Fab Four Festival Break
In which I spend the weekend talking about the Fab Four.
This issue of the Can’t See The Forest newsletter is being published while I’m at the Abbey Road on the River Festival in Jefferson, Indiana. So it will be something of a Fab Four themed shortened missive. But normal service will be resumed next week.
So what is Abbey Road on the River?
To quote from the festival’s website
“Abbey Road on the River, affectionately referred to as "AROTR", the world's largest Beatles-inspired music festival, is held each year over Memorial Day weekend at Big Four Station Park in Jeffersonville, IN.
Each year people from all over the U.S. and abroad come together to celebrate the music of one of the best bands of all time, they reunite with their “Beatles family” and celebrate 5 days of peace, love and rock-n-roll.
Attendees will enjoy over 250 Beatles and 60’s themed concerts performed by 50 different bands from around the world. Attendees can also enjoy a Beatles-merchandise marketplace, on-site food and beverages, retail and craft vendors, interactive art and a kid’s area.
More than 20,000 music fans from across the universe have been regularly attending Abbey Road on the River since 2002. They come with friends, with kids, with grandkids, or even alone. They come because it’s a place where everybody’s happy. A place where the fans mingle with the bands, and the bands become fans when they watch fellow bands perform. A place where every day is like a magical mystery tour down memory lane.”
I’m delighted to be the featured guest author at this year’s events where I’ll be hosting discussions on the Fab Four’s early days.
I’ll also have a table in the main merchandise tent where I will have copies of the Before They Were Beatles book for sale and debuting our new line of portrait sketch cards, featuring excellent artwork of my good friend Mr. Gabriel Morrissette.
And of course my friends The Savage Young Beatles will be making their US debut at the festival. Looking forward to meeting up with the band, and seeing them perform those great rock-n-roll numbers live.
Other Stuff
Thanks to the new subscribers who have joined since last week. I really appreciate your interest and support. If you would like to join them you can subscribe below.
I’ve already made an initial foray into Substack’s new NOTES function, which you can now access directly from the NOTES tab on my Substack webpage. Not sure exactly how I’ll be using it yet, but my first thoughts are that I’ll be posting more books and movie reviews, quotes, and the occasional bit of personal stuff not covered in the main newsletter.
Dinner And A Show
Like Beatles history? Want to try a unique food experience? Love Rock-n-Roll?
Join us for a special event in Austin, Texas on the evening of June 2nd.
“Stereo Dinner and Pershing present “Before They Were Beatles” a one-night-only celebration of the Fab Four’s early days with historian and author Alan J Porter. The event on June 2 will feature an intimate multi-course ticketed dinner followed by access to the after-dinner concert with Liverpool’s The Savage Young Beatles.”
Full details at https://www.stereodinner.com/events/beforetheywerebeatles
And as we are talking of Before They Were Beatles, just a reminder that if you’d like to keep up with the progress of the work on the 20th Anniversary edition of the Before They Were Beatles book you can sign up for a subscription to the dedicated Substack monthly newsletter HERE. -
Thanks to the folks who have already subscribed
See you next time
Alan J. Porter