Rooftop concert cancelled but Beatles fan anniversary celebration continues

by Dave Haber

Next Friday January 30th is the 40th anniversary of the Beatles playing their last ever live performance, on the roof of 3 Savile Row in London. Beatles tribute band The Bootleg Beatles were due to re-create the concert on the very same roof, but the local council and police have stopped them from doing it.
The orginal event was to be organised by Express Newspapers and OK magazine. The Bootleg Beatles were due to play on the roof of 3 Savile Row 40 years to the minute since the Beatles. Tony Bramwell of Apple was due to attend. However, it was cancelled on "health and safety grounds," by the local council and the police.
Richard Porter, of the British Beatles Fan Club, and The Beatles In London Tours, was surprised by the cancellation of the rooftop event.
"It's a real shame, and rather surprising. I find it rather strange as the Bootleg Beatles were played on the very same roof on the 30th anniversary!"


The Bootleg Beatles performing Get Back live on the roof of the old Apple HQ in Saville Row in London in 1999 on the 30th anniversary of when the Beatles famously did it!

Porter remembers the event 10 years ago, saying, "I was up there with them! You can see me at the start of the clip, to the left of 'Paul', and by the greenhouse, which is one of the few original objects left from 1969. It was very eerie as I was standing right behind the group and they were wearing the same styles clothes as the Beatles in 1969. It was easy to imagine I'd gone back 30 years in time."
Not to be put off by the "Blue Meanies," members of the British Beatles Fan Club, and even some fans from Norway, will be gathering at 3 Savile Row around noon on January 30th to have their own celebration, and they say everyone welcome. If you play a musical instrument, they invite you to bring it along so that they can have a jam in the street.
Porter says, "Even though it looks like the Bootleg Beatles concert has been cancelled we still plan to be in Savile Row around noon, 40 years to the minute since the Beatles played. I will be doing a speical Beatles tour that day, making sure we arrive in Savile Row in good time for noon. The tour will start at 10:45am from outside the Dominion Theatre, which is by the exit of Tottenham Court Road Underground Station. The tour will also visit MPL, the Studios where the Beatles recorded Hey Jude, Abbey Road, and of course 3 Savile Row."
The tour will cost £7 pounds per person (about $9.75). Anyone interested in the tour should e-mail Richard Porter at richard@beatlesinlondon.com. Of course anyone can make their way directly to Savile Row on Friday at noon, without coming on the tour.