... being the thread wherein coverage is gathered of...

.

For quick links to audio & video files only, see Abbey Road on the Potomac A/V Department. (The same files are linked in this thread, grouped with coverage of each performer.)

---

A hurricane may be churning its way up the eastern seaboard, but that won't stop the Gretsch Crew (Joe the Carducci, Fred AND the gracious Dinah Gretsch, Miss Kim, Jason Herndon and me) from converging on Washington DC Thursday for four (or five, who's counting) days of Beatles and sixties mania.

Joe and Kim will man (and woman) the Gretsch display near the main stage, and I'll try to cover the panoply of harmony with audio, video, pics, and patter.

With many of the same artists featured at the Louisville event over Labor Day, covered here, you can expect some ritual repetition – but this will give me a chance to catch bands I missed or short-changed in Louisville, and another shot at capturing some of the expected highlights more effectively.

(And hey, the scenery will also be different!)

This thread will serve as home base for coverage – and will be linked not only from Gretsch, but from the Abbey Road on the River site. The Abbey Roaders are part of a vibrant international Beatles community, and we welcome them to the GDP as a home-away-from-home during the festival. (Where I just know we'll all be on our best behavior for company.)

Gretsch was an integral part of the culture and history of the Beatle era, and it's great to be part of the ongoing celebration of the music.

---

The first DC incarnation of ARotR is based at the fabulous Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, MD, on the Potomac south of the federal city. It looks like a beautiful site.

Event organizer Gary Jacob and his crew have brought together over 35 Beatle performers and groups (from the US and seven other countries) as well as a roster of speakers and Beatle-related films.

Music starts at 4 PM on Thursday, Sept 2, and ends that day with a bus tour and "Give Peace a Chance" sing-in at the Lincoln Memorial at 10:15.

Things get rolling officially on Friday at 4:00 PM, again running till near midnight on the main hotel stage. It gets decidedly crazier on Saturday and Sunday, with music and other events from 11 AM till midnightish on up to seven different stages around the grounds of the venue. Monday is more relaxed – just noon to 4 PM.

You can find the complete schedule here.

Gretsch is taking a more visible role at the DC show, sponsoring the main stage, where several flagship performances with particular Gretsch connections will be presented – including Jimmy Pou's Evening with George Harrison (Friday, 5:15), the mesmerizing medley of 214 Beatles songs by Gretsch Artist Hal Bruce & The Hard Dazed Knights (Saturday, 10:10), and the Fred Gretsch & Joe Carducci Gretsch Guitar Experience at 12:30 Sunday.

What could be better? Original Beatle drummer Pete Best, appearing at 1:00 PM Saturday on the pier for a conversation about his Beatle days.

Besides Hal and Jimmy, a cast of thousands will dance and sing (as Mr. Kite flies through the ring), including divers approaches to Beatle repertoire, and music further afield.

Beatle-izers, tight & loose
• Abbey Road Live - Sgt Pepper / Mystery Tour
• All You Need is Love - studio years from Rubber Soul to Abbey Road
• Lucy in the Sky - original arrangements of Beatles repertoire
• The Apple Core - Beatles beginning to end, possible Rubber Soul playthrough
• The Newbees - gleeful 10-piece band (with strings); fresh orchestrations of late Beatles
• Union Jack British Invasion Band - doing Beatles first live U.S. Concert (Wash DC Feb. 11, 1964)
• BritBeat
• Candlestick Park
• Norwegian Beatles
• Sir Frankie Crisp
• The Blue Meanies
• The Jukebox
• The Resistors

Individual Musical Portraiture
• Peter Conrad - George specialist
• Gary Quinn - John & George songs from early years through solo careers
• GG Gringo - Gary & Gary of the Blue Meanies focus on George and Ringo

Covers, not copies...
• Frankie-Rae - acoustic trio Beatles/60s
• Luv Me Deux - female duo acoustic Beatle versions
• Mario DaSilva - jazz/fingerstyle Beatles
• Stan & Mandie Bullock - father-daughter duo
• Traveling Beatleburys - Willburys and related music
• Wild Honey Pies – Newbee Misty Perholtz & Brooke Jacob doing Janis, Beatles, Little Richard & more
• Yellow Dubmarine - Beatles songs done Jamaican
• The Classical Strings – the orchestral approach

The Whole Invasion & More
• Desmond & Molly - 50s-70s covers
• Itchycoo Park - post invasion Brit pop and psychedelia
• The Bristols: Beatles & wider Brit invasion up to J Tull
• Steve Sizemore Group - classic rock, dance
• The Cryers – late 60s-70s classic rock

More about the entire lineup here – and Mr. J assures the public their production will be second to none.

My own aeroplanic adventure from the green fields of Indiana to the shores of the Potomac begins tomorrow morning, and coverage as soon thereafter as can be managed; watch for it right here. Having been some days in preparation, a splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Man o man this really snuck up on me. Looks to be happn’. National Harbor is a hotel, dining, business, residential development that has sprung up out of nothing in Prince George’s County Maryland within the last few years. It is one man’s vision come to fruition. There are many shops and dining opportunities outside the hotel within easy walking distance. It’s worth a visit even without the AROTP. Be sure to check out “Awakening”, a sculpture installation right on the waterfront.

For variety, one can take the water taxi to Old Town Alexandria and mill around the old buildings there. Or, start the day in Old Town, take the taxi to the National Harbor, and return at will. There is plenty of affordable parking near the water taxi stop.

For Gretschy music stores goodnes, there is Action Music in Falls Church and Classic Axe in Centreville, VA. Atomic Music in Beltsville, MD is worth a visit if you enjoy walking around a grocery store sized space filled with all sorts of used amps, guitars and drums. I look forward to the reports.

Man O man! I really wish I could attend these round ups and special Gretsch events like this one. I'll get my ducks in a row for next summer and see if my wife and I can drive down to catch one of these cool shows. Thanks for the updates Tim.

I will be there, Gretsch in hand, playing along with The Blue Meanies. Hopefully hurricane Earl won't invade Pepperland this weekend.

Are you a Meanie, Nez?

I'm really a Nicey but for this weekend I am a Meanie.

Sunny in Louisville, boarding soon...

Oh boy...plane pics!!

Tim, I'll be there with my youngest son for Sunday only and we will make sure to stop by and say hi to you, and the rest of the Grestch gang after the mid-day road show.

Looking forward to seeing what this is all about.

Clouds, more clouds, high winds, some rain, and more clouds. Oh, and some ground and water.

Oh, and some clouds. Did I mention that already?

Those are NOT PPPP's!

(Proper Proteus Plane Pics)

Tim, just be careful the plane Steward doesn't start dropping the F-Bomb, grab a beer from the beverage cart and open the emergency hatch. Of course a photo of that might make big $$ for the daily papers.

Travel safely, Proteus!

YUP...plane pics. Frequent visitors knew they were coming, so let's get them out of the way.

Louisville, 10:15 am to Atlanta, 11:20 am. It's about the water.

Misty mountains...

.

Leetle lakes and serpentine rivers...

.

Earthenwater art.

.

There was a fundamental tension in the natural enthusiasms of 21st century Americans: they loved industry and the potent iconography of power plants as much as they loved the pristine patterns of nature.

.

Early 21st century Americans often built their habitations using the imagery of the circle. These arrangements, some visible only from the air, included sacramental shapes from a mysterious religion based on geometry.

.

If you look carefully (and I don't know why you would), you can see the skyline of Atlanta.

Hot 'lanta!

.

Why is it that no matter at what gate you come into Atlanta, you have to connect to the furthest possible gate your airline can use?

It's the Hartsfield Dash.

And if I wanted to go to Atlanta, where would they route me to connect?

Atlanta, 11:40 am to DC, 12:50 pm.

.

More water. Bigger water. The Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay...

.

Stewardess! I can see my hotel from here! (The magnificent Gaylord is in the lower right corner.)

.

Somehow, from the air, it doesn't like (at least one of, I think we can agree) the most powerful cities in the world.

And it's time for landmark bingo...name some and win a kewpie doll. (Or Chet strings, or something.)

.

Americans used to gather in handsome ceremonial uniforms in this five-sided edifice, called The Pentangle, to sing spiritual and patriotic anthems for world peace.

Many DC streets look like this. It's not a tall city.

.

The Gaylord, inside and out.

Prince George Hall (I'm not making this up), where the Gretsch stage anchors the main concert venue. Making ready...

After a walkabout to get the lay of the land, lunch across the street at the...

.

.

And look. Iontkeer where you go – in America, all roads lead to Elvis...and Gretsch!

To get to heaven or hell, you gotta go through Atlanta...

Proteus said: Some thing these arrangements, which were only visible from the air, were sacramental shapes in a sacred religion based on geometry.

I see that one of those circles is comprised of baseball diamonds. So, I guess our forefathers must have been onto something with the notion that these structures were somehow sacred.

And the Gaylord National Hotel looks mighty spiffy there, P-man.

By the way, in case you haven't heard it yet today, Happy Birthday!

Old Hippies Try to Attend Sing-in for Peace at Memorial, Fail

But first we had supper ("we," in this case, comprising Joey C, Jason H, FMIC sales rep Phil Short, and Carlos, who you'll meet later). Carlos, who lives here, did the transportational honors, ferrying us across the bridge into Old Town Alexandria (as Mark G suggests).

It's truly an old town, dating from the mid-1700s, and with architecture to prove it. A balmy summer night, shady streets scaled for walking, lovely colonial architecture, and allsorts folks taking the evening air.

.

Many restaurants to choose from; Carlos recommended the superb Italianate fare at Landinis (in an 1849 building of stone and timber construction), and it was an excellent choice. We ate hearty, we did, over fine conversation centered on our musical and guitar histories.

.

It was a little after 10 when we finished and waddled back to the van – and we knew Abbey Road had organized a bus tour and "Give Peace a Chance Sing-In" at the Lincoln Memorial. We'd missed that bus, but in memory of the thousands of flower-powered VW Microbuses which had carried hippies to protests all those years ago – and to make up for all the demonstrations we'd all missed down through the decades – we decided to drive there and sing along (and catch the vibe for y'all).

Carlos knew the way to the Memorials, and things went well in the few minutes it took us to traverse the parkway north along the Virginia side of the river. (A stretch of road where he assured us if we so much as pulled over to change a tire, we'd be swarmed by security forces who, even as we drove serenely and without incident, had us under surveillance.)

Along the road...

.

Without incident, we crossed the Potomac to the National Mall (over the bridge where Air Florida Flight 90 went into the Potomac in 1982).

Then we entered some kind of time-and-space warp, a maze of roads and streets which seemed to go where we wanted, but none of which ever managed to take us near enough the Memorial that we could park and join the chorus. For about 45 minutes we circled the monuments (at various distances), on city streets and in the park. We'd catch glimpses from near and far, but the geography never made sense to me.

It was National Lampoon's Washington Vacation: "Look kids, the Jefferson! The Washington!" And again, and again. No wonder they don't get as much done in Washington as we might hope – it's impossible to get anywhere. They're all wandering in alternate traffic dimensions.

Not to mention all the eerie lights – proof incontrovertible of ghosts and UFOs. The truth is out there.

.

As peace-singing hippie demonstrators, I'm afraid I must admit we failed.

The Watergate Hotel. (It looked perfectly clear to the naked eye, but the camera caught the spectral interference and psychic disturbances around the place.)

.

I hope to get in some daylight photo ops in the Mall – and at other DC landmarks – in daylight, before the weekend's over.

---

Actual event coverage coming your way later today...

At the National Harbor Convention Center, preparations continue at a deliberate pace.

The escalator runs from the lobby level down to the Atrium level, where the Prince George's Room is. Looked pretty peaceful a couple hours ago.

.

Gary Jacob can be seen riding from venue to venue on his golf cart – one tented venue on the riverfront lawn of the convention center, another in front of the hotel, and a third on the pier extending into the Potomac between them.

.

I'm sure this was supposed to be Number Nine...

.

Along the riverfront, driftwood evidence of high water.

.

And out on the pier stage, gear comes together.

.

Inside, scaffoldeers rig lights and speakers, and hang the Beatles.

.

Fred and Dinah arrived about 1:30; they're walking the grounds.

In the meantime, the booth is ready.

.

Chuck Levin's Washington Music – one of the truly legendary music stores – is Gretsch's local partner for the event. Carlos expects to sell everything they brought – the credit card machine is plugged in and tested, pricing is very flexible (if you're interested in anything, let me know).

Carlos and his son Enrique (rocking some AC/DC on an Electro Jet) are ready to do business.

.

And a trio of Georgian Gretschs remind us why we're here.

.

Cool. That approach from the air to National Airport is like a quick, mini tour.

Tim, you're having too much fun........and thank you.

Live coverage to commence at 5:15!

It seems to have worked out this time: I have power and wired internet with good upload speed at front row center-stage seat for the Gretsch Stage in Prince George's Hall.

This means – theoretically – that I can stream live coverage as it happens. (By "theoretically," I mean that I can't vouch for the stability and/or consistency of the connection, or even that I won't bump the ethernet cable connecting the MacBook.)

Now, note please that I'm using what is supposed to be a very good Logitech webcam – for a job that would be done more justice by at least a prosumer video camera. It will struggle with changes in light, it doesn't do its best work over 6 to 8 feet away, and there's no zoom.

The tripod is rickety and pure logistics (not to mention the cavernous acoustics of the ballroom) dictate that I use its built-in mic rather than hook up something better.

Nother words, this is an exercise in the sneaky art of the barely possible, not consummation of the ideal. It is what it is, and it will be what it will be. I'll also take stills and video with the Canon G-10, and record stereo with the Edirol. And I'll look like a ridiculous nerd huddled in the front chair giving dirty looks to people who walk (and stand) in front of the camera.

But for what it's worth, brethren and sistern, we're going to try to give you a free eye on the Abbey Road Gretsch stage.

You will find all live video at ustream, right here.

That link again:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/abbey-road-on-the-river-live-with-gretsch

You'll find a chat interface there, where you can talk quietly amongst yourselves (as long as you don't distract the performers).

First up: Rain-George Jimmy Pou's Evening with George Harrison solo act, scheduled for 5:15 PM ET, a mere 30 minutes from now!