Webcast set for Beatlemore Skidmania concert on 11/11/11

As in past years, the this weekend's two  performances of Beatlemore SkidMania  are sold out, but there's another way to attend the Friday night concert. For the first time, SkidTv will transmit a live Webcast starting at 8 p.m.

Just click here.

In keeping with tradition, this 11th edition of Skidmania is being organized as a class assignment by six students taking the advanced Beatles seminar taught by Gordon Thompson, professor of music. After two weeks of auditions in which nearly 40 student groups and individual performers tried out, they've made their selections and posted the program  here.  

" Skidmania is all about finding your own sound and perfecting it - not finding the Beatles' sound and perfecting it," said Dan Fisher, one of the six upperclassmen taking Thompson's seminar. "We wanted a diverse set list with performers who have put their own unique spin on the song of their choice. This year's Skidmania will offer folk, experimental rock, blues, reggae, indie and more."

"The depth of the Skidmore talent pool is extraordinary," he continued. "That's why Skidmania keeps packing 'em in."  

Four of the six students taking Thompson's seminar auditioned for the show, and three made the final cut. Fisher is one of them, doing a blues rock version of "Come Together." The others are Alexander "Xan" Goldberg '13, who will perform "I Want to Hold Your Hand" with the Bandersnatchers, Skidmore's men?s a capella group, and Carolyn Bottelier '13, who will perform a funk pop version of "Eight Days a Week."

Goldberg, who performed with the Bandersnatchers in the 2009 edition of Skidmania, says he can't wait to perform again. "This performance will be particularly special for me because I've played a role in producing the event. I have a much greater sense as a performer of being part of a larger whole rather than a solitary act."

The concert has a rich history. Amid the events that followed 9/11, it began when several musicians in his advanced Beatles class proposed staging a concert at which they would perform the works they were analyzing in his class.

Thompson thought it was a great idea, and helped the students enlist other bands and stage it. Every fall semester since, his students have taken the lead in organizing a concert in which student musicians reinterpret and perform Beatles songs, the more imaginatively the better.

"Educationally, Skidmania provides an opportunity for students to directly engage with material and make it their own," said Thompson in this 2007 interview. "Here they enthusiastically take up the music of their own accord, work out their arrangements, rehearse their performances, and put on their show. All I do is act as an air-traffic controller, helping them to achieve their goals. Not only does that make the concert rewarding for them, but the process builds community."

Students taking the Communications Design class taught by Deb Hall, associate professor of art, also have joined the project, designing posters to be used in promoting the event and T-shirts to be offered for sale at the event. After reviewing 17 designs, the event organizers selected a poster and T-shirt design by Samantha Shneyer '12 that recreates the yellow submarine featured in the 1968 animated Beatles film.

The sale of tickets, T-shirts and posters last year resulted in a donation of more than $2,000 to Skidmore Cares,a campus-wide endeavor collects food and supplies for area organizations that help those in need. All proceeds from this year's event also will go to Skidmore Cares.

The program for each year's show typically revolves around a theme that's pegged to a significant anniversary, such as the 40th anniversary of the recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2007, the White Album in 2008, and Abbey Road in 2009.

Since there are no salient anniversaries this year that are really worth noting,   Thompson decided to leave the field wide open for this year's concert. In "Beatles and Beyond," the performers will have license to freely explore the entire Beatles repertoire plus any works produced after the Fab Four's break-up in 1970. 

Last year's two shows sold out, and tickets to this year's show are sellingquickly.Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, and $3 for members of the Skidmore community.  

To buy tickets, call the Zankel Box Office (518) 580-5321 or buy them online at the Zankel website.