It's been days but I'm still head over heels with something I never thought I could be a part of. And what is it? Read the title again, please.
It was a little late (two nights before the event) when I saw a friend of mine tweet about this "Bootleg Beatles" concert and like any other days, I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY to buy a ticket. So I went to bed that night imagining me near the stage watching a tribute band singing songs from the most amazing and legendary band of all time, The Beatles.
Have you watched the "Nowhere Boy"? The part where Julia is moving and
grooving with the crowd, watching The Quarrymen (or maybe, just Paul)
rock the stage. I imagined myself like that, singing and dancing and
fangirling (like a Beatlemaniac will do) while the whole world around me
turns into slow motion, only the band and me felt the "connection". Ha. Connection, what a word.
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And then the next morning, my mom woke me from a peaceful sleep (which
weird me out since I'm totally upset of me not going to the concert,
like really) and said, "Cole, dali! 'Yung Bootleg nasa T.V." And then I jumped off from bed and went downstairs to painfully watch the tribute band on the small box-shaped screen, wishing with all my heart to watch them perform live.
And then there they were, rocking the stage with "Get Back" from 1970's Let It Be album. They're fake, I know. They're not the real Fab Four, I know. They're the Bootleg Beatles, and that I totally know! But there's this unexplainable feeling inside me, telling me that I SHOULD BE ON THAT CONCERT.
And with the help of my now-employed twin sister (who lend me money to
buy a ticket), I DID. I was there and it turned out to be one of the
most remarkable night of my life, ever!
January 17, 2014. The Bootleg Beatles on Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). And I went ALONE for the very first time. At first, I freaked out. Would it turn out great? Would it be as good as you're going with some friends or would it be much better? Then I remember, it's a Beatles Tribute band for God's sake! Of course it will turn out great, not the "great" great if it's the real Beatles on stage - we know for sure that this will never ever happen again - but still feels great and honored to be in it, to be a part of it even for just one night.
The Bootleg Beatles started to perform around 9pm, leaving the whole crowd begging for them to get out and be on stage, performing as early as possible and end as late as ever. The concert was supposed to start at 8, of course I'm expecting a front act and there was. It's a Filipino blue-jazz band called "The Spirit of '69". They were good but the crowd is too excited for Bootleg, you know, the Beatlemania feels.
And then after the front act, the crowd - including me - was left with advertisements on the big screen. I think I almost memorized all of it that night, who wouldn't? It was on repeat for like twenty minutes or so - or maybe I'm just exaggerating since I was one of the begging people in the crowd.
Minutes passed and there's still no Bootleg on stage. I started to think of the possibilities that this one hell of a concert is going to be a big joke. That I will go home alone with tears in my eyes because I wasn't able to see the tribute band and of course because I spent P1,000.00 on a ticket that I thought would be a pass for an amazing and a memorable night but turns out to be a massive and not-so-funny prank that I will forever remember. And yes, I'm freaking out again.
But then I started hearing some people in the crowd screaming and begging for Bootleg to show themselves. One even says in a fake scouse accent, "C'mon Lennon! Huwag ka nang mahiya!" and that makes the Tagalog part a little bit slang too, that made half of the crowd laugh. And someone also shouted, "Hey Paul! Where are you man? Come out!" and then there's this one, "George, pal! Sing us a song!!!" and my favorite one was "RINGO STARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" And if you read it with the long and awkward Rs, then you somehow caught the reason why it's my favorite.
And then behold... A Hard Day's Night on play, live. The drum strokes, the guitar strums, the costumes, the habits and the voices. The Bootleg Beatles. On the stage, imitating The Beatles in the best way they can just to make the crowd happy and satisfied. To bring us all back to the years when Beatles were still on tours. To make us all feel the so-called "Beatlemania" once again. And it feels great, greater than what I expected.
Here are some pictures that I took from where I'm sitting. They wore three different Beatles costumes. The first one was the formal collarless coat and tie or the "Hard Day's Night" suit.
The second one was the colorful hippie costume inspired by the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band days.
And the last costume was the Beatles' Abbey Road iconic semi-formal suits.
They sang more than twenty Beatles songs and as far as I can remember, some of it were the following (not in order and not sure if this was the complete song list and maybe - just maybe - I'm making this up, hahaha):
- A Hard Day's Night
- I Saw Her Standing There
- All You Need Is Love
- Love Me Do
- Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
- All My Loving
- Help!
- Can't Buy Me Love
- Eight Days A Week
- I Feel Fine
- Day Tripper
- Twist and Shout
- The Ballad of John and Yoko
- Don't Let Be Down
- Long Tall Sally
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- With A Little Help From My Friends
- Magical Mystery Tour
- I Am The Walrus
- Penny Lane
- Come Together
- Here's Comes The Sun
- Yesterday
- Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
- Hey Jude
- Let It Be
The Bootleg Beatles had performed more than 4,000 times now as a tribute band for 35 years, bringing back the experience of watching The Beatles live to audiences - giving the old and the young fans today the experience that they never thought they could have.
It's not the real them but it was still a privilege to see them live. It was like seeing The Beatles performing in front of you and it was unbelievable and amazing and cool and wonderful all at the same time. It made me love The Beatles more than ever. It made me believe in their music more than I ever thought I could. And somehow, it made me think that I deserve to be called a Beatlemaniac. Do I sound like one? Nah. I'm too far to be one of them, but I wish I am.