Arts & Entertainment

Celebrating John Lennon With Rock n' Roll

The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center presents a birthday concert to honor the icon's life.

In honor of what would be John Lennon’s 71st birthday this month, the and the John Lennon Center for Music and Technology will present a special performance by the Beatles tribute band, Mostly Moptop.

The show which debuts on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., is entitled: is a mix of music and spoken word performance, a concept created by Anthony Pomes, who is a member of the band.

“The hope is that everyone will be entertained, but will also come away with a deeper sense of what John stood for and how truly visionary he was," Pomes said.

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The performance will begin with a special four-part song cycle homage to Lennon’s life, art and music. Then, spoken passages from Lennon’s book and play “In His Own Write,” will be performed, along with such classic Beatles tracks as “Please Please Me,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” and “I Am the Walrus.”

Other tracks in the line up include “Mind Games,” “Watching the Wheels,” and “Imagine.” Mostly Moptop will be joined by five additional musicians for this new show, including Five Towns College faculty member and virtuoso saxophonist Demetrius Spaneas.

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Special guest Tim Riley, National Public Radio’s music critic and author of the new book "Lennon: the Man, the Myth, the Music--the Definitive Life," will speak briefly about his book and the decade he dedicated to researching and writing it, as well.

The mix of music, spoken word and history of Lennon's life all give viewers a new perspective of the 60s icon, Pomes said.

"Lennon is honest about everything in his music and life, the good, bad; love, hate," he said. "What everyone responds to is his hope and humanity."

For more information and ticket sales, contact the Dix Hills Performing Arts Center box office at 631-656-2148 or visit online at www.DHPAC.org.


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