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*WARNING: text-heavy, contains awkward/ever so slightly sexual situations*

So I follow around a couple of Beatles tribute bands, right? Well there's one in particular (The British Invasion) that's based out of my hometown, so I go see them quite a bit. In fact, I've seen them 3 times this month. And they've sort of noticed my presence there- I tend to dance like an idiot at concerts. And the band notices. In particular the guy being Paul and the guy being John (Paul guy drew a little heart next to the autograph he gave me, and the John guy may or may not have directed a sexual hand gesture at my friend during "Twist and Shout", so yeah, the band flirts back a little bit.)

I just got back from their latest performance tonight, and MAN is this going to be a fun story to tell.

Kay. So one of my other Beatlemaniacal friends and I were there, dancing like idiots, doing our thing, when between their sets this little girl comes up to the two of us. We had some toys with us and she asked if she could play with us. And of course she could, so we were playing cards and kid out of nowhere says "MY UNCLE'S IN THE BAND!"

So the two of us were like "Really?! ....Which one."

"The one with the yellow jacket on."

"*sigh* That's what we thought...."

After the concert, the girl asks us to come meet her uncle. We weren't really in the position to say no, so we met him and he seemed just as freaked out as we did that this conversation was happening. He said the obligatory "Thanks for coming out to see us, blah blah blah," and I of course, like an idiot, began fawning over them, completely involuntarily. "OH YOU GUYS ARE GREAT, BLAH BLAH BLAH!" I have this problem with my brain, you see, where words come out of my mouth without my thinking about them. You see how this could become a problem.

So somehow it comes up that they're playing again tomorrow night. Little girl asks if we're coming and we, of course, agreed to.

The last thing I want is these (most of them MARRIED....though that's rarely a deterrent for most musicians) men thinking we're aiming to be the groupies that never got a chance to make it with the REAL Beatles, so we're shooting for fake ones instead. And then there's the fact that John-guy conveniently happens to NOT be married. Did I mention my friend is Japanese? Yeah. Situation right there is awkward and a half.

But I guess we're going to the concert again tomorrow. I'll be sure to update on how that one goes.

Not really looking for advice, just sharing really.
Sooooo....now's time for the spoonfeed. Discuss:
-Beatles tribute bands
-creepy older men
-children, and their insistance on saying the darndest things
-The TRUE meaning of "Twist and Shout"

Well isn't that interesting....what tribute band? Inquiring minds want to know. ^_^ I'm trying to figure out if this is a Beatles tribute band thing, or just a musician thing.

Normally I DON'T get hit on by the band, probably because of who my dad is (he's a musician too-- a musician who would kill you if you hooked up with his daughter), but really....I need to know more. I need to hear the guild's stories! blaugh

Eight Days a Week - they're pretty good, but unfortunately rather ugly. razz

Anyway, it was last September, and the creepy lunchladies (who always pay attention to me because I entertain them with ridiculous stories and reinact Oliver Twist when getting my lunch) informed me that a Beatles tribute band would be playing at the local 'Pork Fest' (I'm vegetarian). So I showed up, dressed in my standard mid-sixties mod outfit and sat down in the VIP section like I belonged there (if you look good and act important, no one's gonna bother you razz ).
The host of the pork fest (who was surprisingly good-natured) introduced the band. There was polite applause - then he said 'That was hardly a Beatle-worthy audience!' or something, and I stood up and screamed like there was no tomorrow. To much applause. Then he told us there would be a screaming contest during intermission.
The band was great. The audience sat there unmovingly for about five minutes, then I went up and started dancing crazily (as in doing the Egyptian hand thing, waltzing with thin air, ect) until two boys came up and joined me, and some other teenagers in the crowd joined in. The John impersonator gave me a thumbs up.
At intermission, some people were called up from the crowd for the screaming contest, where the winner got twenty five dollars worth of gas money. I was ushered up first. xP And I was also the best screamer - I fake-clawed at my face and screamed hysterically and then collapsed on the stage floor (difficult thing to do when you're wearing a skirt), and then walked off. However, this woman in the front row of the VIP section screamed pretty loudly too (but it was only loud, and boring), and her friends outvoted me. I was pissed.
Then the band came back on, I danced around, and then they invited people up to sing Hey Jude with them. Of course I was up there. xD

After the show, they were signing autographs (yeah, seriously) so I went over and had them sign my hands. 'Paul' was kinda creepy, he kept holding my hand, and 'George' was really tired. 'John' thanked me for waking the audience up and asked me how old I was. 'Thirteen going on thirty!' he said, and went on and on about how I should have been around during the sixties (how the ******** he know?) and then asked if I were a singer or musician. 'Well, you should be,' he said, and told me to check out their website. He wanted to talk more, but 'Ringo' pointed out that there was still a long line. So I walked off very hyper and ready to sing and scream at random people. razz

I did check out their website and eventually sent an email thanking them for the show (signing off as 'The girl in the white beret). 'George' wrote me back and thanked me. xP

Oh yeah, 'George' asked if he could put it up there. xP That was so much fun!

Ok, I have a new favorite tribute band. Don't tell the British Invasion, I've been cheating again. redface

I went up to Toledo last night to see Shout! with some friends....holy crap was my mind blown away. Those guys are so incredibly fab. Thing is, they look nothing like the Beatles, until they put the costumes on. They did this thing where they pretended to be the road crew and then said the band was late, and came back later wearing the costumes.

Everybody was drinking, including the band (excluding my party) and people were bribing them "we'll buy your band a round if you play song x" and they did. They played songs they didn't even really know for the sake of more beer. And freakin' they sang WELL. (Their voices were all high-pitchety and squeaky afterwards, it was awesome!)

So not the most professional band out there,(note: they also started about 20 minutes late) but a DAMN lot of fun. Their rude hand gestures have nothing on The British Invasion.

Also, I found this concert to be the first time I've really let out that primal "Beatlemaniac scream". I completely forgot that I wasn't seeing the real ones and just SCREAMED my lungs out. For no other reason than I was THAT excited.

We stayed afterward to chat it up with the band, and those guys are some of the most personable people I'd ever met. Maybe it was the alcohol speaking for them, but they were all so super nice. In fact, everyone but 'George' stopped to thank us and chat for a while. Paul was rather talkative, but his eyes freaked me out a little- they're that really scary blue, y'know? 'John' was wonderfully random ("Hey! My sleeves are all puffy. Like a pirate. Yargh.")- he held onto my hand probably a little longer than a married man should have, and 'Ringo' informed us that Beatles tributes tend to share members, he's in like 2 other tributes. I had no idea.

They're based out of the Detroit, MI area, though, so they're not coming back to Ohio anytime soon. sad

Here's their website if anyone's interested:
http://www.shouttribute.com

Aren't they adorable little old men? xd I guess their Ringo used to play in the 1964 tribute, and a bunch of the others are in various Beatle bands as well. If you ever get the chance to see them, do! And get them liquored up. They're funny when they're shwasted.

Speaking of sharing bandmates, I have another story.

So I was seeing the British Invasion at some gig in a park last night and at the end of Strawberry Fields, John-guy just out of the blue says "I buried Paul" over the music. Friend and I shriek with delight and decide he deserves a high-five after the show. So we give him a high five and he looks at us all "get away from me" like. Fine, screw you. Then Paul-guy practically mows over some little kid and goes "HEY! Can I have a high-five too?!" so he gets a high five too.

We get to talking to Paul-guy (Tony) for a bit and it comes up that he's got a gig tomorrow night, but not with the British Invasion. He's in some rockabilly band and they're playing at a seedy little bar tonight and I'm going cause as hard as I try to get away from rockabilly, I just can't fight what's in my blood. rolleyes

GASP! I love Celtic and Irish music! Bluegrass I can only handle in portions, but there are a few good bands around where I live. I love folk/newgrass, though. We should chat!

And actually, we don't get visited that often...we just follow them EVERYWHERE. In fact, we've gone out of our way...the most was two hours, I think. Opposite end of the state, to see one. We're travelling three and a half to see another band in Michigan in a week or two.

We have no lives. 3nodding

Adopt me. Or the Ringo-impersonator gets it!