Fourteen years of Beatlemore

More than 70 student performers celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival in America, delighting audiences in three sold-out shows in the 14th edition of Beatlemore Skidmania. The event raised $12,000 for local service agencies and student financial aid.

Launched in 2001, this signature Skidmore event now functions like a well-oiled machine, starting with the declaration of the event theme by Gordon Thompson, professor and chair of music, and ending months later on the main stage of the Arthur Zankel Music Center with a remarkable display of student creativity and talent. In between, dozens of bands audition and students in Deb Hall’s Communications Design class come up with the logo for posters and T-shirts. A major goal always is to raise a substantial sum for Skidmore Cares, the College’s outreach program to help those in need in the community, and student financial aid.

With this year’s theme spotlighting the Beatles' early repertoire, audiences this weekend were treated to creative interpretations of such favorites as “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “You Can’t Do That,” “Eight Days a Week,” “Things We Said Today,” and “I Feel Fine.” The students performed in groups with names like Salt Water, Too Much Tuna, and Batman Nosebleed.

As always, the Rust Brothers – a faculty band that includes Thompson on drums, Joel Brown on lead guitar, and John Anzalone on bass – delivered the big close with a rousing rendition of “Twist and Shout.”

Behind the scenes, a Beatlemore Student Committee — consisting of consists of Roslyn Wertheimer ’16, Noah Samors ’15, and Lisa Fierstein ’16 — managed the logistics that made the show possible.  

A three-camera livestream of Saturday night’s performance by SkidTV and Media Services was viewed by nearly 1800 people, including alums who gathered for Beatlemore parties in New York and Boston.  

Also shooting Saturday night’s event was a team of three students -- Julian Klein ’15, Sam Mark ’16 and Arden Pradier ’17 – led by videography director Vickie Riley. Their mini-documentary on this year’s Beatlemore may be viewed above.

The Beatlemore tradition started in 2001 as an outgrowth of Thompson’s Beatles Seminar. In the grim months following 9/11, his students asked Thompson if they could stage a concert of Beatles music as a way to lift the campus’s spirits. Thompson helped them book a hall and organize the event, recruiting student bands and singing groups, and offering his own Rust Brothers as a faculty band.  Thompson recounts more of Skidmania's origins here.