I committed a “crime” by missing my date with Abbey Road during my recent coverage of the 46th Tokyo Motor Show.
Abbey Road is a bar-restaurant in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, whose main attraction is bands that play pure Beatles music.
Pure because every song the band of the night dishes out is organically faithful to the Beatles sound, from beginning to end.
Pure because the band is, like the Beatles, also composed of four men.
Pure because the band’s members try their best to mimic not only the sound and voice of the Beatles but the appearances of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as well.
It is, indeed, their purity that I keep coming back to Abbey Road.
Their faithfulness to Beatles music is flawless.
Take the Beatles classic, “A Day in The Life.”
The song’s concluding note from the organ was copied to the hilt—fading, fading and fading till the minutest sound is finally gone.
If a Beatles song is a McCartney ditty, like “Yesterday” or “Rocky Raccoon,” the band’s bassist will do it.
If it’s a Lennon song, like “It’s Only Love” or “No Reply,” the band’s rhythm guitarist will do it.
If it’s a Harrison piece, like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” or “Something,” the band’s lead guitarist will do it.
And if it’s a Starr song, like “What Goes On” or “A Little Help From My Friend,” the band’s drummer will do it.
As Danny “Sir John” Isla loves to ask: “Where in the world can you find a band like the Parrots or Silver Beats playing Beatles stuff without let-up?”
I discovered Abbey Road in 2001 through writer-journalist Sol Juvida, who stood beside The Cavern waiting for a Migrante Int’l officer whom she was to interview.
The Cavern was the “old” Abbey Road, becoming our haunt during every visit to the Tokyo Motor Show starting in 2001.
It was when The Cavern burned down that Abbey Road became our second home in Tokyo beginning in 2009.
When our Abbey Road date on Oct. 23 got canceled due to overbooking, it felt like the world had caved in on me.
In 2021, I will reserve my seat months before leaving to cover, hopefully with Toyota again, the 47th Tokyo Motor Show. Promise.