No, not the movie.
The People Under The Stairs is a long-standing tradition at The Fest For
Beatles Fans. It has been around so
long, it started when the event was called BeatleFest.
The name is very descriptive – it was literally a bunch of
people underneath a set of stairs playing music and singing along. The group would form under the stairwell to
the Lower Level. The original stairwell
had walls on 3 sides. This allowed for
some amazing acoustics! And, because it
provided natural reverb – it made everybody sound good – even me! So, basically every day and night of the
Fest about 2-6 musicians would cram themselves into the area and play music. There was seldom any electric instruments as
there was only one outlet and it was inconveniently located. Then about 12-18 people would sit – LITERALLY
directly under the stairs – with people walking right above them. They would also sit along the walls. It was crowded and cramped and sometimes hot
– but it was always fun. It led to many
new friendships from year to year as the seating arrangements lent themselves
to getting to know your neighbor.
At some point the venue (Hyatt-Regency O’Hare) remodeled and
that version of the stairwell was removed.
There are still stairs going to the Lower Level – but it is an open
floor plan. The walls were gone – and so
was the cramped space – and so were the awesome acoustics. For a few years, the musicians still sat
directly under the stairs – now numbering between 7-12 musicians – and singers
sat/stood in the lower level – which was now spacious and allowed for 25-75
people. The group got larger, electric
instruments became the norm, and people spread out. BUT – BUT – that didn’t change the
camaraderie at all. Each year people
make new friends at this gathering. This
also allowed for something new.......dancing!!
Eventually, the hotel, for safety reasons, made the
musicians move out from under the stairs and move to the open area. This was fine, it now allowed even more musicians
to join in and enjoy the fun. Now, here
are 15-20 musicians playing. Electric
instruments now are the mainstay – but attendees will also find keyboards,
French Horns, violins, cellos, clarinets, COWBELL, bass guitar, acoustic
guitar, electric guitar, drums (large and small), flutes, and basically any
other instrument that someone might bring.
The beauty of the larger area is that it becomes even more inclusive
allowing for an unlimited number of musicians to share their gift of
music. In turn, the amount of singers is
also larger. And, even with all this
growth, and the loss of the intimate setting – friendships are still forged
here every single year.
These sing-alongs begin at any time during the day – and
usually last well past 3 or 4 in the morning – sometimes making it until the
sun rises and the band sings “Here Comes The Sun”.
Is this the only group sing-along? Most definitely not. There is, and has been for just as many
years, the primarily acoustic set hosted by Big D. Now, Big D doesn’t “run” it, but people
congregate around him, so we call it the “Big D sing-along”. This started in the 2nd floor
lobby in “the chairs” and has moved several times over the years – and
sometimes several times during the night as the cleaning crew seems to want to
do their jobs. Last year it ended up
outside as the sun came up – right by the main entrance of the hotel as
Monday-morning businessmen were arriving.
One year (or more) it ended up on the balcony – outdoors from where the
pool used to be – also lasting until sunrise.
This group is primarily acoustic and often plays a more eclectic set of
rarities and some non-Beatles songs as the situation warrants. Of course, they also play the Beatles hits
too.
There are also several other sing-alongs throughout the
hotel lobbies all day and all night.
Friday night tends to have a full-blown electric set, hosted by
Minnesota’s “The Lauds”. In this
sing-along, there is actually speakers, a full drum kit, and microphones. The band plays, but also allows other
musicians to plug in and play along.
They also supply 2 cordless mics which get passed around to the audience
for a live-band karaoke experience. This
can be described as an inter-active concert.
Almost like a live “rock band” game.
But it is not just people standing there watching The Lauds do the
Beatles – it is fully interactive any and all musicians are welcome to play
guitar, play drums, add keyboards, sing on the “main stage” or sing in the
crowd with the cordless.
Plus, as mentioned earlier – attendees can probably find a
live-jam at any time somewhere on the hotel property. It is a rarity for minutes to pass without a
jam happening somewhere – even at the darkest hours of the night/morning!
It truly is 3-days of music!
And all this is done by people who, quite simply put, love live
music!! (and love the Beatles, too)
Fest is this weekend – August 14-16 at the Hyatt-Regency
O’Hare - Fest Link - click here
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