Jan. 30, 1969: The Beatles May Have Fought, But At Least There Was No Snow On Their Rooftop

This has been a somewhat unusual day. The kids were off school because of a PD Day, so I was looking for something interesting to do with them. We started off with a trip downtown to the local comic book shop, which is always good for a little entertainment.

While we were downtown, we managed to catch a chunk of one of the more unusual musical performances I’ve seen. Local Paul McCartney imitator Yuri George Jan Pool decided to put together a recreation of The Beatles last live performance, which took place on the rooftop of Apple (the record label, not the computer/electronics giant) on January 30, 1969 in the other London- I live in London, Ontario. I’ve seen Pool perform as McCartney before, and he is pretty much bang on- if a little obsessive. We made it to the site of the concert a few minutes before go time; there was already a sizable crowd and the police were in the midst of blocking off one of downtown London’s busiest streets due to the pedestrian congestion.

What makes this especially unusual, though, is the fact that it was -8 Celsius (that’s around 18 degrees Fahrenheit), with snow flurries. The band played, despite the inclement weather, and the instruments stayed in tune, at least as long as we lasted. The band was dressed like a band -no parkas in sight- so I can only hope that someone had propane heaters blasting up there.

The kids thought it was pretty cool, but the slush, snow and wind took their toll after a few songs, so we packed it in. Not the real Beatles, but the closest thing to a Beatle moment that they (or I for that matter) are likely to experience. No word on whether the police shut this one down too…