1964: The Tribute

I had trouble accessing Blogspot yesterday afternoon, so I couldn't post my daily writing word count. It was 509 words in Key. I also finally managed to post a review of Melinda's latest chapter.

Yesterday I drove up to Waukegan to visit my friend Kristi and see a Beatles tribute band with her. It's no stretch to say that the trip from my place to hers is a long and winding road indeed. This was the first time I saw her apartment, and it's very nice. We talked for a bit before having dinner and then going to the show. We got there as the opening act was starting. Kristi got front row center seats through work, so the view couldn't be better. I was worried that I'd be deafened by the music, but we weren't next to the speakers, so it was fine. The opening act was a group called StockWood, the world's youngest Beatles tribute band. The drummer was only nine, and the other members didn't look as if they'd reached puberty yet. They weren't bad, although a couple of songs in the middle sounded off to me in an unexplainable way. The "George" player had only been playing for nine months, and his bangs were so long I wondered how he could see. I hope he was wearing a wig. I think they'd go over well at The Fest for Beatles Fans (yes, that's the official name) if they came.

The main act had much older members; they'd been playing for 22 years. They did two sets. Some Beatles tribute bands do several costume changes throughout their shows, but this group stuck to the early suits (Cuban heels and all) for the whole show. They also only played songs that the Beatles performed live. They were pretty good about staying in character, but of course their faces weren't those of the Beatles. The second half of the show seemed more energetic to me than the first half. At the end, Kristi got "John's" guitar pick, which I thought was cool. My voice was hoarse from singing (and coughing), so that's a sure sign that I had a good time.

It rained during the concert, and when we came out, it was quite foggy. I'd brought some clothes with me just in case I needed to stay overnight, so I did. As much I wanted to be home with Eugene, I didn't feel safe driving back late at night under those conditions. Besides, it gave me more time to talk with Kristi. Although we were both yawning, we stayed up until 1:00 talking about various things. The drive back this morning was much better, and hopefully I'll get to see her again in a couple of weeks when Eugene and I go up there for a comedy show.