TheFourFour

The Show Report, 12/8: Imagine all the people…

Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by thederosh in News

Tonight is a very special night for local music, a night where a local tradition is resurrected to the delight of those who witnessed it before and the opportunity for younger music fans to see it for the first time. One year before the 25th anniversary of its first edition, Imagine: A Tribute to John Lennon will see stage lights go on for it at the Gillioz Theatre. Tonight’s tribute show, which benefits Women In Need of the Ozarks, costs $12 to get in ($10 for seniors and students) and begins at 7 p.m. (doors at 6) and features a list of local music’s leading lights to interpret Lennon’s songs:

The Big Beat Club

The Fabulous Unexpected

Distant Relative

The Tall, Dark and Handsomes

Jenny Vinyard

Cindy Woolf (who will get to perform “Imagine” itself)

Dale McCoy

The Scribbles

The Silver Hammer Band

Moon Honey

The Detectives 

This year’s Imagine concert is the first since 2003, but the event dates back much further than that. A little history, courtesy of the official event press release:

“In 1985, Ron Butler and two other local musicians created the non-profit organization The Acorn Foundation (no relation to the ACORN that has been in the news lately) for the express purpose of staging a yearly event featuring local musicians performing the music of John Lennon with proceeds from the event donated to a local charity. The first show was held on December 8^th, 1985 -the 5th anniversary of Lennon’s death- at the Springfield Art Museum.

“It was necessary, in order to use Lennon’s image in print and electronic media, to get permission from his estate, which is controlled by Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono. Ron contacted her manager Elliot Mintz and Ms. Ono graciously honored the request. Ono also granted a lengthy radio interview which was conducted by Rick Moore on US97. She is notified every year and  has chosen to grant permission each time.

“Attendance at the annual event grew steadily and larger venues were utilized. Central High School Auditorium, McDonald Arena at MSU, Clara Thompson Hall, University Plaza Expo Center and Remington’s all hosted one or more of the concerts.

“The last Imagine show was in 2003.  Ron and his wife Kristen had done the lion’s share of the work from the first year on and circumstances simply didn’t allow them to continue producing the event.”

Gone but never forgotten in the years since, local musician Alan Pierson, most recently of The Crabapples, has led the way in bringing the show back. The payoff is tonight.

The show won’t go all night, of course, which leaves some time to drop by the evening’s other shows: Makeout at Tonic Ultralounge and Open Mic Night at The Outland. Nothing like a post concert drink and some possible elbow-rubbing with the night’s onstage performers, eh?

Tags: alan pierson, big beat club, cindy woolf, concert, dale mccoy, december 8, detectives, distant relative, gillioz, imagine, jenny vinyard, john lennon, live, local, moon honey, music, open mic night, outland, ron butler, scribbles, show, silver hammer band, springfield, tall dark and handsomes, the beatles, the fabulous unexpected, tuesday, yoko ono