The most common reaction I got when telling my friends and family that I had chosen London as my study abroad destination was something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, so you can see all the Beatles stuff?" No, that is not why I chose London, there were a lot of factors like language, school offerings, music department requirements, and such that went into the decision. The Beatles thing was just a major bonus!
Of course, the destination at the top of my list of things to see and one of the very first places I went to see upon arriving here in London was Abbey Road Studios and the associated crosswalk, or zebra crossing as the Brits would say. Those were some of the greatest few minutes of my life. Honestly, there isn't much to see there anymore, it's really just another street, but just knowing that the men of the greatest band of all time have walked that very side walk is more than enough to put any true fan into a state of awed, nervous, twitchy, humbled amazement. Or maybe that was just me... Fellow Beatles fan Patrick Allegri sums up the feeling quite well in his article about Beatles attractions in London.
(You can read the full story of my trip to Abbey Road about halfway through this post, in case you missed it)
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| A shot that didn't get used for the cover |
Today I was able to get in another dose of Beatles when I went out to see one of the special UK screenings of Living in the Material World, a Martin Scorsese documentary about the quiet Beatle; George Harrison. Now, if you were to ask me every day for a year who my favorite Beatle is I'm positive you would get more than one answer but George Harrison would almost definitely be the answer you got most. That, combined with the fact that I just happen to be on a once in a lifetime trip to the UK at the time of this documentary's release meant that I had to do my best to see it!
Although it may not seem like it from the content of these posts, I am in London mainly to go to school and as such I wasn't sure if I could fit a trip to the cinema into my schedule. The official premier was actually last night but I had a late class and the tickets were all sold out! Luckily, I discovered that one theatre was doing a slightly extended run of showings and after much planning and many visits to the London Transportation website I ordered two student tickets for Sarah and I to see a showing at the Ritzy Picture house. The movie was at 2:00 (although it didn't really start till 2:30) and I had class until 1:00. It was an estimated 29 minute tube ride and a 5 minute walk from the station to the theatre. With all of the planned maintenance going on in the tube system I knew I would be cutting it close. I spent the whole morning hoping that the tubes would be on my side just for today!
I got out of class 10 minutes early and eagerly made my way to the nearest tube station and quickly found my route with the help of my beloved tube map iPhone app (I can't decide if I love the way that rhymes or if I hate it). As I was making my way down to my first train I came upon a group of people who had been stopped by a tube official and wouldn't you just know that Northern Line was closed down due to "passenger actions" (my theory is that someone didn't mind the gap and got their foot snapped off). Luckily, the transportation department staff members are all insanely knowledgeable about the tubes and since there was a major closure there were plenty of them on hand to help people rework their routes. One such lady directed me to get on the next train and take it to Victoria Station where I should change over to the Victoria line which would take me all the way to Brixton Station. And, joy of joys, about 25 minutes later I was in Brixton station with a solid 20 minutes before the movie started! What's more is that there were signs right outside the station pointing us to the theatre which turned out to be just down the street! Some how I had dodged Northern line's curve ball and made it in plenty of time!
The cinema itself was adorable and auditorium 5 is like a small private screening room with a smaller than average screen but extra comfy, deluxe chairs! It was a very cozy place to settle in to enjoy the 4 hour documentary. The show was actually meant to be a 2 part HBO series but the screening showed both parts back to back with a mini intermission in between. It may be the Beatles bias talking or I could just be at a high point in a wave of adoration but I really enjoyed every moment of this documentary. And that is saying something coming from someone with a fairly strict 2 hour attention span who has never been a fan of documentaries. It was all very nicely crafted and had a natural flow to it with no obnoxious narrator, all the commentary came from interviews. I loved all of the obscure clips and photos of Harrison and The Beatles that made up most of the film, none of those that we have all seen a thousand times scattered around the internet. It was a lot of fun to watch all of this in the company of other Beatles fans and to hear them chuckling at the wry sense of humor the group infused into so many of their press conferences or off handed remarks from Harrison or any of the other interviewees (which include Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Dhanni Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr). I'm sure I wasn't the only one to tear up a bit at the end when Ringo wiped away a tear while recounting his last moments with George.
All in all, I highly recommend you take the time to watch this film at least once. It gives such a well rounded and deep look into the life, death, and music of a truly inspired and great man. It is set to air on HBO in the US at some point in the very near future (tonight?) but given the time difference I really can't begin to tell you when so just check out the official page for info.
I hope you enjoy it, I know I did!
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