I mentioned in a previous blog that Ali and I were going to see a performance by a group of musicians in Houston calling themselves “The Fab 40.” The group consisted of 40 musicians (actually I think before the performance they said there were 43 musicians) who played the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album from front to back at a brand new (and beautiful) park in the heart of downtown Houston called Discovery Green.
First, the park. It is located right behind the convention center in the city. It is 12 acres, has a one acre lake (I’m assuming man-made) playground, water fountains, stage and sloped hill for attendees, restaurants, and to top it off, it’s green friendly. And WiFi hot too, which this web geek loves.
It’s a great family park and it is dog friendly too, which is awesome.
Now, the performance. It was incredible. It opened with Beatles music on traditional Indian instruments which sounded out of this world. It’s really amazing how many different genres and cultures. “Across the Universe” on a sitar and tabla is something you need, need, to hear.
After that, the musicians played a few random Beatles tunes to warm up and launched right into Sgt. Pepper’s.
I sound like a broken record, but it was incredible. Sgt. Pepper’s holds a special place in this Beatles’ fan’s heart. It was the first Beatles album (CD) I ever owned. I got it for Christmas when I was in 6th grade, and didn’t stop listening to it until Easter. I studied the people on the cover, looking them up in encyclopedias learning what I could about who was there. If only the internet was around back then I could have read so much more.
People were singing along, grooving to the music, and it wasn’t just an older crowd. Families were there, some looked 4 generations deep, couples sat arm in arm, swaying back and forth, it really was quite an experience.
The music, the people, the energy was intoxicating.
After a while Ali and I got tired of sitting on a blanket on the ground so we decided to find a new spot to sit.
After walking around we ended up on the other side of the stage (facing the musicians backs) across the lake.
Ending the album, “A Day in the Life” was surreal in person. The song, the crescendo, stunning. The horns and the strings sounded great in the park.
After Sgt. Pepper’s was over the band wasn’t done playing and went into a few more random songs and ended the night with a huge sing-a-long to “Hey Jude.”
As I have said countless times in this blog, it was an awesome night. Ali and I had a great time and found a new spot in Houston to go and hang out at. We love living downtown, there are so many cool things going on like this around the city. I can’t wait for our life to slow down after the summer so we can enjoy more events like this.
Check out some write ups on the show:
http://houstonist.com/2008/04/27/houstonist_was_4.php
http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-04-24/music/sgt-pepper-at-discovery-green/1
And some photos by some real photographers:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98693566@N00/tags/42608/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/baldheretic/sets/72157604765731102/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deneyterrio/2445524309/
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