THE BRITISH INVASION

In July of 2002 I went to Florida with my academic team to compete in the Panasonic Academic Challenge, so of course all our free time was spent in Disneyworld.  Epcot Center features representations of various countries around a big lake, each country featuring things it's stereotypically known for, plus restaurants, gift shops, etc.  I, of course, booked it to the England section, since I figured the Beatles-shopping would be good there.

I discovered something even better than merchandise, though...a Beatles cover band called The British Invasion performs at Epcot on a regular basis in a specially-built gazebo that's flanked by "yeah yeah yeah" signs.

I managed to get a seat right in the center of the mock-English-garden, although I wasn't very close to the performers.  They came on stage dressed as The Beatles appeared during their Shea Stadium performance (with the high-collared tan shirts) and performed a number of tunes from that era.  They wore mop-top wigs, of course.

The garden slowly filled with people until it was packed - it was fantastic to see so many people come together and dance to Beatles tunes over 30 years after the band actually broke up.

The musicianship was excellent and the singing was quite good, too - they managed to match their voices fairly well with our boys'.

I managed to get closer to the gazebo to watch their performance (while trying to avoid the dancing-area like it was my job).  After the show was over, the band was very friendly and came down to talk to the audience and pose for pictures.

Watching the smaller kids interact with the band gave me a warm-fuzzy feeling inside - one kid went up to them and said that A Day In the Life is the greatest song ever written on earth, and they all acted as if the band really was the "real thing."  It was so fantastic to see all those people display their great love for The Beatles - and the audience's affection for this cover band only attests to the amazing power of the real Beatles.

Anyway, if you happen to be in Disneyworld, don't forget to drop by the British section of Epcot to see the show - it's well worth the time!  You can see pictures of The British Invasion, read about their shows, etc. at their web site.