A Hard Day's Night

I just got back from the Beatles tribute show, where I attended as an Actual Audience Member, sitting in the fourth row with some family members.

Some observations from "the other side":

• At least one playbill in circulation has two of some pages, and none of others. I know this because it was my playbill tonight. My hunch is that it's not the only one, unfortunately.
• Whatever we did in concessions tonight, we probably could have doubled it by letting people bring beer & wine to their seats.
• The Beatles did a cool thing where they had everyone get out their cell phones and call someone who wasn't there, so they could hear the music. This probably didn't happen with the real Beatles.
• I wonder if the teen girls who rushed down front to dance during the last few songs were disappointed to find that the guys on stage are actually old enough to be their fathers.
• Sarah called during the show to ask a question about tickets for The Vagina Monologues (which starts in about an hour as I write this). It is impossible to carry on a phone conversation about tickets in the fourth row in the middle of a concert. Nearly as impossible as carrying on a phone conversation about tickets at kickoff at Kinnick Stadium, which I have also done.
• I find it odd that the Beatles tribute band was selling actual Beatles T-shirts, but CDs of the tribute band.

Out of the hundreds of events I've been to, I've gone as an Actual Audience Member only a handful of times. I have to say, not only was it fun to fly "under the radar" and sit in a seat with everyone else - it made me look at the same theater and even the same show in a different way.

The Beatles were a great band, and these four guys -- who have been doing this for an astounding 25 years -- truly do pay tribute to them. This is their fifth trip to the Englert, and I imagine they will be back next year. Just like the real Beatles, people can't seem to get enough of them.