2009/01/31

The BADGE: 40th Anniversary of The Beatles Final Concert.


40th Anniversary of The Beatles Final Concert To Be Marked
New York City band The Badge to release tribute to the band's final
live performance from January 30, 1969

January 29, 2009 – For Immediate Release

New York, NY - The New York City-based band The Badge will release a recently discovered recording of its 2004 tribute to the final live performance of The Beatles on the fortieth anniversary of the event as a free digital download as part of its “Bootleg Series” of limited edition releases. On January 30, 1969, The Beatles performed material from their then as-yet unreleased "Let It Be" album, including "Get Back", "Don't Let Me Down", "Dig A Pony", "I've Got A Feeling" and "One After 909". The band were looking for a way to create a climax for the documentary cameras that had been tracking their rehearsals during January 1969, and did so by performing on the rooftop of their Saville Row, London, Apple offices. It was the band's final live, public performance together, and was stopped by police after noise complaints from area businesses. "Just as The Beatles treated London to a lunchtime concert, so did we," said Jeff Slate, founder of The Badge. "We broke up a cold, gray January day five years ago with a little entertainment and at the same time paid tribute to an historic event in the life of the world's greatest rock n' roll band. It’s hard to believe that it’s now the 40th anniversary of the last time The Beatles played together." The recording is of The Badge’s concert from January 30, 2004, which took place at Guitar Center's Union Square store at 14th Street and 5th Avenue (instead of its original outdoor location at Wall Street due to the extreme weather conditions expected in New York City) and again later that night at the infamous live venue Arlene’s Grocery. The recording was recently discovered during sessions to remix and remaster the band’s first album. “These things really do happen,” said Slate. “You always hear of bands finding recordings, but in this case that’s exactly what happened. It’s rough, but it’s a great document of The Badge at that moment in time.” The Badge did not, however, perform a note-for-note recreation of the concert, or dress up in lookalike costumes. "We didn’t recreate the concert the way your average tribute band might," said Slate. "We're a real band, with our own legacy to create. We played the five songs The Beatles played that day, but we did it our own way. To me, that's the real way to pay tribute. In fact, there's really no other way in my mind."

“The Rooftop Concert - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7 (Live)” will be released digitally on The Badge’s own DigitalRetro Productions/BadgeTunes Publishing imprint. The Badge released their latest single, featuring the songs “King Without A Country” and “Where You Are”, last year. In celebration of the band’s 10th anniversary it will release a “best of” this Spring, with a full-length album of new material – its fourth - due later in the year. The band will be touring the US, UK and Europe extensively in 2009.

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Contact:
thebadge@digitalretro.com
www.thebadge.com

Rooftop birthday's gig link

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