If you are planning to visit New York City soon, do it in February! NYCBeatles50 is going to celebrate the Fab Four, and in particular the 50th anniversary of their first performance on American television, on the Ed Sullivan show, which happened exactly in February 9th 1964!! The show got the largest US viewing audience in history, 45% of the total population, something we certainly can’t reproduce these days with our 10,000 channels available.
There will be four days of musical tributes from February 6th to February 9th at various venues around the city. No participant has been announced yet but according to the Los Angeles Times, 50 bands from 50 countries have been invited, and very logically the price will be $50! What a deal… furthermore the proceeds will benefit the Food Bank for NYC, so nobody should have an excuse for not attending.
According to the Examiner, specific events will include ‘Twist and Shout: New York Celebrates the Beatles’ loaded with stars at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on February 6th, then a gala ‘America Celebrates the Beatles All-Star Concert’ on February 7th, and finally ‘Across the Universes Beatles Festival on February 8th and 9th. But that’s just the beginning as more events will be announced and we’ll learn more as we get closer to the date.
There is already a website NYCBeatles50, with not much info on it yet, but this website says that we can expect ‘live concerts by superstar artists of the British invasion period, newsreel and fan films of the Beatles, the world’s largest Beatles memorabilia marketplace, meet and greet opportunities, a fashion show, Q&A panels, dance parties, performances by some of the top new emerging indie bands and sponsorships with top national music magazine and radio stations’. I have the feeling that Iman may get very busy!