Welcome to an all-new 2008 Strawberry Fields Season!

Our live appearances and destinations continue to expand and it's thanks to all of you who come out to see us so often. Seeing the growing number of faces who keep turning up at our shows is a great thrill and tremendous compliment to us. Our local fans keep multiplying each time one of you brings some friends out to see us. Thanks! The next thing we know, we see your friend at BB King's with her parents, sister and brother-in-law, and two kids!

BB King's has been quite a run so far and it seems that the word is now out on a worldwide level to see Strawberry Fields when in New York. Our meet and greets after most shows have people from all over the planet telling us that they've heard about our Brunch Show at BB's. Our average audience has more than doubled since we started the brunch show in 2005 and the momentum is still going strong. If you can't make it for Saturday brunch, check our website schedule often as we end up doing a lot of last minute 8:00 pm shows as well. Beatlemania is alive and well on Broadway!

As you can see from our Homepage, we got a very nifty surprise by being mentioned on Page 151 of President Bill Clinton's book, "Giving." Thank you Mr. President. This is truly a great honor. Next stop, the MBE!

Also pictured on the new Homepage is our favorite photo from our show at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. We were brought out for the Gala Opening Event of the "Rock Star's Cars & Guitars" exhibit on June 9th. With John Lennon's Rolls Royce as the star attraction, the museum wanted the "Planet's Ultimate Beatles Music Experience" to entertain all the VIPs at the Gala. Thanks to all the hotel and museum staff who gave us the VIP treatment from the moment we got off the plane, including a chauffeur and our own private house with maid service on the hotel grounds. Thanks also to Miss Shela (missshela.com) for the great photo.

The Henry Ford Museum is incredible and houses a vast array of planes, trains and automobiles, vintage farm equipment, and all types of Americana including original MacDonald's signage and a recreation of a 1960's-vintage Holiday Inn. The most impressive trio of artifacts were JFK's Dallas limousine, the bus in which Rosa Parks made her dramatic stand, and the actual chair that Abraham Lincoln was sitting in at Ford's Theatre on that fateful evening. On the lighter side, we also got to see the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. Very cool indeed!

The special "Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars" exhibit featured The Little Deuce Coupe, Elvis' Pantera, Madonna's Material Girl Glitzed-Out limousine, and many others owned by Elton John, David Lee Roth of Van Halen, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and, of course, John Lennon. You can imagine what a thrill it was for us to pose beside John's legendary Rolls Royce. Just Google "The Henry Ford Museum" and you can find a whole section with photos and info on these cars and guitars. Most of the guitars were lent to the museum by Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick who was there with us for the Grand Opening. He was even wearing a Beatles T-Shirt!

The week after The Henry Ford, we headed to Canada for a week long tour of four First Nation casinos. Special thanks to James Thunder who was our driver and road manager on a tour that found us in four airports, six hotels, and covered nearly 1,000 miles in a tour bus. Rumor has it we'll be north again same time next year. These things take time!

As usual, the summer schedule included a whole bunch of free outdoor Park Concerts and County Fairs. This summer we did shows in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn with Vince Martell of The Vanilla Fudge; Untermeyer Park, Yonkers; Tanner Park, Copaigue; the Smithtown Library Concert Series; the Holbrook Fair; and two more shows for New York State Senator Steve Klein at Veterans Park, The Bronx; and at The Eastchester Town Hall. We also hit The Ulster County Fair in New Paltz and a return engagement to The Barnstable County Fair on Cape Cod. This part of our schedule is great fun as the crowds are huge and there are three or even four generations of Beatle fans to perform for. With the ever-increasing travel that we're doing, and the international audiences that see us every Saturday at BB's, we get the added kick of playing for those who have never seen us before. Their enthusiastic compliments are the ultimate reward for the long road trips and crazy schedules we often deal with.

The band was again featured on television several times this season including footage from the New York City Marathon, a piece for New Jersey Cablevision with interviews and live footage at our outdoor concert in July. We were also the subject on a national spot for the Fox Network. Fox came down to BB King's and did an entire mini-documentary on the world's greatest tribute band. Interviews, live footage of the performance, backstage costume changes and the whole nine yards. It was particularly interesting for us as both Cablevision and Fox's producers were interested in interviewing us out of costume, discuss what goes into a show like ours, and get to know the people behind the characters we portray. For those of you who saw these shows, we hope you enjoyed them.

Sandwiched in-between Cape Cod in Massachusetts and the Ulster County Fair in upstate New York, we squeezed in a long weekend at one of our favorite destinations - Captain Nick's on Block Island, Rhode Island. We get to spend a little time with our new friend and fan, Comedian Steven Wright. Of course we're all big fans of his too! Block Island is the best of both world's. Plenty of R & R all day and plenty of R n' R at night. A Captain Nick's crowd is a thing to behold - "Girls and Guys Gone Wild!" One more reason to go back there every year. (Steven does stay kind of subdued, but he loves us!)

No season would be complete without our appearances at various fund-raisers and charity events. We raised in excess of $20,000 toward a Steinway super-grand piano for The Westhampton School District. The Steinway technician told us that this particular instrument is considered as of this moment to be the best piano - in the world! Other charities we performed for include The Good Shepherd Hospice on the Pt. Jefferson/Bridgeport Ferry, The Southampton Hurricane Foundation, and The Save A Child's Heart Foundation at The Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Our Master of Ceremony for the evening was three-time Emmy award winner, Rita Cosby. "Lovely Rita" is our newest celebrity fan, and can be seen posing with the four of us in the Gallery Section.

Add another landmark venue to the resumé with Strawberry Fields being invited to perform at The Players Club in New York. This National Historic Landmark with the world's largest and most valuable theater library hosted an extraordinary wedding attended by members of European royalty and famed designer Tommy Hilfiger. We were quite a smash with the guests that night and had everyone rattling their jewelry!

Yet another big event was the NYC Marathon where we were again asked to perform. This is the largest regularly scheduled marathon race in the world! This year we were set up right on the Grand Stage at Columbus Circle and did three sets of "running music" for the fans and the often-surprised athletes. To give you an idea of the international flavor of this event, we were introduced to former Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. The odd thing about our Marathon day experiences is that most of our audience of thousands is running by us as we play! We did see lots of relatively stationary Strawberry Fields fans there that day which was an added bonus to a great day. Thanks to all of you who came out that day and congratulations to all the runners - what an achievement!

WRCN's 103.9 Beatle Breakfast show on Sunday, December 2 featured Strawberry Fields doing a live "unplugged" set of music and talking to the station's listeners and more than a few Strawberry Fields fans. Special thanks to Glenn Calderone for the invitation and for taking such great care of us in the studio.

We were extra-busy as usual at BB King's for the Thanksgiving through New Years season of 2007. In addition to our regular Saturday Beatles Brunch, we celebrated both Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day at BB's along with added matinee shows on the 28th and 29th of December. We caught an afternoon flight on the 30th for Raleigh, NC to close the year out for the citywide New Year's Celebration called "First Night Raleigh."

There were an estimated 50,000 people on the streets for our outdoor main stage concert! It almost felt like home as the whole scene looked very much like Times Square. They even drop a huge copper acorn at midnight! Everyone went nuts! We were also featured on the local news station and can be found in photos and video which can be found by with a quick google of "First Night Raleigh."

2008 promises to be another banner year with plans in progress for road trips to various locations in the US, Canada, Bermuda, and even far away Singapore! Our regular Beatle Brunch show at BB King's is held over for the third year and still growing. Look for periodic 8:00 shows at BB Kings as well.

We are working up some new music and more surprises for the 2008 season and are looking forward to seeing you all again real soon. Please feel free to Email us via this website - we love to hear from you and we always write back.

As always, thanks to John, Paul, George and Ringo.

We look forward to sharing this timeless Beatle music with all of you for a long time to come.

Tony, Billy, Farquar & Gerard

The boys are at it again. This time they've done a theme song for the Bill Wise Show for radio station B-103 FM. Click here to hear the theme song!

There's three new video clips of the boys in action at The Northfork Theatre! Click here to see the vintage looking videos!

There's a new video clip! Click here to see "The Little Beatles!".

Thanks for visiting our website! For those of you who are fans, welcome back, we've updated the site for 2007 and have a few more goodies planned for the near future. If you've never seen one of our shows, or never visited this site, the rule seems to be: "A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All!"

2006 was our busiest year ever! Our schedule has been packed with one great show after another. Our reputation and popularity seem to be growing in leaps and bounds, and our circle of clients, friends and fans multiply like a doubling effect. One becomes two, becomes four, becomes eight, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16,384, 32,768 which is about 5,000 fewer than the audience for our August 16, 2005 40th Anniversary Show at Shea Stadium. So if you've seen our show, or enjoyed the videos in the Gallery Section of this website please tell a friend or two! You see, the more, the merrier!

The crowds at our Beatles Brunch shows every Saturday afternoon at B.B. Kings, NYC continue to increase and include people from around the world. B.B.'s is a world famous stage and great place to see the show. Bring the kids along as well. One of our prime goals is to pass this timeless music down to future generations. We've got a little Junior Fan Club that seems to be growing and we love turning the kids on to such great music. B.B.'s gift shop has our T-Shirts and souvenir merchandise and after the show, we do a little meet and greet, take some photos, sign autographs for the kids and chat it up a bit.

"Beatlemania" is back on Broadway! We've extended our contract through 2007 as well! Playing at B.B.'s every Saturday, and many other matinee and evening shows, allows us to add some very cool lighting, stage props, antics, and other elements to enhance our show even more. At this writing, we are rehearsing a bunch of new numbers, including adding a piano to our arsenal of intruments. In our 2007 show, you can look forward to some new Mop Top, Pepper Era and Abbey Road music in response to popular demand. A very big thanks to B.B. King, Chris, Henry, Eric, Val, Dory, James, Carl, Jones, TZ, and all the staff at B.B.'s who take such good care of us.

It was a total blast playing at the historic Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, New Jersey. This was another special moment for us as it marks another venue we've played where the Beatles also performed. We shared the same stage and dressing rooms that The Fabs used and could imagine how they must have felt as we also played to a packed house!

Our show at Tanner Park, Copiague, New York was really something else. This seaside park was the venue for a free concert sponsored by our good friends from the town of Babylon. When we went into the dressing room after the sound check there were 500-600 people in the audience. In the forty minutes it took for us to take the stage, the crowd had swelled to over 4,000 local fans. It looked like a mini Woodstock from the stage, just a sea of people everywhere we looked. Park officials told us that they had literally ran out of parking spaces that night. Once again, Bill "The Wiseman" Wise from B-103 radio was there to MC the show and we were thrilled to see so many of our loyal Long Island fans all in the same place at once.

We are so flattered to see each and every one of you coming out to our shows and can't thank you enough for the atmosphere you create on the audience side of the stage. You all know who you are and we don't have space here for all of your names. If our gift to you is performing this great music, your gift to us is being there so often. The audience has a starring role in our show. We love you all!

The Strawberry Fields family continues to grow at every show and you're always invited!

The band returned to the historic Vail-Leavitt Music Hall in Riverhead, L.I. for another self-produced show. The capacity-plus crowd was treated to our full stage show in this classic, intimate theater. It is a great place to see a show, and you can look for Strawberry Fields to return there at least once in 2007. Check this place out at vail-leavitt.org

Headlining on the closing night of the The Barnstable County Fair in Cape Cod was also a night to remember. This was an open air concert on a huge stage, with killer sound system, top-shelf lighting and a hugh crowd approaching 10,000 people. During the Fair, that same stage had been graced by Chubby Checker, The Grass Roots, The Charlie Daniels Band, John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band, and many other fine acts. Our audience didn't seem to know what him them at first and seemed to be in awe. By the time we closed Act I with a rockin' version of Twist & Shout, people were dancing all over the place and gave us a huge roar as we left the stage. Act II had the same effect and after the show hundreds of people lined up at the meet and greet after the show. There are a whole lot of people up in Cape Cod sporting Strawberry Fields T-Shirts! We'll be heading back up there next season for a return engagement, this time with 1 or 2 supporting dates in that area.

Then came San Diego! Of all the corporate parties we've done so far, this one takes the cake! These people knew how to have a good time. The people at BOCA Pharmical flew us and many of the guests in for the event which was held at The Rockbottom Brewery in the historic Gaslamp district. The guests arrived and departed in luxury party busses and everyone, including the band and crew (after the show) ate, drank and got merry! We also got really cool tie-dyed tee shirts! The Rockbottom is a super cool place with a state-of-the-art sound system and great micro brews. Don't miss it if you're in San Diego. Special thanks to BOCA and Rick at The Rockbottom.

September 11 found us performing at 1 Penn Plaza, 34th Street, New York City for a special memorial event entitled "All The City Sings - All You Need Is Love." 1 Penn Plaza, across from Madison Square Garden is one of the busiest places on earth! Thousands and thousands of people enjoyed this free concert which was held along with many other musical events around the city.

At 2:00 sharp all of the bands throughout the city played "All You Need Is Love." If you believe in a cosmic vibe, this event hopefully raised it. Our thanks to Vornado Trust for inviting us to be such a big part of it. These outdoor shows in the middle of Manhattan that we do for them every year are so much fun. The expressions on people's faces when we come into their view are just priceless to us!

Once again the Hurricane Foundation had us perform to aid their fundraising efforts. This time, we played the beautiful Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center to another S.R.O. house. Combined with last year's show, Strawberry Fields has become a major contributor to this cause.

The Fab Fields also performed a very exclusive private showing on the stage of the legendary Paramount Theater NYC! Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles and now, Strawberry Fields. The theater is now a part of the Hard Rock Café in Times Square. Although the building went through some major renovations, the stage and dressing rooms remain as they were at this historic landmark venue. The Hard Rock boasts many concert props, Beatle memorabilia, and is the place where John Lennon met Bob Dylan. The bash was thrown by White & Case who invited enough guests to fill every room in the entire place. Being in those dressing rooms, walking out on to that historic stage, cueing the curtain up and performing on that stage are things we'll never forget. We have now performed for The Hard Rock in Chicago, San Juan, PR, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Boston, Orlando and now Times Square, NY! See the Gallery Section for some great photos from this show.

Another recent highlight this season found us at the world famous Cipriani in Manhattan where we did our show for the great people at Foot Locker and helped raise over a million dollars for The United Negro College Fund. The evening was a celebrity-studded event which had us rubbing elbows with "Smokin' Joe Frazier, Lawrence Taylor, Michael Strahan, Iced T, Christian Slater, Rosie Perez, Keanu Reeves, Jake LaMotta, and many other sports and Hollywood stars. The show kept us busy that night, but we did manage to pose with "Smokin' Joe and LT. Bill Brown, a.k.a. "Neil Aspinall" got into more shots than we did! You can see some of these shots in the Gallery Section.

December was a great month for Beatles Brunch! On December 2 we treated the audience the cutest surprise. Our new friends Ralph & Karen had seen us play in October and brought their two adorable kids, Ralphie and Violet to the show. The kids ended up as John and Paul for Halloween in the outstanding Sgt. Pepper outfits that Karen had made. Dad made the Hofner bass and Rickenbacker guitar. December 2nd was Ralphie's eight birthday and they were coming to see us again. Well, we collectively came up with a way to make Ralphie's eighth birthday a day he'll never forget. "George" and "Ringo" took the stage for the second act that day but "John" and "Paul" were missing. "What's goin' on back there?" We yelled out to Gene Graham who is our very own "Mal Evans." "There's a big problem back here" he answered, "John and Paul shrunk!" Little Ralphie and Violet made their entrance and the audience reaction was priceless. Thanks and love to them all for making it special for all of us! Check out the photos in the Gallery Section. We'll also be adding a video of that show in the near future.

Our holiday week run at B.B.'s started on Christmas night followed by performances on the 27th, 28th, 29th & 30th. It was our great honor to once again welcome Mr. Sid Bernstein to our show on the 28th. Our audience was treated to some very special personal stories about The Beatles and Brian Epstein before Sid gave us a very flattering introduction. As many of you know Sid joined us on the field at Shea Stadium but had never seen the second and third part of our show. We are extremely proud to accept Mr. Sid Bernstein's compliment as "four extremely talented musicians." See the Gallery Section for our new video of that very special day.

We're really looking forward to our our show at North Fork Theater at Westbury on February 10, 2007. This venue is truly a showplace where we look forward to an incredible evening. We'll be joined by several of the best bands around for an evening of great live music. We'd love to see all of our local fans at this one, Theater in the round and all. . . shades of The Beatles concert in Washington! Very gear!

Along with what's already listed in the Show Dates section, we've got lots of great local and tour date shows in the planning stages. Seems like every day or two another great show date comes in so check in often for website updates and new 2007 shows.

Thanks again to all. We look forward to seeing you again soon! Love is all you need!

Tony. Billy, Farquar & Gerard

The pace since our August performance at Shea Stadium has been hectic but really exciting. Every time we turn around, another great gig presents itself or we pick up a BeatleFan, GoodTimes or other publication and see a feature article about us. Friends call to tell us they've seen an ad, or heard a radio spot for an upcoming show. American Express spotlighted our B.B. Brunch shows in a recent internet promo.

With all of that, the best part of it is seeing the continued and growing support from the people who come to see us over and over again. It seems that more and more people are finding out about Strawberry Fields and what a blast it is to to attend one of our shows. The four of us appreciate it so much. Without an audience, there is no show. You are as much a part of the event as the four of us.

So, here's what's been happening:

Our Saturday "Beatle Brunches" at B.B. Kings in Times Square have taken off more than anyone imagined. Combined with our tri-state fans, we have the chance to perform for a world-wide audience which leaves few seats empty by noon on most Saturdays. Key people at B.B.'s have told us that "no other act could draw more of a crowd every Saturday morning" On top of B.B.'s solid advertising and a special page on their website for our weekly brunch shows , we'd like to thank VidiCom for featuring these shows on CityBUZZ New York. Their program, which airs in most hotels in New York as well as both LaGuardia and JFK, is the "what to do and where to go" while in the Big Apple. (Is that a green apple?)

Strawberry Fields was picked to be the first act ever to be recorded live at B.B.'s for broadcast over XM Satellite Radio! Maria Melito and Ken Dashow at Q104.3 have also both made personal appearances to introduce us and catch our show and talk us up regularly on their shows.

Tony called Maria who was on the air just before we played a rooftop-like afternoon show in the outdoor courtyard behind the Brooklyn Diner in the middle of Manhattan. The next thing we knew, she was telling her listeners in the vicinity not to miss her favorite Beatle Act. Imagine walking in the city, hearing The Beatles music from a distance, then coming into view of Strawberry Fields in full costume! We stopped traffic!

That night, we had another gig, at a downtown pub which turned out to not have a dressing room. The club owner apparently never read our production rider.. Our gear was set up and finally the owner said "just play without the costumes." The crowd was there already, ironically including four tourists from Liverpool. The show must go on. On new terms and in our street clothes, we played everything from "She Loves You" to "The End" and the audience never seemed to miss, or didn't know we usually go through three costume changes. That night was the ultimate compliment to what we strive for as musicians and as a band. To perform such mega-faceted, timeless music, live, and win an audience who is probably more familiar with these songs than with any other music ever written. We think the costumes a fun though, don't you?

Then we got a call to perform at a V.I.P. evening for the British owned and very posh boutique Asprey. Located in none other than Trump Tower, it's the place to go if you're in the market for a $15,000 bicycle or a $150 key fob. The security in the place involved leaving our licenses at the door, being scanned by metal detectors, and being escorted literally everywhere we went. You see, the bicycle wasn't chained up. We were forced to play what we call "Bossa Nova" Beatles as the store was open for business and we were there more as a novelty than entertainers. We all realized the parallel to The Beatles' command performance for the Queen, and attendance at the British Embassy Champagne party after their legendary performance in Washington. Tony couldn't resist and borrowed John Lennon's famous barb. In a hushed voice over his mic, but mostly for the benefit of the band he asked the people working behind the counters to "clap their hands and the rest of them to rattle their jewelry!" After the show Tony, just about to get into the van, ran into Donald Trump getting out of a yacht-sized limo. What a night!

After four consecutive shows at B.B.'s, between Christmas and New Year's Eve followed by back to back 8:00 shows on January 3th and 4th we basically went directly to LaGuardia for a 7:00 am flight. The first away-gig this year landed us at Terrible's Casino located in Osceola, Iowa. The place is a large Las Vegas style and owned casino in the middle of nowhere In a town of only 5,000 people. Despite it's size our show filled the 900 seat ballroom for two nights and the first ever Sunday matinee where kids were welcome. We look forward to a return trip and a week or so at Terrible's Las Vegas! We were thrilled at being a part of another "first" as we love having kids in our audience and turning them on to the magic that was The Beatles.

Bill R. sent us this recent email: "My wife Patty, daughter Stephanie and I enjoyed your show so very much a few Saturdays ago. It's truly one of the best live shows I've ever seen and I can't thank you enough for how kind you were to take the time to meet my daughter. She loved the music of The Beatles before we took her to see your wonderful show, but now, of course she can fully appreciate the depth, as well as the sheer fun of the music!"

We also were away for a couple of days at a place called "Peck's Place" in Plattsburg just this side of the Canadian border. Peck's presented an evening of dinner theater for over 600 people and has already invited us up again next year. These folks had caught our show at B.B.'s and contacted us the following week to arrange booking us up there. After a few hours sleep in the hotel, we headed back Saturday with a stop on the way at St. Francis Prep in Queens.

Once again, in February we hooked up with promoter Barry Brown and joined "Big Shot", Beginnings and Stealin' Dan at a sold out show at the beautiful Patchogue Theater. The show was such a success that we have all combined to bring this line up to The North Fork Theater at Westbury Music Fair on October 27, 2006. Think about it Beatle fans, Strawberry Fields in a big theater in the round. Shades of Washington D.C.? Should we get Gerard a rotating drum riser?

Our host at the Patchogue show was the one and only "Wiseman" Bill Wise from B-103 radio. Dressed to the nines and topped off by a bright red blazer Bill was styling! Once again we did some voice-over and promo spots at the station which they still use often. Beep-Beatles 103! We'll be playing The Wiseman's birthday bash at the end of June. Should be a real rocker but sorry, the party is by invitation only. Tune in to B-103 for the most Beatle's music and best oldies on the island.

Then we had another call. The one, the only "Eppy" Epstein is bringing "My Father's Place" back to Long Island! Eppy told us he had never hired a "cover band" in all his year's as the area's top rock promoter but, he had heard so much about us that he wanted us to do the grand opening! Growing up, we had all seen many top bands at MFP in Roslyn and imagined ourselves being up there on the stage. On April 14th, we had the privilege of being the musicians who christened this new stage and from Eppy's and the rest of the audience's response, we did the place proud. Once again there is a top shelf venue for top shelf live music on Long Island. Strawberry Fields highly recommends going there, and not just when we're on the bill. Along with regular appearances at The Brickhouse, Burkes, Port Jazz, Mulcahey's and other tri-state area clubs, we've been doing more and more private parties and corporate functions.

Some upcoming confirmed highlights for us include Princeton University, The Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, a free family show at Tanner Park in Copiague, Sayville Country Club and Ulysses in N.Y.C.. In July, The Barnstable Fair in Cape Cod (where we'll share the same stage as The Charley Daniels Band, The Grass Roots, John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band and Chubby Checker), We'll again be back for a free family show at Hoyt Farms, The FRANE Convention in Maine and another show for Long Island Hospice aboard the Port Jefferson Ferry.

Please join us on October 27, 2006 at The North Fork/Westbury Music Fair, at B.B. Kings for a Saturday brunch, or any of the other venues we have lined up this season. We really love seeing you there and as you know, "a splendid time is guaranteed for all!"

Great news! We now have the video clip from the 2005 NYC Marathon Performance!

My personal thoughts of our concert on August 16, 2005 at SHEA STADIUM, as John Lennon (as told by Tony Garofalo):

Photo: Bill Greenberg

We played the same song list, wore the exact Shea jackets, played the same vintage instruments, and were just as emotionally charged and excited as the real Fab Four. It was an honor to have been introduced before the concert on the field by none other than Sid Bernstein, who was mild mannered, sincere, and most of all...THE Sid Bernstein. We would like to graciously thank both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for their personal on-screen Diamond Vision greetings to the fans at Shea Stadium that night. We all got chills just watching it in utter disbelief that it was "Strawberry Fields" and the Shea Stadium anniversary that they (Paul and Ringo) were both honoring.

The fans have not stopped writing and calling, thanking us for such a memorable event. We wish that promoting this event would have begun much earlier, but due to time constraints and various legal issues, we were off and running only about 3 weeks prior to the event. In retrospect, an official attendance of 37,000 was not too bad (considering) and definitely shows promise for a future show at this historic venue (maybe the 40th anniversary of their 1966 concert?).

As a John Lennon impersonator, having played around the world in "The Touring Cast of Beatlemania" and "Strawberry Fields," it was the chance of a lifetime and I thank everyone involved for making it happen, especially The NY Mets. There are now only 4 other people who can say that they performed at Shea Stadium as Beatle performers, and those people are the members of "Strawberry Fields." Wow!

Thanks again to everyone involved: Vito Salamone and Tim Gunkel from the NY Mets; Sid Bernstein; Bill Greenberg; our entire traveling road crew and sound crew; Havana; Dana; Val; Henry O; Gary Maio; Bill Brown; and of course, Mom and Dad.

Tony Garofalo - Founding member of "Strawberry Fields"
Producer and Events Coordinator

My personal thoughts of our concert on August 16, 2005 at SHEA STADIUM, as Paul McCartney (as told by Billy J. Ray):

Photo: Bill Greenberg

I could hardly wait to get out onto that field on August 16th. The days seemed to go by slowly as I ordered the famous "Shea jackets" and the special "Wells Fargo" badges that The Beatles spontaneously added to their costumes as they got ready for the show. For me, there was a special significance to all of this - as I was reliving a childhood memory. I saw The (actual) Beatles perform on August 22nd, 1965, in those same jackets, performing the same songs in Portland, Oregon! Lucky me.

Fast forward to August 16th, 2005. As we drove into Queens and was directed to the Shea Stadium Press Gate to unload our gear, I was overcome by the sheer size of the stadium. It was going to be such an exciting experience to share with family, friends, and fans. When "Strawberry Fields" walked out onto the field to set up and rehearse, I was struck again by the size of the stadium and I remember thinking this must have seemed as unbelievable to The Beatles themselves. We went back to the dressing room area and were introduced to Sid Bernstein, the man who had brought The Beatles to Shea 40 years ago! He was so gracious and kind and it was thrilling to meet him. He's a sweetheart of a man.

As we dressed for the show, I was really nervous, and I took a deep breath as we "took the field." It was overwhelming to look up and see thousands of faces - it was surreal and it seemed to be over so quickly.

As we reentered the stadium, we looked up at the Diamond Vision screen and there was Paul McCartney himself, reminiscing about The Beatles playing at Shea and wishing everyone a good evening - hoping that they enjoyed the event. Wow! I missed Ringo's greeting, but it was great to know that he had also weighed-in on the extraordinary time they had had 40 years ago.

Finally, as I was standing in the parking lot in the darkness, looking up at the silhouette of Shea, I reminded myself of how lucky I was - we were - to have been chosen to do this concert. We'd done it, and done ourselves (and hopefully, The Beatles) proud.

Billy J. Ray - Former Cast Member of "Beatlemania"
Merchandising and Crew Coordinator

My personal thoughts of our concert on August 16, 2005 at SHEA STADIUM, as George Harrison (as told by Mark "Farquar" Vaccacio):

Photo: Henry O

The Shea Stadium gig, on the other hand, was a one-off, one-shot, this-is-it, once-in-a-lifetime type of thing. As you all must know by now, no group in history has ever attempted to recreate The Beatles' historic 1965 Shea Stadium concert - at Shea Stadium! They may have attempted it in their garage or unfinished basement, but never where it actually happened - not to mention with the full support of the NY Mets, as well as prerecorded messages from both of the surviving Beatles - Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

This task required tremendous focus, phone communication, E-mail overload, cell phone burnout, costume preparation, gear checklists, crew support, extras of everything we could think of, good will, best wishes, and a hug for good luck. Remember - this was a winner-take-all type of proposition. One shot only. No retakes.

As implied earlier, I don't remember much about it as it was happening, but when it was over, I knew that "Strawberry Fields" had made its own small version of history. Everything went surprisingly well - the band was tight as a drum, no major train wrecks, nobody got hurt, no one threw overly ripe fruit at us, and a splendid time was had by all. My personal thanks to The NY Mets; our crew, whose help was immeasurable; Tony, Billy, and Gerard; and most importantly to The Beatles, themselves - The Undisputed Greatest Band of All Time! And, of course, thank you, fans, for your continued and undying support.

Mark "Farquar" Vaccacio - Former Cast Member of "Beatlemania"
Musical Director of "Strawberry Fields"

My personal thoughts of our concert on August 16, 2005 at SHEA STADIUM, as Ringo Starr (as told by Gerard Barberine, Jr.):

Photo: Steve Sandick

Our fear that the "slap-back" echo and Shea's sound system might make us look bad, was quickly eliminated at the sound check with some hi-tech in-ear monitors. It allowed us to relax completely and go out there and do our show with no worries.

It was one of the thrills of my life to look up into the stands and see so many people, especially since I was able to recognize so many friends, fans, and loved ones. At one point, Willie Randolph (NY Mets manager) and I made eye contact and he gave me the thumbs up from the dugout. Willie Randolph - one of my personal heroes!

Although I've come to expect it, I was so proud of the guys' professionalism and our ability to relax and genuinely have a fun experience. The whole thing came off better than we could have wished for. We all had a blast.

I thought that our show would pass by in a flash, but I actually did get to savor the experience. It felt like just enough time to feel completely satisfied!

It was a great honor to share the Green Room with Sid Bernstein before and after the show. He actually thanked us for bringing him back to 1965! So many flashes were going off when we posed with him for photographs that I felt like I was at the famous Pan Am interview!

Thank you to Mom and Dad; Valerie; John, Paul, George and Ringo; Tony, Billy, and Farquar; The NY Mets; and all of you fans who gave me this chance of a lifetime!

Gerard Barberine, Jr. - Member "Touring Cast of "Beatlemania"
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