One year ago I was in Portland, Maine for Thanksgiving and to work on some writing. Looking for something to do, I hit up ‘Beatles Night’ that Saturday at the State Theatre, expecting very little. Fab Four tributes are always good for a few laughs but tend to get old fast. That wasn’t the case with what I witnessed from Spencer and the Walrus. Here’s what I wrote afterward on an Instagram post:
“Utterly blown away by the show put on by @spencerandthewalrus last night @statetheatreportland. This is their 21st year of doing @thebeatles Night and the only disappointment is missing the previous 20. No gimmicks. The musicianship was next level. The song selection was shocking – they even did the brand-new ‘Now and Then!’”
The next day, I missed my train back to Boston, had to schedule a later one, and caught 90% of the third show matinée. That’s right; Spencer and the Walrus fill the biggest all-year-round venue in Portland, just doing Beatles covers. That’s not a fluke either. And I knew that weekend I’d be coming back again.
Ahead of year 22, I sat down with Beatles Night architect Spencer Albee for a Vanyaland 617 Q&A. He talked about the evolution from one night at a small venue to three, as well as some of his dream special guests – and why George Harrison is kind of a dick. This weekend, I’m planning to be at both Friday and Saturday and couldn’t be more excited about it.
And here’s a video of the band covering “Live and Let Die” from a few years ago:
The Chronicles of Michael Christopher 
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