Jersey Summer Beatles Bash

On Saturday, July 25th, the State Theatre presented the 3rd Annual Jersey Summer Beatles Bash with Glen Burtnik & Friends. Every year, Burtnik (a local Jersey musician, formerly of Styx) brings together a talented group of musicians (who have played with the likes of Billy Joel, Elton John, Kelly Clarkson, and Shania Twain, among others) to perform a Beatles album note-for-note as it was meant to be played. Past years, albums have included Sgt. Pepper’s and the White album, this year it was Abbey Road. Every year has been better than the next and this year was no exception. There were many wonderful moments…the quirky performance of  Ringo Star’s ”Octopus’s Garden” by a guy who impersonates Ringo for a living…the interesting multimedia footage during  “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”…the extraordinary harmonies during “Because” with 9 singers (it was originally recorded featuring the three-part harmonies by Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison, then triple-tracked to sound like nine singers), and the list goes on.

However, I would have to say that the 2 best moments was the last song, which was the ever-popular “Hey Jude” (in which some of us State Theatre folks and other audience members jumped onstage to sing the “na-nas”) and the 8 minutes that is “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” It was absolutely amazing. The guitar riffs and  camaraderie among this group of musicians was really something to watch during this song. So, since words can’t really describe it, here is a clip of it that was posted by a fan on YouTube, enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaOEWBQN0zw&feature=related

The State Theatre is located at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, NJ. For information or to purchase tickets call 732-246-SHOW (7469) or visit http://www.statetheatrenj.org/. Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace.