BEATLEMORE SKIDMANIA CELEBRATING 1964: THE BEATLES ARRIVE IN AMERICA

In 1964, the average cost of a new home was $13,000, workers earned $6,000 per year, gas cost .30 cents per gallon and a ticket to the movies set you back $1.25. It was also the year the Beatles landed in America and changed, well, just about everything. 

The 14th version of the annual Beatlemore Skidmania concert event will feature Skidmore musicians performing tunes from 1964 to showcase the 50th anniversary of the Beatles going global by arriving in America. “This year, we celebrate the breakthrough of this important band into the American market,” Skidmore Music Professor Gordon Thompson said, in a statement. “They had already achieved considerable success in Britain and Western Europe, but they had very little success in the North American market. More fundamentally, they opened up the American market for British performers who had been largely treated as novelty acts up to this point.” Beatlemore Skidmania began in 2001.

This year’s show features a mix of a cappella groups, rock bands, and acoustic acts performing original interpretations of the Beatles repertoire, including “A Hard Day's Night," "All My Loving," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and more than a dozen other selections emanating from the Beatles’ inaugural year in the states. 

The concert will be staged Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21 and 22, at the Arthur Zankel Music Center, on the Skidmore College campus. “In the past some students have said this is the most important educational experience they have had at Skidmore,” Thompson said. “It’s a hands-on look at putting together a show that allows students a chance to learn all aspects of a production.”