For Father's day, AppDaddy was treated to an outdoor concert by his tribe.
We had never been to this relatively new venue, although I had heard many good things about it from friends.
The small amphitheatre was nestled amongst the pine trees in a public park in Cary.
A winding path through the trees had us charmed before we even got to the site.
And, wonder upon wonder, you are allowed to bring in your own food and drink (wine included), coolers and even comfy lawn chairs!
Being newbies, we did not realize the extent people went to insure maximum comfort.
We saw portable tables, complete with tablecloths and flowers, folding recliners, etc.
The SummerFest series is sponsored by our excellent NC Symphony Orhestra.
Saturday's program was "Classical Mystery Tour".
The original members of the Broadway production "Beatlemania" joined the orchestra to perform a wide range of Fab Four hits with the symphony backing them.
Complete with period costumes, it was the closest most of us ever came to seeing the Beatles perform live.
After the orchestra did a symphonic introductory medley, the four 'lads' walked on stage, dressed in the dark tailored suits that the Beatles wore in the early "Ed Sullivan" era.
Playing duplicates of their original equipment, Rickenbacker guitars and such made the sound authentic.
After playing a couple of 4/4 Rock and Roll classics, including "I saw her standing there", everyone but the "Bass Player", Paul's doppleganger left the stage.
After introducing the acoustic song he was to play as "the most famous and recorded song in history", he played and sang the first line from "Feelings". This gag was right from the real Paul McCartney's live tour, and drew a big laugh.
Of course he then did a beautiful version of "Yesterday", a lovely introspective song that Paul wrote when still in his teens.
Then the other three came back on stage wearing the Sgt Pepper outfits they wore on the famous satellite broadcast from Dec of 1967, which was the first live world wide broadcast.
After "Paul"rejoined them, they did a spot on version of "All You Need is Love".
The orchestra matched the original performance note and nuance for note, it was quite spectacular. During the original broadcast, and on many of the Beatles period recordings they were joined by the London Philharmonic.
Many of you youngsters may not realize that after 1965, the Beatles stopped touring.
Most of their works from that point on were never performed by them live.
A lot of their recordings did involve symphonic orchestration and unique sound effects, so reproducing them live is a real challenge.
The NC Symphony did a masterful job, and the "Classical Mystery Tour" are fabulous musicians in their own right.
I was treated to hearing some of the best songs from their catalog, which I never thought I would hear properly performed live.
"Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" followed by "With a Little Help From my Friends" opened the second half.
Then came "Penny Lane", "A Day in the Life", "Eleanor Rigsby", "Lucy in the Sky", "Ob-La-Di", "Hello Goodbye" and the wonderful "I Am the Walrus", where the orchestra really shined to name just a few.
The lyrics from that song are WEIRD, even for a sixties piece, and it was funny to watch some of the oldsters look at one another when "John" sang them.
Many of the songs that were performed Paul does not do in his live tours, because he didn't sing the lead on them originally.
"Yellow Submarine", "Here Comes The Sun" and "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" are among those done in addition to some previously mentioned.
After doing a couple of their solo post-Beatles hits, "Imagine", (complete with the white suit and fake beard and longer hair that John wore in the early seventies) and a killer version of "Live and Let Die" from the Bond movie where the orchestra was really able to cut loose, the encore portion of the show started.
A point of reference is needed here. Cary is one of the more upscale communities in the RDU area, with some of the most restrictive neighborhood appearance and HOA codes.
We were among the youngest couples in attendance, and Ariel was probably one of only 100 or so under the age of 25.
During a couple of the old numbers we saw people get up and 'dance' a bit, but it was a pretty staid crowd for the most part.
But after "Paul" did "The Long and Winding Road", and then went right into "Hey Jude", some of the folks turned up their pacemakers a bit.
They used the same stage banter that Paul really uses in his shows, getting the ladies to sing in rounds, then the 'fellas'. It gets everybody involved and loosened up, and it really is a fun song for an audience to get into.
Kind of my generations anthem, even though the lyrics don't really have an intrinsic meaning to them.
Then came the obligatory leave-the-stage-the-show-is-over encores you expect from concerts.
When they came back on stage they sucker punched us.
The Beatles liked to use several old fifties rock standards for their encores, such as "Kansas City" or "Hey Hey Hey"
These guys started by getting the crowd to respond to "Hey Hey", and then went right into
"Twist and Shout!"
Shades of Ferris Bueller, the place went nuts!
What is probably the greatest live rock and roll classic of them all was performed flawlessly, and nobody was still sitting down acting stuffy anymore.
Some of those folks hadn't moved like that since the Kennedy administration.
Queen Felicia herself was "dancing like a spinning top", her bemused son looking on.
The old folk aren't as old as you think lad, we can still rock when properly motivated!
They closed with "Money Can't Buy me Love", and all of us would have stayed as long as they wanted to keep playing, but alas that was really it.
I had a fabulous time, felt like I was 18 again afterwards. What better Father's Day gift could a man have, his family with him and back in his youth at the same time!
Check out their website www.classicalmysterytour.com
They have a few songs for download posted.
Note, they will be in Baltimore right after Thanksgiving with the Baltimore Symphony.
You will not regret going, and take the kids, they will love it! (Especially Merry!)
Peace out, brothers and sisters!
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