To show the continued effect the music of The Beatles continues to have on people, I thought I'd share with you a few e-mails form Beatles fans lucky enough to have attended the David Lynch Foundation Concert at Radio City Music Hall a few weeks ago, featuring Paul and Ringo...
From Pattie Lebresco, Lionville, PA:
Hi Andre,
OMG!!! Talk about a fabulous night! I went the the David Lynch concert with Paul and Ringo. So good, so great to see them together!! BUT the best part of the night….I met Barbara Bach, Olivia Harrison and Paul’s girlfriend Nancy. My seat was great and just before the show the guy in front of me noticed Barbara in the next section over and a few rows up! I confirmed it was her and then noticed sitting right next to her was Olivia. No one was behind them they were just sitting there so, of course, I marched myself over. Long story short, I chatted with Olivia for a good five minutes and had my hands on her shoulders the whole time. We talked about George and why he was my favorite the Beatles and all the concerts I attended, and about sons who love Eddie Vedder. I told Olivia, I didn’t want to over stay my welcome before she had to ask me to leave and in the mean time I leaned over and said hello to Barbara Bach and told her my best friend loves Ringo. She smiled and laughed as she said hello. I kissed Olivia on the check and she turned around and kissed me on my cheek and said “that’s from George”. Talk about dying!!!!! I kept my cool but burst into tears as soon as I got back to my own seat!! The people around me watch the whole thing and were amazed I had the nerve to go over. Hey, I couldn’t pass up a chance like that.
Then during the short intermission, I ended up standing along side of Paul’s new girlfriend Nancy, so I showed her my shirt (which was the Stella McCartney Comic Relief shirt from England) and she told me the story behind it. She had to go sit down then and I just said “nice chatting with you”. She was lovely and again I thought I was in heaven.
What another fabulous experience!!! I don’t think I can wash my cheek, at least for today!!
Love those Beatles (and now Beatles wives!!). Have a good day. Pattie
--------------------------
From Lauren Podolsky, Holland, PA:
Hey Andre! I just finished a recap of my experience at the show last
night!!! Here you go!!
Well a lot has already been written about what happened at the David
Lynch Foundation Concert before I even got a chance to get home and
unpack!! It was a truly magical night and I am so happy that I was
able to be there. We arrived in New York at about 3:00 and checked
into our room at the Flatotel where we were upgraded to a Penthouse
Suite, as their regular double rooms were all taken! That was a
shock, and one of the coolest things about it was from the windows, we
could watch Radio City Music Hall right from the room! After we got
settled in and had some dinner it was time to get ready for the show.
We walked over to Radio City Music Hall at around 6:10 to find that
the line was already about half a block long. The line moved very
quickly at 6:30 and we were inside in no time. The inside of Radio
City Music Hall is beautiful. I had never been there before, so I was
excited just to see it! We saw Neil Glazer selling Ringo’s artwork.
Ringo had two new pieces that he was debuting for the show, both with
proceeds going to the David Lynch Foundation. Next to Ringo’s artwork
was the concert merchandise. They had white, black, blue, and purple
tee shirts, posters, a Donovan DVD (I think) and a book by David
Lynch. We made our purchases and made our way to our seats. As we
entered, everyone was given a free program. That was a nice
surprise. Our seats were in the first Mezzanine, in the last row.
They were right in the center, and one of my favorite things about
being in the last row is I can stand when everyone else is sitting
without blocking anyone’s view! The show started at 7:30 with a
beautiful piano piece by Angelo Badalamenti. David Lynch then came on
to introduce the concert and play a little film. He then announced
Moby and Bettye Lavette. (During the first half of the show, whenever
David Lynch introduced a new musician, he asked for the snare drum,
and a guy came out and played a little drum roll.) Moby and Bettye
played one song together, then Moby did 1 solo song before Bettye came
back on stage for another song together. After their set, there was a
short video about meditation helping schools before David Lynch came
back out and introduced Laura Dern. He and Laura did a short Q & A
while the musicians changed equipment for Sheryl Crow. Sheryl played
a 3-song set including My Sweet Lord, which was of course dedicated to
George Harrison. After Sheryl Crow’s set, there was a short video
message from Russell Simmons before Jerry Seinfeld was introduced.
Jerry did about 10 minutes of standup that was hilarious! Lots of
talk about movie theaters, public bathrooms, and marriage. He touched
on meditation a bit too and said he has been meditating for 27 years.
The next musician was Eddie Vedder who played one song solo, and one
with Ben Harper. Ben Harper stayed on stage and played one song with
his band before re-introducing Eddie Vedder who came back to play
‘Under Pressure,’ which concluded the first half of the show. There
was then a 10 minute intermission.
The second half of the show started with a brief speech by Mike Love
who talked about the Maharishi and the 60’s. Donovan was the next
musician to play. He played a 4 song set including ‘Hurdy Gurdy
Man’ (without the extra verse written by George...I do kind of wish he
had added that in again for this occasion like he has done at previous
Fests for Beatle Fans, but it was great to hear anyway), ‘Wear Your
Love Like Heaven’ and ‘Season of the WItch’ where he danced with
Sheryl Crow who came back on stage to sing with him. Donovan then sat
down to talk a bit about what it was like hanging out in Rishikesh,
especially with George. He announced that he had a special guitar
made in honor of George that he was debuting. It was a beautiful blue
acoustic which he named ‘Deva.’ He and Paul Horn then played
together. Paul Horn spoke a little about meditation and what it has
done for him. He then played a song called ‘Meditation’ on the flute,
and he asked us to hold John and George in our hearts for the song.
It was very beautiful. Howard Stern was introduced next, and he spoke
a bit about how meditation had saved his mother’s life, as she had
been depressed for many years.
Finally, David Lynch came back on stage to introduce Ringo. He said
that there are very few people who are loved the world over and we are
so fortunate to have him here. Ringo played with Ben Harper’s band.
The first song was ‘It Don’t Come Easy.” After the song he spoke
about writing the song with George. He said he could always start
songs, but he had to run to George to finish them or else he would end
up like Bob Dylan with 87 verses! He spoke about how George wanted to
put God in the song and Ringo told him “I don’t sing about God.” Then
George wanted to put Krishna in the song and Ringo said “I don’t sing
about Krishna.” Ringo added “and now I’ve got him on my chest!”
Ringo was wearing a black tee shirt with a sparkly-silver picture of
Krishna on it under his jacket. After the story Ringo said “We're all
meditatin' here tonight. I'm meditatin' right now. I'm gonna do some
more meditatin' on me drums." So he got up on his drum kit to play
Boys (he announced it saying “I’ve been playing this song longer than
Howard Stern’s been meditating!”). Ringo came back out front to
finish his set with ‘Yellow Submarine.’
David Lynch and Laura Dern came back out again to do some more Q & A
as they set up for Paul. David Lynch then starte dto introduce
someone, which made the audience scream for Paul. He said “Not
yet....this is the gentleman before that gentleman!” He introduced
John Hagelin, a physicist who talked about scientific research on how
transcendental meditation truly can help people. David Lynch came
back once again to introduce Paul. First, they played a film which
showed pictured and video of The Beatles from Beatlemania up to
Rishikesh. After the video, the screen lifted and Paul and his band
were on stage! Paul played Drive My Car, Jet, Got To Get You Into My
Life, Let It Be and Lady Madonna with the band. The band then left
for Paul to play Blackbird on his acoustic guitar. He talked about
Civil Rights in the 60’s and how times had changed since then. he
also mentioned President Obama, which got a big cheer!
Paul then spoke about New York a bit. He said he had been to Radio
City for the Christmas Show and said it is “highly recommended.” He
said “I love New York and so did John.” He then proceeded with ‘Here
Today’ for John. The band returned to the stage to play ‘Band On The
Run’ and finally ‘Can't Buy Me Love.’
Paul then came up to the mic to introduce “Billy Shears!” Ringo came
out and they played ‘With a Little Help from My Friends.’ It was
really incredible to see Ringo singing that live and Paul singing
harmonies right next to him! They looked like they were having a
blast on stage together. After the song, they all took a bow and left
the stage to a huge round of applause.
After a few minutes, the stage lights came back on and Paul and Ringo
came running back on stage. Paul said “You knew we were coming
back!” Ringo got on his drums next to Abe, and Paul introduced the
next song as a song he wrote while they were in Rishikesh. He said
the Maharishi always said that everyone needed to be Cosmically
Conscious, and he also always said that everything was such a joy.
Paul asked the audience to sing along. He was about to teach the
audience the part, but then he just said “I know you’re all so
brilliant, that you’ll just pick it up.” He launched into ‘Cosmically
Conscious’ with the band and Ringo on drums behind him. What a
fantastic Surprise. During the song, the rest of the musicians
started to come back on stage to sing along. Paul said that it was
time now to go home and go to bed. He saw a fan up front with a sign
asking for a guitar pick. He responded “Ok, you’ll get your guitar
pick, now you can put the sign away” with a smile. He talked a little
about having to read the signs that come up in the audience. I heard
that the fan did get his guitar pick. They ended the show with ‘I Saw
Her Standing There’ - another incredible song to see both Paul and
Ringo playing together again.
The musicians all hugged each other and took their bows. At the very
end, Ringo ran to the front and stood there flashing the peace sign to
huge applause. Paul saw this and stepped in front of Ringo to more
applause, so Ringo stepped back in front of Paul, and Paul back in
front of Ringo. They did this about three times, laughing the whole
time. The audience loved it and it was fantastic to see them both
having such a great time. Paul waved to the audience and blew us
kisses as they walked off stage.
We left with the wave of people exiting Radio City Music Hall. I saw
Mark Hudson talking with some people on the way out. I’m also pretty
sure I saw Olivia Harrison in the front row during the show. We took
some more photos in front of Radio City Music Hall before heading back
to the hotel for some more food and sleep. It was an incredible night
and a such wonderful experience to see both Paul and Ringo
interacting, joking, and playing together again.
---------------------
From Kris Tash, NJ:
Hi, Andre!
On Saturday night, we were all in a state of disbelief... It just didn't seem real or possible that we were going to soon see Ringo and Paul perform in the David Lynch Foundation benefit. But it had to be true... they were there at the press conference and the ticket said "Paul McCartney and Friends"! Even so, all day Saturday, having dinner in NYC, walking to the show... it just didn't seem real to any of us.
And then the waiting... and more waiting... and sitting thru all the "very good" performers (with thanks to Sheryl Crowe for her lovely rendition of "My Sweet Lord" with a dedication to George [you KNOW he was there in spirit!])... it was one of those times when every passing minute seemed to take hours! Donovan talked, too, about his time with George in India and how they spent so much time talking by the Ganges.
There were many mentions of the Fabs being the ones to influence others to embrace TM, or how their presence in India, drew people to the Maharishi. Lots of film clips with some great footage of them there.
Suddenly it was TIME, and there was Ringo!...looking just as sweet and cute and fun and entertaining as he always was! He sang "It Don't Come Easy," and told the story about how George wanted him to put God and Krishna into the verses. Ringo said, "I told him I don't sing about God! I don't sing about Krishna! And now here he is [Krishna] on my shirt!" Then he got up on the drums and sang "Boys" like he always does (but with Sheryl Crowe and Eddie Vedder singing the 'yea, yea, boys!' back up!) followed by Yellow Sub which really got the crowd going! I have to say that the band backing him up wasn't that great, and I suspect he got unfairly blamed for it. Didn't matter to me, tho... he was just as fun and cute and entertaining as he always was!
There were 5 of us that managed to get tickets to the show, tho the only way we managed it, was to ask for single tickets on the presale. We got 5 separate seats, with only 2 marginally close {a seat apart}. Our friend, Jennie, was sitting on the far end of the theater in row RR, but it was a great spot... it was close to where they brought people back and forth from backstage! So she was able to spot Barbara being led to her seat, and she saw Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson going back and forth to seats down the front! We heard on 1010 WINS news after, that Yoko and Olivia were both there, tho we haven't seen any photos of either of them. Also we were told that Paul had left the theater around 2:30pm and wasn't planning to come back til it was time to go onstage!
And then it was ALMOST time for him to go on stage!! They filled up the bits between sets with David Lynch and Laura Dern giving spiels about TM... they had to, to allow for the set changes, and you know how our Paul is! ... it hadda be the Macca Way! I had been trying to write everything down as it happened, tho I was in the last row of the orchestra where it was really dark, and I couldn't see a thing!
But it really was TRUE... finally, the announcement came: "Ladies and gentleman... Paul McCartney!" And there he was! Gosh, he just looked fabulous, and he sounded fabulous, and he hit every note like he was still 30 years old! He opened with "Drive My Car," followed by the good ol' standard "Jet." Then came "Got to Get You Into My Life." He went to the piano, and did "Let It Be" and a rousing rocking "Lady Madonna." The band was really cooking!... they all were there, Rusty, Brian, Abe and dear ol' Wix! They left him to do "Blackbird" alone, and then he spoke about how much he loved New York, and how much John loved New York and how much it meant to him. He sang "Here Today," and moved us all to tears. Then came "Band on the Run," and "Can't Buy Me Love."
What happened next was and still is almost too much to bear! Paul made the intro..."Ladies and gentlemen, Billy Shears!" ... and there was Ringo, to sing "With A Little Help..." and there was Paul, singing back up, with both of them at the microphone!!! All I could do was cover my mouth and go, "Omigod, omigod, omigod!!!" It was just unbelievable...an incredible, unbelievable moment that I honestly thought I'd never see happen again! I never believed I would see the two of them performing together! Then Ringo got up on the kit, and Paul talked about how the Mahrishi always said, "It's a joy," and said we all should be "cosmically conscious," and he sang the song with Ringo on drums! Once again.. unbelievable!!
Then they all left the stage, but came back pretty quickly, and Paul introduced David Lynch, who thanked everyone for coming. (I think... that's what I've written down, but not sure I clearly remember it!) The closer was "I Saw Her Standing There," with Ringo on drums again, Paul singing his heart out. At the end, all the performers came out, and there were bows and hugs all around. And one of the cutest, greatest moments of all, was seeing Paul and Ringo fall so naturally into their "Beatle schtick"... Paul was bowing, and Ringo jumped in front of him, and started bowing. So Paul jumped in front of him and started bowing, then Ringo...! It was soooooooo cute!!! Paul could not leave the stage... he kept coming back and coming back!
What can I say?? I can say NO MORE... we all were just totally in shock, totally in shock and awe! It is a night we will never ever forget, and a performance we were so very blessed to see! Thank you, Lord, for our boys... what a gift they truly are!
-------------------------------
From Geno, Emmaus, PA:
I was just coming down ever so little from a fantastic Beatlefest(FestforBeatlesfans) weekend(it was more like a lovefest), when there I was heading back up the turnpike into the city to go see the David Lynch Foundation benefit concert. I went to the stage door about 3:30 or so and was told by a few people that I just missed Paul leaving by half an hour. Would have been about 15 feet from him . I was talking to my friend Rick Glover(Fans On The Run, Beatle Fan Mag etc.) who was talking to Geoff Baker who told him Paul won't be back until after the show starts. Saw Ben Harper and Moby, that's about it. So I decided to leave and meet some friends at a nearby restaurant for a bite and there was Mark Lapidos and family, Bruce Spizer, Tom Fragione, Al Sussman and many others. Got into the show and saw so many people it felt like Beatlefest all over again........except something much bigger was about to take place.
The event itself is all over the internet, including amateur footage, backstage video's, interviews by nearly everyone. I recommend going to the www.DavidLynchFoundation.org website to see their web cast and most importantly, you must check out the presentations and testimomials given by Paul and Ringo, Donovan, Paul Horn, Mike Love and many of the others in the show the day before. Most videos do not capture what it was really like being there. Some of the reviews out there are really good. So there is not much more for me to say other than it was one of the most touching experiences of my life. The show was put together so well, and although it moved along quickly, the DLF was able to totally inspire me to support this wonderful cause and to bring meditation back into my life. There could not have been a better venue for this event than Radio City Music Hall. The place is so beatleful, and so fan friendly, and stage friendly. I felt like I was on stage with all the other performers. The sound system was the best I ever heard. I heard that the show was filmed to be broadcast sometime down the road for PBS, so keep your eye out for that.
There were so many good performances. Paul Horn did a flute solo song called Meditation, and I did exactly that during the whole song. You could have heard a pin Drop. Jerry Seinfeld was so funny. Howard Stearn even gave a very touching testimonial. Bettye Lavette was awesome, Ben Harper, Moby, Jim James, Sheryl Crow all put on wonderful performances. Eddie Vedder's voice was superb. Donovan's set was just great, and I don't think I ever saw him so loose, floating and dancing all over the stage. Mike Love didn't join in until the finale, and Angelo Badalamenti opened the whole show with a wonderful classical piano piece. There were inspirational speeches and talks by David Lynch and others, as well as very moving TM videos throughout the evening. I really got how much this works, and the benefit this will bring to so many children in the world. We really need to leave something better for our children. I really believe it can give us hope and help us realize and create a path to peace.
Seeing Paul and Ringo singing together out of the microphone was THE highlight for me. I am so thankful I was in the house to witness this. With Yoko and Olivia in the house, it was certainly the closest I ever was to being with the Beatles. Ringo's performance was awesome as usual, and Paul being back with his band again.....folks, he hasn't lost a lick. His voice was excellent. The band was excellent. His solo tribute to John, "Here Today", brought tears to so many eyes. Ringo playing drums with Paul's band, and especially on "I Saw Her Standing There"....it was so chilling. Another highlight was at the end of the show, Paul and Ringo doing a HELP, HDN type of skit. As Everyone was hugging each other on stage, Paul then steps out to wave at and thank the fans. Ringo stepped in front of Paul with his hands spread out. Paul jumped back in Front of Ringo, Ringo back in Front of Paul, and Paul back in Front of Ringo. It was so funny to watch. It was so great seeing them 2 have so much fun on Stage together. Ringo, thank you for your willingness to join with Paul again. We love you for it. Here is to hoping you and Paul work together again soon.
After the show I hung out with friends in Radio City for quite a while. I then went to meet some friends across the street to say goodbye, and we decided to walk over to the Four Season's hotel for the After Party. On our way there we walked back past the stage door. I bumped into 2 dear friends of mine, scruffs Helaine and Cathy Sarver, who told me I just missed Paul outside by 5 minutes. It's ok, I can live with that. Seeing this show is more than I can ever have asked for.
So that's it. Hope I was able to capture my experience for you. So what's next? If it works out for me, in a couple of weeks from now I may have another great story to tell. Stay tuned. Oh, and remember 09/09/09.
Peace and Love,
geno
The Beatles...changing people's lives and making us happy for 45+ years!