy P lives just a few blocks away, so I made plans to stay at her place that night. She'd heard about this Beatles cover band that was going to play the Abbey Road album in its entirety and figured I'd be interested in going... and, of course, I was.

Now, I've seen A LOT of Beatles tributes bands over the years. From The Fab Four in Vegas, to The Cavern Beat at Dick's Last Resort's Beatle brunch, to American English at a private event, to BritBeat at the Ravinia musical festival... the list goes on and on. Then of course there's Cirque du Soleil's LOVE show in Vegas as well as movies like Across the Universe that also pay homage to The Beatles. I can't get enough of this stuff. Unfortunately, however, The Fab Faux's concert wasn't quite as enjoyable as I'd hoped. I like to be able to close my eyes and feel like I am hearing The Beatles. The Fab Faux focused more on recreating the music rather than the band members' voices. I'm OK with a group of professional musicians not donning floppy haired wigs and putting on Beatles costumes and whatnot, but when they're not even trying to match the vocals, that's when it kind of falls apart for me.

Don't get me wrong -- I had a great time and the band is outstanding (although the lead singer reminded me SO MUCH of a cross between actors Bill Nighy and Andy Dick that I really couldn't get past it), it's just that I didn't find myself swept up in the experience. I'm curious as to what my husband would have thought, as all of the guys in The Fab Faux have quite the impressive resumes, and he would've been a better judge of whether or not they nailed the guitar, drums, and special effects parts.

I also think the fellow Beatles fans surrounding me and Nerdy P had a bit of a negative effect on us -- a trio directly in front of our seats danced SO STRANGELY that I literally cried three different times because I was laughing so hard at them. And then the woman next to me was one of those No-Rhythm Clappers that was really into it and there were several times when she looked over at me, nodding to encourage me to join in. No thanks, lady!

But all in all it was a fun night, and I would certainly think that if you're a hardcore Beatles fan you would want to check out The Fab Faux if they came to your area. The first half of the show is a mix of songs across all albums, with the second half being Abbey Road performed in its entirety (which might be a bit challenging for those who like and/or know only the most popular Beatles' tunes). From their web site it appears that the band will be on the east coast next, followed by a tour of the south this summer.

I'll leave you with their Letterman performance of "I Am the Walrus" from a few years ago. They played this one Saturday night, too, and it was one of my favorites.

There's One for You, Nineteen for Me

I spent a good part of the day yesterday finishing up my taxes and preparing to mail them out. Not surprisingly, I found myself humming "Taxman" by The Beatles.

I thought it might be one of my favorite Beatles songs, but then I spent five minutes really thinking about it, and decided it wasn't.


Here are my five favorite Beatles songs, off the top of my head (and in no particular order):

For No One
Ticket to Ride
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
Magical Mystery Tour
Paperback Writer

I'm kind of iffy on whether or not "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" should make the cut, but it popped into my mind, so it's staying for now. I reserve the right to change this list!

You can't talk about favorites without listing least favorites, so here are the Beatles songs I never did like:

Girl
Michelle
Lady Madonna
And I Love Her
Hey Jude

I know many of you are probably thinking, "What? "Hey Jude"??!?!" But what can I say, I've just heard it way too many times, and I think it's definitely too long. The only time I liked it was when I saw Paul McCartney in concert in 2002--it's a little different when a huge stadium is singing "Nana-na-naaaah" together.

(By the way, if you want to check out some VERY "old school e," here's the write-up of that concert I did back in grad school. It's kind of funny because Heather Mills was in the audience, and they were engaged at that time. We all know how that turned out...)

So there you have it. I'm going to go mail my taxes and listen to my Beatles collection on my iPod on the way, so I'm sure I'll have changed my mind about my "favorite song list" by tomorrow.

- e

The Next Best Thing

Since it's no longer possible to see The Beatles perform, the next best thing might be seeing "the best Beatles tribute band on the planet" (according to The Beatles' past promoter) play at a private party, right?

That's what my husband and I got to do a few weekends ago when "American English" performed at a colleague's residence. I did a crappy job taking pictures, but hopefully you'll get the idea...








That's right, my friends, they changed outfits three times to represent the "early years," the psychedelic Sgt. Pepper's era, and the Abbey Road phase.

While the band obviously didn't have the same set-up as "The Fab Four" show I saw in Vegas (as in, a huge stage and concert-like seating for the audience, movie screens, special lighting effects, etc.) since they were playing in someone's home, all of the other details were there, down to the instruments. They even busted out the kazoo for "Lovely Rita"--YES!

And if you closed your eyes while they were playing, it was freaky. You really couldn't tell that it wasn't just a Beatles CD blasting.

If you ever get a chance to see them (they tour around every once in a while), you should definitely check them out. There is a calendar of their performances on their site--it looks like they are based here in Illinois, but they do travel around often.

- e

Hey Jude, You're the Best Thing About Across the Universe

It has just dawned on me how many outlets my Beatlemania has had this year! First the Beatles Brunch on Easter, then The Fab Four tribute concert in Vegas in June and Cirque du Soleil's "Love" in Vegas over the same weekend, and now Across the Universe - a movie-musical with only Beatles' songs for its soundtrack. I knew that I was going to see it no matter what, but the wildly mixed reviews (an A from Roger Ebert to a C- from Entertainment Weekly) had tempered my expectations.

The good news is, I really liked it. The bad news is, I don't think most people will. Like many movies starring The Beatles themselves, Across the Universe was extremely trippy and cartoonish in parts and seems to have been produced by someone under the influence of many drugs. In more than a few scenes, the song choices seemed forced, like the writers were thinking: We really want to get in this song, but how? Oh, I know, let's name a character Prudence! Let's face it, when the two main characters' names of a Beatles-inspired film are Jude and Lucy, you have to figure the story's not going to be mind-blowing.

But since I had seen the trailer and read a lot about the movie before seeing it, I knew all of these things and therefore wasn't disappointed. If anything, I was pleasantly surprised because I LOVED the guy who played Jude, the main character. Jim Sturgess - my new movie star crush! I was extremely excited to see that he will be starring in 21 (not 'til March of 2008, though), based on the book "Bringing Down the House," the true story of MIT students who figured out a card-counting scheme to beat the odds in Vegas. He was just perfect in Across the Universe, and since everyone in the movie sang the songs themselves, he had a good voice to boot. My bet is that we will be seeing much more of him in the future.

I would've preferred someone else in the role of Lucy, however. She was played by Evan Rachel Wood, who is currently Marilyn Manson's girlfriend, as unbelievable as that may seem since she looks so innocent and normal. So I couldn't get that vision of her and him together out of my head, which was distracting. And while her voice was by no means bad, I didn't think it was right for the movie - she sounded too formal when she sang.

Other things to note about the film include two fairly major surprise guest appearances (I won't spoil it for you, but if you watch the trailer you will see both of them), and many small nods to cultural figures and lesser-known Beatles songs throughout. While I am a huge Beatles fan, I admit to being most familiar with their more popular songs... so I didn't get that the character Sadie was a reference to their song Sexy Sadie. There were characters coming in through bathroom windows, a shout-out to the Merry Pranksters and the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test... and on and on. My husband explained all of these things to me after we got out of the theater!

If you are on the fence about seeing this movie, check out the trailer and keep in mind that it makes the movie look much more normal than it actually is! But you can get a better idea of what the plot is about. The montage of weird scenes at the very end is more representative of what you'll be experiencing for over 2 hours.

Which brings me to my other surprise about Across the Universe - it was really long!
For some reason I thought it was going to run less than 90 minutes, but it was 2 hours and 15 minutes! They covered A LOT of songs in that time, so just settle in and enjoy the ride. I will give them props for bringing something new to the songs - "Let it Be" and "Helter Skelter" were two of my favorites.

My last bit of advice for anyone who sees this movie is to have patience... in the beginning it seems like the story is jumping all over the place, but it will, as the Beatles would say, come together. Yes, I'm corny.

As the movie is not in wide release yet, you can check here to see if Across the Universe will be playing near you any time soon. Let me know what you think if you see it!

- e

The Fab Four and 'Love' - Beatlemania in Vegas

When I was in Vegas last spring with my parents and Grandma, I found out about a Beatles tribute show at the Aladdin - 'The Fab Four.' I went by myself (my parents were not interested: "They just keep repeating the same thing over and over again!") and loved it, and since my husband is also a big Beatles fan, I figured that we should go together (and for me, again) this past weekend.

Luckily, this show is never sold out, and therefore you can always get half-priced tickets the day of (but they don't play on Fridays) - so that's what we did - $26 a ticket, not bad for Vegas... But when you get to the "V" theater in what is now the mall of Planet Hollywood (bye bye, Aladdin) and realize that you are herded in to a small room with folding chairs, you'll be glad you took my advice and didn't pay full price!

While my view was partially obstructed by a big column in the middle of the room (I oh-so-unselfishly gave my husband the better spot as I had seen the show before), overall we had decent seats. Before the show, they put Beatles trivia questions up on a few screens around the room. I knew I had a major freak sitting directly behind me when the first question, "Where did the Beatles grow up?" came on and the guy screamed: "LIIVVEERRRPPOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!" like his life depended on it.

First off, "Duh!" Second, another choice (yeah, the quiz was multiple choice on top of being easy) was "Las Vegas," so it's not like this was a qualifier for MENSA or something.

"Who was the Beatles manager that died from an accidental prescription drug overdose?" "BRIIIIIAAAANNN EPPPPSSTEEEEIIIINNNNN!!!!"

This was just a game to pass the time before the show, but the guy behind me was in it for blood. About half-way through, he complained aloud, "Man, I wish we were playing for something, I would totally win this!" However, the lack of a prize, much less of any recognition whatsoever, didn't stop him from continuing to shout answers at the top of his lungs.

At 6 p.m. the show began. While I would be able to tell if a Beatles cover band was REALLY BAD, I would never know if they weren't using the right instruments and I certainly wouldn't catch whether or not they were nailing small musical details embedded in songs. If they sound even the slightest bit like the Beatles, can fake a British accent and wear good wigs, I will be a happy girl. I even forgave the fact that, when I saw the Beatles Brunch at Dick's Last Resort a few months ago, the guy playing Paul McCartney was Indian?!?! But my husband (and apparently the guy behind me) knew all the things to look for, and after the first song, both he and Trivia Guy exclaimed, "Wow."

Throughout the show my husband continued to be impressed. Apparently the band used all of the same guitars as the "real band" did for every single song, on top of playing songs that are hardly ever attempted by cover bands - like 'Penny Lane' and 'A Day in the Life.' I dare say that this concert was the highlight of our trip for him.

At the end of an hour and 15 minutes or so, the show was over, and I finally had a chance to glance back at Trivia Guy. He was NOT what I expected in the least! Very punk-rock looking, appeared to have on make-up, wore a leather jacket, had spiked hair... one of those people whose voice does not fit what he looks like. I thought I was going to be staring at some dorky middle-aged guy yearning to still be cool, but I didn't know what in the heck to make of Trivia Guy once I saw him. But I was glad that he, too, loved the show. If you are a Beatles fan, I highly recommend The Fab Four show, but you should still try for the half-priced tickets at Tix 4 Tonight.

Beatlemania continued the next night when we saw 'Love' by Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage. We were in the second row, and other people we were traveling with were in the ultimate last row. Shortly after buying our tickets a few months ago, we learned from a friend who had been to the show that it is actually much better to sit as far back as possible. Curses!!! I have to agree with his insight after seeing the show myself. There are many visual effects that simply cannot be appreciated from a lower vantage point, not to mention the fog machines constantly blowing in our faces. So heed my warning - if you go to 'Love' - sit the farthest back (ultimately the center section, last row) that you can - you will get the best view in the house for about half the price! Then you can write and thank e for cluing you in!

Regarding the show itself... I think I had my expectations set too high. I had heard from several people that it was incredible, I had seen promising clips on the web site, and had purchased and memorized the soundtrack eight months ago. Plus, I have seen several other Cirque du Soleil shows so I had a lot to compare "Love" to... and the thing is, it just didn't really seem like a Cirque du Soleil show! I was expecting people flying all over the place and crazy stunts and impossibly limber people making my mouth drop open... and while there was a little of that, the show was by and large more of an interpretation of Beatles' songs rather than an acrobatic spectacle. Don't get me wrong, it was a great show and I will probably see it again (if for nothing else then to experience it from a better view), but I think I was more awed by 'O' (Bellagio) and 'Ka' (MGM Grand). 'Ka' remains my favorite show to date.

Things I actually liked BETTER about 'Love' than any of the other shows is that I actually knew what in the hell was going on for once... each song had dance numbers or stunts that were clearly inspired by the lyrics. For example, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" had a woman (presumably Lucy) whizzing all around in the air and the theater was all dark and there appeared to be a whole bunch of sparkling diamonds floating around. I GET IT, YAY! I prefer that to scary clowns and angry-looking bald dudes engaged in some inexplicable battle that is set to fairly crappy music and lyrics you can't understand any day. They also showed a lot of clips of the Beatles themselves, as well as audio of the band talking in recording sessions.

If you would like to see some of the show for yourself, visit this site and click on either Low or High Res in the upper right, and a bunch of highlight clips will load. My favorite performance of the show was "Octopus's Garden," which is interesting because that is not a song I would typically seek out to listen to, but what they did with it was very cool and fun.

There are very few bands in the world-- in fact, I can think of no other besides The Beatles, that could have a show like this pack a multi-million-dollar theater in Vegas night after night (the one-year anniversary is June 26th), and I would bet that every person in the auditorium had a great time. So if you want a very spot-on Beatles experience in Vegas, go to The Fab Four show, and if you want a surreal tribute, go to 'Love.' And if you're like me and really love John, Paul, George and Ringo - then do both.

- e

Must...get... to Vegas... NOW

Last year, my parents and I took my then-82-year-old grandmother to Las Vegas. It was the first time she had been in an airplane since she was 15 years old. And while the flight over shook her up a little bit, once she saw all the slot machines, she perked right up. We had an absolutely wonderful time. And then we went back again this past spring!

In planning for the first trip, I had asked her what else she wanted to do besides play the slot machines. Basically, she didn't want to do anything else. "I don't like plays, I don't like jokes, I don't like dancing, I don't like singing..." on and on went the list of things she was not interested in. However, in my gut I felt like she WOULD enjoy a Cirque du Soleil show, even though she did not seem too excited about it when I tried to explain what a performance of theirs was like. I got tickets anyway, and my instinct was right. Everyone loved the show ("KA" at the MGM Grand, which had just opened that year) - it's just not something you can do justice to describing in words - you just have to experience it. This year we went to "O."

When we were there, I saw signs announcing another new Cirque show, "Love" - which was going to be set to Beatles songs. I about flipped out, because I have been a huge Beatles fan literally since I can remember. In fact, this past trip to Vegas I went to a Beatles tribute band's show and it was awesome. I don't think there are too many bands that can successfully span so many generations of fans and get everyone so excited to hear their music. "Love" has now opened to rave reviews, and I am sitting here contemplating how I can "get back" (yes, I'm cheesy) to Vegas sooner than planned (currently next spring for Trip #3 with Grandma) to see it!

- e