It is not typical to report here on a past event, cause what’s gone is gone, but this is an exceptional case and should note a few words about the splendid two-day’s connected to The 1st Beatles Weekend Festival held Budapest – Hungary.
October, 5. – DayOne … Analog Music Hall – Budapest – Who else than Hungary’s best interpreted Beatles songs, rolling on stage the Beatles Tribute band, namely The Blackbirds!
They are the first Hungarian band to ever have been invited to the famous Beatle Week festival in Liverpool. They became known as one of the 5 best Beatles cover bands in the world. They have returned to Liverpool 5 times since, once to take the Cavern Club’s main stage for a whole evening as a standalone act. They have performed at nearly all the European events related to The Beatles. With all that experience they believe it’s time to share it all with the audience of their home country and give them their own Beatles Festival The Beatles Weekend.
Their shows is not the “Beatles Imitators” kinda performances. They interpret the Beatles songs with an approach that puts the sound of rock in the center along with authenticity. They like to show how powerful and also dynamic The Beatle’s music is reproducing the original feel of the songs live as much as possible. It covers the whole body of work of The Beatles. They are official partners of VOX Amplification Hungary.
Ms. Helen Anderson shared many of her memories from those days and some of which has never been published before. She talked about John related unforgettable memories. By-the-way, Ms. Anderson is the creator of the iconic “Lennon cap.” She and John and Cynthia (Lennon’s first wife) went to the Liverpool College of Art. Helen became a successful fashion designer in the ’60s, and John Lennon began wearing genuine leather hats she designed in 1964, and among others in the memorable appearances movie A Hard Day’s Night. Helen’s words were translated by Gábor Peterdi– one of the creators at the Beatles Museum – Eger.
Mr. Radchenko – Ambassador of The Beatles Story Museum of Liverpool gave a special lecture focusing on John Lennon at the Analog Music Hall and is patron of the first Hungarian Beatles Festival. He is the writer of the book Touching The Universe Of The Beatles.He organize and holds lecturers at many Beatles related events all around the globe.
One of the favorit Beatles albums by the FAB4 is the Abbey Road, a live concert for the first time by the Beatles Tribute band – The Blackbirds and the full Abbey Road album was on stage with Iván Vitáris. If there is anyone who knows and loves everything about rock music, it is him, who is able to bring all the values of the past into the present, adapt it all to today’s world and trends without losing the true meaning of it. He is basically, the singer and member of the popular Hungarian band Ivan & The Parazol. Ain’t no secret he is one of the craziest Beatle maniac of Hungary. The Beatles Weekend Festival was a superb opportunity for him to take the stage to perform his favorite Beatles album Abbey Road live together with his favorite Beatles Tribute Band.
The world’s No1. John Lennon cover act. Jay Goeppner is known and has been on tour around the world for decades as one of the most authentic sources of John Lennon’s music. For this special evening The Blackbirds band back him up and together performed breathtaking-heartbeating 2 hours selection of the best Lennon songs from the early Beatle years, to the end of Lennon’s career. The house was hot full of emotions with young adults and elder folks dancing, singing the Beatles tunes … unforgettable day and the Beatles lovers surely got the long awaited treat … nothing else mattered … love was in the air!
World know VOX Amplification has played a major role in the musical instruments industry for over 63 years. In the 60’s they actually developed their amplifiers according to The Beatles’ requirements. Their amps can be heard in nearly 160 Beatles songs and were used in more than 460 Beatles concerts. Paul McCartney still uses them on stage and in studio as well. Since 2016 The Blackbirds is the official partner of VOX Amplification Hungary. On October, 5. the VOX and Vintage ’52 Music Store jointly held an exhibition of vintage and new musical instruments and amplifiers to Analog Music Hall. There was raffle tickets along with the purchased entry tickets. The main prize was a VOX electric guitar.
October, 6. DayTwo – Hard Rock Cafe Budapest.
István Mikó, Hungary’s famous actor and singer met the audience at the Hard Rock Cafe. As said, for ages has been a great fan of the Beatles and shared stories about his serious Beatles addiction. Among his countless other great work he created two plays that are based on The Beatles songs and his characters in them and the later together with The Blackbirds. He had a lot to share about his serious Beatles addiction with the local audience and many foreigners on the spot.
Closing Accord to the 1st. FAB4 Weekend Festival held an awesome unplugged superb concert by Jay Goeppner together with The Blackbirds on stage, having all the Lennon songs fit in show at the Hard Rock Cafe –Budapest.
DayOne and DayTwo – First Beatles Weekend Festival was a “Magically Tour” and should be replayed in the future experiencing that the audience were hungry for living over sings from the Beatles era again!
Hopefully next year in 2020 the announcement will be made to the Second Beatles Weekend Festival in Budapest.
Update and snaps Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 