After rehearsing for months in the Aptos Hills in 2003, The White Album Ensemble had their debut concert, performing the Beatles “White Album” and selling out Memorial Day Weekend, 2003! Gulf War II was going on, Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California, and it was the last year that new VW Beetles were manufactured.
20 years later, as the Ukraine War rages on and Covid-19 changes the world, the White Album Ensemble performs their Farewell Concerts at the venue where they started… the lovely historic deco Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz. After doing shows with the Santa Cruz County Symphony under direction of Larry Granger, The WAE has raised over $100,000 for school music programs, youth symphonies and Guitars Not Guns non-profits.
These final concerts will feature Richard Bryant, Drew Harrison, Ken Kraft, Stephen Krilanovich, Dale Ockerman, Trey Sabatelli, Endre Tarczy, we will be will be enhanced with a guest appearance of former Lennon vocalist, Alan Heit, and Will McDougal on keys; a Horn Section of Dan Young, Jim Hannibal, John Hensley and Steve Wilson; plus a string quartet of Priscilla Whitcomb, Renatta Bratt, Lydia Davis, and Rebecca Dularte- Corbin!
Both Friday and Saturday will feature the same program:
The first set will be "Get Back" (the original intended name for Let It Be album) and the subject of the popular Peter Jackson series. It's appropriate for the occasion as it was an attempt at "playing live" for an audience, something they had not done since 1966, at SF's Candlestick Park.
The second set will be Abbey Road, the Beatles' last album (and to many, their best), a fitting musical statement to say "Farewell" and leaving us a remarkable close to 20 years of happiness and fond memories.
"And In The End, the Love you take, is equal to the Love you make!”
Tickets are available online at tix.com here, or physically at Streetlight Records in Santa Cruz. They don't sell tickets any more, except for us, as a much appreciated public service!
THE WAE LOVES YOU!
