Abbey Road on the River has been taking place in Louisville since 2005, and has grown in popularity with each year and with each festival. The music at Abbey Road on the River has started cover not only The Beatles, but music that Beatles fans enjoy; showcasing bands like last year’s headliner Leon Russell and this year’s headliner: The Beach Boys.
But the greatest part of Abbey Road on the River is the little things—the memories that will flood back, the camaraderie that comes from a shared love of The Beatles, and the natural good times that come from spending the day on the Waterfront.
Here are the five events/bands you should try to catch at this weekend’s Abbey Road on the River (and you already know about The Beach Boys, so you won’t find them on this list):
Vintage Vinyl Webcast (Thursday, 1 p.m.
): Vintage Vinyl is a project of The Courier-Journal writer Jeffrey Lee Puckett and music fan Tom Heiser, and you can see them tape an episode on The Beatles. Since August 2013, Vintage Vinyl has been on the web talking about their love of classic rock, pop, and the good ol’ oldies. Many of their episodes have a list format, where both guys list their top ten favorite songs from an artist like Neil Young, Aretha Franklin, and Billy Joel.
All You Need Is Love (Friday 9:30 pm
, Sunday 10:45 pm
): This cover band from Ontario, Canada makes a living out of celebrating classics from The Beatles and beyond. This weekend their performance is called “Is There Anybody Alive Out There!” and will be a tribute to Bruce Springsteen.
Sixty Four with LSB Experience (Friday 6:15 pm
): Let’s get specific. Which Beatles era is your favorite? Sixty Four is here to help relive two of your favorites when they perform “Revolver” and “Abbey Road” in their entirety. They also advertise a special guest for a song or two.
Kevin Ashba (Saturday 4:15 pm
, Sunday 12:15 pm
): Ashba taking to the piano to play what is billed as the best of both worlds: Elton and Lennon at the piano. Join Ashba for this creative take on classic tunes.
Hal Bruce (He’s everywhere all weekend): Let’s call Hal Bruce Abbey Road on the River’s Beatle’s addict. Bruce will be playing in some capacity eight different times this weekend, so if you don’t see him, you were probably in the wrong place at the wrong time. Once he performed a medley of all 214 of The Beatles songs in the order they were released. Need I say more?
If these just don’t suit you, there are countless (and I mean countless) other sets bands from around the world that will converge upon Louisville to cover The Beatles and beyond.
Don’t have your tickets yet? You can enter to win tickets to Abbey Road on the River on Louisville.com’s Facebook page!