Classical Mystery Tour – a Beatles tribute backed by a Symphony Orchestra – is coming to Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto this Thursday!

This is a note-for-note live Beatles tribute performance with full costumes and, most excitingly, accompanied by the Kitchener/Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and I will be there!  How about you?

Crazy to think about how part of the reason The Beatles stopped playing live at all in 1966 was because they felt like they could not reproduce on stage what they were doing on their records.  Did you know that the longest concert The Beatles ever played during their touring years was 33 minutes?  They just took their nightclub act and put it in an arena or a stadium.  Their historic Shea Stadium concert in 1965 was only 27 minutes.  This was obviously long before the days of 3-hours-plus concerts with elaborate stage set-ups and guest performers.

It goes without saying that this is the most popular music of the 20th century and when it’s recreated on stage like this, it’s nothing short of magical.  I’ve downloaded a few performance clips from the show’s website and they sound totally authentic.  And the crowd that comes out for these kinds of shows runs the gamut from people who were there when Beatlemania was happening to pretty twenty-something girls dancing in their cutest retro-styled dress.

Get tickets to Classical Mystery Tour from the Sony Centre’s website (click).

And if you can’t make it, I’ve got you covered with a Beatles tribute of my own….

Even though my mother is from the Halifax area, I had never been to the east coast in my own home country. But after Conor McCreery told me at Montreal Comic Con about how amazing Hal-Con was last year, I had to pack up my product case and make the trip.

And what a trip! The Saturday of the convention was my biggest single day for sales ever. Sunday was a little slower on account of how the big ticket programming was on Sunday, but if you count the books that stores bought from me to sell for Christmas gift-giving, this was my highest-grossing convention weekend ever.

Three conventions in the last couple of months and each one more successful than the last.  It occurs to me that this is living the dream.

My deepest thanks and appreciation to everyone at Hal-Con who came by my table, bought my pop art wonderworks, and gave me a very warm welcome in Halifax.  And extra special thanks to Harth Publishing for sending me on this trip to represent our book, Tomorrow Never Knows – A Comics History of the Psychedelic Beatles.  This partnership just gets more fun by the day.

Thanks so much, everyone!  If you were there, drop me a line and let me know how you liked the books you got. Send me your pictures and I’ll put them on the blog or the Facebook page!

Here is the vehicle in which I arrived to Halifax. First time flying Porter!

Pondering the wisdom of Yoda. This, probably my favorite costume of the convention, was knitted by the person wearing it. She said it took her three months to make it!

Here are my custom monogrammed bags. Buy something, and then advertise me all weekend!

Homeboys chillin’. Let’s kick it on November 5.

This girl came running to the table with money in hand to buy everything Beatles on the table. It all made sense when I saw the tattoo on her wrist.

And after the convention, Strange Adventures (Legendary Halifax comic book that regularly wins awards for being the best comic book store in North America) hosted the after-party where I got to catch up with a bunch of artists I haven’t seen in forever, and make a bunch of new friends.

Speaking of Strange Adventures, Tomorrow Never Knows is going to be on their featured products wall for the Christmas gift buying season. If you are in the Halifax area, make sure you pop in to pick up a copy.  Also available in Halifax at Monster Comics Lounge.

Thanks again to everyone who made my first-ever visit to Halifax a big success and a lot of fun. This is just a sampling of the photos I took. Check out the complete gallery on my Facebook page: facebook.com/SeanWardSuperParty

Fan Expo 2011 is over and what a great weekend! With the new book TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS, a comics history of the psychedelic Beatles, it was my biggest convention ever by quite a big margin – and I’ve been to these things reppin’ a spin-off comic book from a famous TV show so you know this weekend was HOT!

What’s this on the table with The Beatles?? Two Super Party comic books?? I’ll tell you something about those in my next blog post. Spoiler alert: You’re gonna lose control of your bladder with excitement.

Me and Ninja Turtle Man!

Me and The Dude!

There are a whole bunch more pictures in the Fan Expo gallery on my Facebook page – CLICK THIS SHIT

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This blog post is dedicated to everyone who is looking at this website for the first time after meeting me at Fan Expo.  Leave a comment and say what up!  The star is dedicated to Heather Payne who loves the stars in my Twitter bio.

Extra special thanks to everyone who comes to this website on the regular and has followed my art for years.  Love to you all.

Holy shit, this is going to be amazing.  No Direction Home, Scorsese’s documentary about Bob Dylan, was rewatchably good to the tune of dozens of viewings and new meanings revealed each time.

I’ve heard about Scorsese working on this for years now so I can only dream about the kinds of people he was able to reach about appearing in the movie and talking about George Harrison and The Beatles.

If you hear anything about it coming out or a release date, make sure you tell me first!!!

And check out full details on the website georgeharrison.com

If you do not know that I am a Beatles fan to the point where it borders on obsession, you must be visiting this website for the first time.

One thing that fascinates me about The Beatles’ popularity is how in so many ways, they are still the yardstick by which we measure success in the arts.  But when we look at particularly how they entrenched themselves in the fabric of people’s daily lives, we see that it’s not just about the music.

The earth-shattering and continuing success of The Beatles is every bit about selling an image as it is about selling records.  The Beatles perfectly embody the concepts of creating the best art and presenting it in unique & exciting ways that I outlined in my Social Media Week presentation How to Be a Blog Star: The Artistry of Your Personal Brand.

On February 28, I’m going to introduce you to the artists & designers who helped a group of hoodlum dropout teenagers pull off the greatest personal branding success in history.

Seating for this presentation at the Yorkville Media Centre in Toronto is extremely limited. Click here to reserve a ticket on the Guestlistapp page.

Last night I got to take a bunch of people to an advance screening of Nowhere Boy, the movie about John Lennon’s teenage years and the origin of The Beatles.

Here is the video of the excursion:

My friends at Maple Pictures sent me ten double passes to the screening:

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And a 45RPM record featuring two songs from the movie – Autographed by Aaron Johnson (who plays John Lennon and played Kick-Ass) and Sam-Taylor Wood (who directed the movie)!!

You know me, I am a huge Beatles fan.

So much so that the other night, I started a new blog.

Check out my new Beatles blog at beatles-covers.tumblr.com

Mike Kasaboski – @thementalkavity on Twitter – has definitely secured himself one of the double passes with this illustration of John Lennon (click the link to see his whole creative process behind it):

Do you want to come see Nowhere Boy with me this Wednesday?

Click here for full details and the trivia question…

I’m giving away 10 double passes
to the advance screening of
NOWHERE BOY
Wednesday, October  13
SilverCity Yonge & Eglinton

As the biggest Beatles fan you know, I was very excited when my friends at Maple Pictures hooked me up with ten double passes to take a party of friends & fans to the advance screening of Nowhere Boy.

To win a double-pass to come see the advance screening of Nowhere Boy with me, just answer the following question in the comments below:

When John Lennon left home as a teenager, to what city did he and his band go to hone their craft and become The Beatles?

You can totally score bonus points by showing off your knowledge and how big a fan you are.  Winners will be selected from all correct entries and notified Monday evening.

I have been very excited to see this movie since I heard it was being made last year. This movie starts with John Lennon discovering rock & roll and follows the very beginning of his journey as an Artist – from meeting Paul McCartney (the collaborator with whom he would change the world) to the tragedies that would inspire some of his most heartfelt work.

When the first trailer was released nearly a year ago, I got very excited about this movie.  Click to read that blog post+

*The screening is at SilverCity Yonge & Eglinton in Toronto, Canada. Pick-up time for passes will be at 6PM.  Make sure you can be up at Yonge & Eglinton for about 6 if you want to enter to win a double pass.

There is one inarguable ‘biggest influence on pop culture’, and that is The Beatles. There are two contenders to the title of biggest influence on pop culture since The Beatles, and those contenders are Jay-Z, and Wu-Tang Clan.

‘Meet The Beatles’ was Inevitable

Both The Wu and J-Hova are central to the mainstream embrace and popularization of hip hop in the 90s and 00s. But until very recently, only Jigga-Man has been blended with The Beatles. When Producer Danger Mouse’s visionary THE GREY ALBUM dropped in 2004, remixing Jay-Z’s entire Black Album with beats made only out of samples from The Beatles’ White Album, it was a sensation that started a variety of trends which would shape popular taste to the present day, and allow both acts to entrench their dominance and influence in ways neither could have predicted.

Now comes Wu-Tang VS Beatles – Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers. This is a mash-up album by DJ Tom Caruana. Upon discovering it, I tweeted that it was my two favorite things in life coming together, and I was extremely happy to report that it is an amazing and richly entertaining album (I personally feel like it’s better than The Grey Album, but that is open to debate and will vary by individual)

An Unlikely Pairing, Unless you Know your Stuff

I thought I was the only one who loved The Beatles and Wu-Tang equally, but Caruana really knows his stuff. The use and juxtaposition of interview clips turns the listening of the record into an education in both groups’ histories, a comparison of their rise to fame, and a celebration of their legacy.

The album samples Beatles songs, solo Beatle songs, and covers of Beatles songs which means that Wu-Tang VS The Beatles presents a much more diverse listening experience than the gimmick might suggest. It’s full of witty and fun pairings, like the piano from You Never Give me Your Money under I’ve Got Your Money, or using You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) for M.E.T.H.O.D. Man. At twenty-seven tracks, it’s a bit big to take in on first listen but if you love these groups anywhere near as much as I do, you will really enjoy listening again and again, uncovering the layers, and seeing your favorites emerge.

Comparisons with The Grey Album – an “instant classic”, according to Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan of NYU – are inevitable, but Wu-Tang VS The Beatles takes the idea to different place than the limited scope of The Grey Album and becomes something very different. It might not end up being as big of an earth-shaker as The Grey Album, if only because The Grey Album was the pioneer in the mash-up album genre.  But Wu-Tang VS The Beatles equals or betters The Grey Album in three key areas:

BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS:

Encore and 99 Problems on The Grey Album are way better than the original Black Album versions. Here you get similarly superior versions of Labels (remixed with McCartney’s Momma Miss America), Clientele Kidd (using a reggae cover of Live and Let Die), and Uzi (chopping up It’s Getting Better, Skiing from Harrison’s Wonderwall soundtrack, and more), among others.  I’m thinking that there are many fans who love both groups, and this record is an absolute treat for them. And get ready to die of awesomeness when you hear the Wu VS Beatles Outro closing the proceedings.

IT’S GOOD:

It’s one thing to lay some Wu-Tang acapellas over of Beatles songs. It’s another to take the time to make beats out of Beatles songs. It’s yet another to create this insanely detailed, beautifully produced, and eminently replayable sound collage of official release quality.

IT’S EXCITING AND NOVEL:

Technical brilliance and entertainment value are the yin and yang that make or break a project like this. Without one, the other is rendered moot. Wu-Tang VS The Beatles hits both notes with grace, ease, and excitement.

My only complaint about Wu-Tang VS The Beatles: Tom Caruana did it first! I’ve got an idea for a Beatles Meets Wu-Tang project and I never thought others were seeing the parallels that I see.

Download or listen to the album at producer Tom Caruana’s official site - http://www.teasearecords.net/wuvsbeatles

Further reading: check out cover designer Logan Walters’ series re-imagining classic Wu album covers as Blue Note-era sleeves – http://website13156.com/?p=193

What do you think about Wu-Tang VS The Beatles?  A natural fit or an unlikely pairing?