The Beatles catalogue gets refreshed on… the ukulele? It’s true! And Jennifer was there to experience it.
The Beatles Complete on the Ukulele 2011, producer Roger Greenawalt’s annual weekend-long celebration of the Beatles’ entire catalog / fundraiser – this year’s recipient is Mark Zuckerberg – took place this past Saturday and Sunday at the Brooklyn Bowl.
This actually marks the second concert I have attended in a bowling alley. The first a all-star Cure cover-band (The Love Cats) at Asbury Lanes, and, well, I love all aspects of Asbury Park, Asbury Lanes included, but in terms of style, Brooklyn Bowl is a cut above. It is, in fact, possibly the fanciest bowling alley I have ever attended. Also, the food is delicious.
The “Uke Mob”, performing Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?
The first two songs of the evening were performed by a “Uke Mob” made up of enthusiastic amateurs. After that, a wide variety of bands took the stage to celebrate the Beatles, and were accompanied by Greenawalt on the ukulele. The following are some of my favorite moments:
The Zambonis, their mascot, and Greenawalt
I promise I am not making this up: The Zambonis are normally dedicated solely to songs celebrating hockey. I took this particular picture when their mascot, Sir Hockey Monkey, joined them on stage for a rousing rendition of Everybody’s Got Something To Hide But Me And My Monkey.
The Wild ConFabulations singing When I’m 64 through a traffic cone.
In addition to inventive appropriation of non-musical objects, the Wild ConFabulations gave the proceedings some swing. And some tap; for their songs, percussion was provided by the shoes of Lorinne Lampert, the talented lady on the far right.
A.L.X. of Love Crushed Velvet and Greenawalt, powering through Back in the U.S.S.R.
A.L.X. made an interesting point when introducing the song: the USSR as a concept is starting to fade from pop-cultural (if not historical) memory. The song is as catchy as ever, though. (By which I mean: the chorus is still stuck in my head.)
Nat Wolff (left) and friends, making Here Comes the Sun bearable.
All I am going to say is that I once had an alarm clock that played cheesy synthed-out version of Here Comes the Sun; I still kind of want to throw something across the room when I hear it. The Wolff brothers and friends performed a far superior interpretation of the tune.
Starting the Magical Mystery Tour with The Jingle Punks
Intriguing discovery: the Jingle Punks are both a band and a music licensing company! If you are a musician and want to get your work on tv or in movies, etc, you probably want to check them out.
The Wolf Brothers Mangled Here Comes The Sun… I was there on bass, couldnt figure out what they were doing with the tune…. LOL