|
When the RAIN Comes |
Seacoast History Blog #50
June 17, 2009
A week after seeing the imitation Beatles band RAIN at the Portsmouth Music Hall, I’m still suffering from posttraumatic stress. I know they were not the real Beatles, but with my poor eyesight and their wealth of musical talent, the tribute concert seems to have triggered a cascade of feelings and memories. That always happens when I listen to the Beatles. It goes with the territory of being a Baby Boomer that each song in the catalog conjures a memory. But to see hundreds of grayhairs bumping and grinding to a band that looks and sounds like the real thing – that was a revelation. (continued below)
Would Catholics genuflect to a look-alike Pope? I guess, since Christian Fundamentalists grow emotional at theme parks where fake Jesuses preach among concrete pillars at faux temples in a fake desert. Apparently, for us humans, close enough is good enough.
I would not call myself a Beatles fanatic. I know a few, and I don’t qualify. I have only a couple of Beatle albums – Beatles 65, I think, and a borrowed copy of Rubber Soul that I never returned.—and a couple of 45s. I did see them on Ed Sullivan. I did see A Hard Day’s Night and Help the moment they opened at the Palace Theater in Manchester in the 60s. And I have read my share of Beatles books and seen most of the documentaries.
Admittedly, I did play Beatles songs in a band when I was in high school. I actually bought the sheet music to “I want to Hold Your Hand” and made my elderly piano teacher show me how to play it. I often note, when waxing nostalgic, that my band and the Beatles both broke up in 1969.
But that’s just normal. I never saw any of the Beatles live in concert, and never really wanted to. I prefer recordings to live music most of the time. I’m interested in the art, not so much the artist. I tend not to be star struck. I know that the last thing Sir Paul McCartney needs now is another tearful, middle aged man running up to him in the airport to say, “Love your stuff, man. Big fan! You’re awesome.”
What’s truly awesome is, not just the music, but the way the entire iconography of the band has been hot-wired into my generation. The way Ringo flicked his hair and smiled. The way Paul held his guitar. These are among the deepest memories of my life, reinforced by movies and television specials and now, a hauntingly authentic tribute band that, itself, has been on the road for over two decades.
This sensual imagery, set to an unforgettable Lennon-McCartney soundtrack thrives in a very fundamental part of my perception of myself. They are part of who I am. I can sing, without effort, at least 100 Beatle songs. In all likelihood, these may be the final memories running as my old brain plays out. They symbolize how young I feel, and how old I have become.
The real Beatles stopped touring in 1966. Their concerts were barely 20 minutes long, and if you were there, you couldn’t hear the music for the screaming. RAIN plays for over two hours and the men in the band are technically better musicians than the Beatles themselves. RAIN recreates complex studio recordings with technical perfection that tricks the mind into believing – off and on – that 700 people in a Portsmouth theatre are actually watching history in the making.
That Is the miracle of this show. It conjures five eras of the Beatle journey so successfully, from Ed Sullivan to Abbey Road, that one comes away feeling like a participant. That feeling could not be fully realized without hundreds of screaming fans all around, and knowing this, the faux-Fab Four continually whip their audience into a passion, sending each individual into his or her personal cascade of Beatle-related memories. We are, in the real world, all attending a very realistic Beatle simulation. The experience is very public, very private, very real and really fake.
That combination, apparently, tripped the inner switch that gets one wondering where ones life has gone. The Beatles, we know, have placed their brand on history. But what of us Beatle listeners? We can still sing “Give Peace a Chance” as war rages all around. We can sing “Imagine” with the duplicate John or “Yesterday” with the duplicate Paul, yet remain materialistic and cynical, stumbling over daily details and unable to fix the world.
Through the Beatle looking glass, I see myself brimful of innocence and hope, dancing on possibility, reeling with promise. Looking deeper I see discouragement, frustration, disorientation and disarray. The Beatles, as a band at least, never found the answer. They stripped the world apart and, having placed the pieces at our feet, broke up and skipped town. They became millionaire celebrities. We were abandoned, without a manual, to reassemble the world as best we could. The grand healing, the one in which we all came together, never happened. RAIN reminds me of how good it felt to think I was going to make a difference. RAIN also reminds me that, so far, I have not.
© 2009 J. Dennis Robinson. All rights reserved.
Joomla! Debug Console
session.client.forwarded ⇒ 10.3.184.74
session.client.browser ⇒ Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
password_clear ⇒
groups ⇒
com_rsfirewall.geoip ⇒
6.21 MB (6,513,832 Bytes)
62 Queries Logged
SELECT `data`
FROM `rabbul_session`
WHERE `session_id` = '185a1ac093ab22c9d21478fec44bd810'DELETE
FROM `rabbul_session`
WHERE `time` < '1793698471'SELECT `session_id`
FROM `rabbul_session`
WHERE `session_id` = '185a1ac093ab22c9d21478fec44bd810'
LIMIT 0, 1INSERT INTO `rabbul_session`
(`session_id`, `client_id`, `time`)
VALUES
('185a1ac093ab22c9d21478fec44bd810', 0, '1793699371')SELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_users'SELECT b.id
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_usergroups AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE a.id = 1SELECT id, rules
FROM `rabbul_viewlevels`SELECT folder AS type, element AS name, params
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE enabled >= 1
AND type ='plugin'
AND state >= 0
AND access IN (1,1)
ORDER BY orderingSELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_languages'SELECT `query`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_wafexceptions`
WHERE (`option` IS NULL OR `option` = '')
AND (`view` IS NULL OR `view` = '')
GROUP BY `query`
ORDER BY `query` ASCSELECT `value`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_storage`
WHERE `key` = 'cparams'SELECT `path`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_ignored
WHERE `type`='ignore_folder' OR `type`='ignore_file'SELECT `file`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes
WHERE `type`='protect'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_configurationSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_sef_config`SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_config
WHERE `id` = '1'SELECT non_sef_url,alias
FROM rabbul_sef_alias
WHERE published='1'
ORDER BY idSELECT m.id, m.menutype, m.title, m.alias, m.note, m.path AS route, m.link, m.type, m.level, m.language,m.browserNav, m.access, m.params, m.home, m.img, m.template_style_id, m.component_id, m.parent_id,e.element as component
FROM rabbul_menu AS m
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions AS e
ON m.component_id = e.extension_id
WHERE m.published = 1
AND m.parent_id > 0
AND m.client_id = 0
ORDER BY m.lftSELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_redirect
WHERE CONVERT(source USING latin1) COLLATE latin1_general_cs = 'when-the-rain-comes/?print=1&tmpl=component'
AND published='1'
LIMIT 1SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE alias='when-the-rain-comes'
AND published=1SELECT id
FROM rabbul_categories
WHERE path='when-the-rain-comes'
AND extension='com_content'SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content
WHERE alias='when-the-rain-comes'
AND state>0SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content
WHERE alias='when-the-rain-comes'
AND state>0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE type='component'
AND published='1'
AND link LIKE 'index.php?option=com_content&view=article%&id=2385'
ORDER BY idSELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE type='component'
AND published='1'
AND link LIKE 'index.php?option=com_content&view=categor%&id=258'
ORDER BY idSELECT `id`
FROM `rabbul_usergroups`SELECT parent.id, parent.lft, parent.rgt
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS parent
ORDER BY parent.lftSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_assets`SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE (a.name = '')
GROUP BY b.id, b.rules, b.lft
ORDER BY b.lftSELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT rules
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE id = '1'SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT u.*
FROM rabbul_user_usergroup_map m
RIGHT JOIN rabbul_users u
ON (u.id=m.user_id)
WHERE m.group_id IN (6,7,8)
GROUP BY u.id
ORDER BY u.username ASCSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_rsfirewall_logs`SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes
WHERE (`type`='2.5.28' OR `type`='protect')
AND `flag`!='C'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_snapshots
WHERE `type`='protect'SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists
WHERE (`ip`='10.3.184.74' OR `ip` LIKE '%*%')
AND `type`='1'
AND `published`='1'SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists
WHERE (`ip`='10.3.184.74' OR `ip` LIKE '%*%')
AND `type`='0'
AND `published`='1'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_exceptions
WHERE `published`='1'SELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_content'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_languages
WHERE published=1
ORDER BY ordering ASCSELECT id, home, template, s.params
FROM rabbul_template_styles as s
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions as e
ON e.element=s.template
AND e.type='template'
AND e.client_id=s.client_id
WHERE s.client_id = 0
AND e.enabled = 1SELECT a.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
WHERE (a.id = 1)
GROUP BY a.id, a.rules, a.lftSELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE (a.name = 'com_content')
GROUP BY b.id, b.rules, b.lft
ORDER BY b.lftSELECT a.id, a.asset_id, a.title, a.alias, a.title_alias, a.introtext, a.fulltext,
CASE WHEN badcats.id is null THEN a.state ELSE 0 END AS state, a.mask, a.catid, a.created, a.created_by, a.created_by_alias,
CASE WHEN a.modified = 0 THEN a.created ELSE a.modified END as modified, a.modified_by, a.checked_out, a.checked_out_time, a.publish_up, a.publish_down, a.images, a.urls, a.attribs, a.version, a.parentid, a.ordering, a.metakey, a.metadesc, a.access, a.hits, a.metadata, a.featured, a.language, a.xreference,c.title AS category_title, c.alias AS category_alias, c.access AS category_access,u.name AS author,(
SELECT MAX(contact.id) AS id
FROM rabbul_contact_details AS contact
WHERE contact.published = 1
AND contact.user_id = a.created_by) as contactid,parent.title as parent_title, parent.id as parent_id, parent.path as parent_route, parent.alias as parent_alias,ROUND(v.rating_sum / v.rating_count, 0) AS rating, v.rating_count as rating_count
FROM rabbul_content AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS c
on c.id = a.catid
LEFT JOIN rabbul_users AS u
on u.id = a.created_by
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories as parent
ON parent.id = c.parent_id
LEFT JOIN rabbul_content_rating AS v
ON a.id = v.content_id
LEFT
OUTER JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt
WHERE parent.extension = 'com_content'
AND parent.published <= 0
GROUP BY cat.id) AS badcats
ON badcats.id = c.id
WHERE a.id = 2385
AND (a.publish_up = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR a.publish_up <= '2026-11-03 09:49:31')
AND (a.publish_down = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR a.publish_down >= '2026-11-03 09:49:31')
AND (a.state = 1 OR a.state =2)SELECT c.*,
CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(c.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(':', c.id, c.alias) ELSE c.id END as slug
FROM rabbul_categories as c
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS s
ON (s.lft <= c.lft
AND s.rgt >= c.rgt) OR (s.lft > c.lft
AND s.rgt < c.rgt)
LEFT JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt
WHERE parent.extension = 'com_content'
AND parent.published != 1
GROUP BY cat.id) AS badcats
ON badcats.id = c.id
WHERE (c.extension='com_content' OR c.extension='system')
AND c.access IN (1,1)
AND c.published = 1
AND s.id=258
AND badcats.id is null
GROUP BY c.id, c.asset_id, c.access, c.alias, c.checked_out, c.checked_out_time,
c.created_time, c.created_user_id, c.description, c.extension, c.hits, c.language, c.level,
c.lft, c.metadata, c.metadesc, c.metakey, c.modified_time, c.note, c.params, c.parent_id,
c.path, c.published, c.rgt, c.title, c.modified_user_id
ORDER BY c.lftSELECT a.alias AS article
FROM rabbul_content AS a
WHERE a.id = 2385UPDATE rabbul_content
SET hits = hits + 1
WHERE id = 2385UPDATE `rabbul_session`
SET `data` = '__default|a:9:{s:15:\"session.counter\";i:1;s:19:\"session.timer.start\";i:1793699371;s:18:\"session.timer.last\";i:1793699371;s:17:\"session.timer.now\";i:1793699371;s:24:\"session.client.forwarded\";s:11:\"10.3.184.74\";s:22:\"session.client.browser\";s:103:\"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)\";s:8:\"registry\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:4:\"user\";O:5:\"JUser\":25:{s:9:\"\0*\0isRoot\";b:0;s:2:\"id\";i:0;s:4:\"name\";N;s:8:\"username\";N;s:5:\"email\";N;s:8:\"password\";N;s:14:\"password_clear\";s:0:\"\";s:8:\"usertype\";N;s:5:\"block\";N;s:9:\"sendEmail\";i:0;s:12:\"registerDate\";N;s:13:\"lastvisitDate\";N;s:10:\"activation\";N;s:6:\"params\";N;s:6:\"groups\";a:0:{}s:5:\"guest\";i:1;s:13:\"lastResetTime\";N;s:10:\"resetCount\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_params\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:14:\"\0*\0_authGroups\";a:1:{i:0;i:1;}s:14:\"\0*\0_authLevels\";a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:1;}s:15:\"\0*\0_authActions\";N;s:12:\"\0*\0_errorMsg\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_errors\";a:0:{}s:3:\"aid\";i:0;}s:20:\"com_rsfirewall.geoip\";s:0:\"\";}'
, `time` = '1793699371'
WHERE `session_id` = '185a1ac093ab22c9d21478fec44bd810'
41 Query Types Logged, Sorted by Occurrences.
SELECT Tables:
15 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets3 × SELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions3 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu2 × SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content2 × SELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt2 × SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes1 × SELECT rules
FROM rabbul_assets1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_snapshots1 × SELECT u.*
FROM rabbul_user_usergroup_map m RIGHT JOIN rabbul_users u
ON (u.id=m.user_id)1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_exceptions1 × SELECT c.*,
CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(c.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(':', c.id, c.alias) ELSE c.id END as slug
FROM rabbul_categories as c
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS s
ON (s.lft <= c.lft
AND s.rgt >= c.rgt) OR (s.lft > c.lft
AND s.rgt < c.rgt)
LEFT JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt1 × SELECT a.alias AS article
FROM rabbul_content AS a1 × SELECT a.id, a.asset_id, a.title, a.alias, a.title_alias, a.introtext, a.fulltext,
CASE WHEN badcats.id is null THEN a.state ELSE 0 END AS state, a.mask, a.catid, a.created, a.created_by, a.created_by_alias,
CASE WHEN a.modified = 0 THEN a.created ELSE a.modified END as modified, a.modified_by, a.checked_out, a.checked_out_time, a.publish_up, a.publish_down, a.images, a.urls, a.attribs, a.version, a.parentid, a.ordering, a.metakey, a.metadesc, a.access, a.hits, a.metadata, a.featured, a.language, a.xreference,c.title AS category_title, c.alias AS category_alias, c.access AS category_access,u.name AS author,( SELECT MAX(contact.id) AS id
FROM rabbul_contact_details AS contact1 × SELECT a.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_languages1 × SELECT id, home, template, s.params
FROM rabbul_template_styles as s
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions as e
ON e.element=s.template
AND e.type='template'
AND e.client_id=s.client_id1 × SELECT parent.id, parent.lft, parent.rgt
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS parent1 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_categories1 × SELECT `query`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_wafexceptions`1 × SELECT `value`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_storage`1 × SELECT folder AS type, element AS name, params
FROM rabbul_extensions1 × SELECT id, rules
FROM `rabbul_viewlevels1 × SELECT `session_id`
FROM `rabbul_session`1 × SELECT b.id
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_usergroups AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt1 × SELECT `path`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_ignored1 × SELECT `file`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_redirect1 × SELECT `data`
FROM `rabbul_session`1 × SELECT m.id, m.menutype, m.title, m.alias, m.note, m.path AS route, m.link, m.type, m.level, m.language,m.browserNav, m.access, m.params, m.home, m.img, m.template_style_id, m.component_id, m.parent_id,e.element as component
FROM rabbul_menu AS m
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions AS e
ON m.component_id = e.extension_id1 × SELECT non_sef_url,alias
FROM rabbul_sef_alias1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_configuratio1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_config1 × SELECT `id`
FROM `rabbul_usergroups
OTHER Tables:
1 × UPDATE rabbul_content
SET hits = hits + 11 × UPDATE `rabbul_session`
SET `data` = '__default|a:9:{s:15:\"session.counter\";i:1;s:19:\"session.timer.start\";i:1793699371;s:18:\"session.timer.last\";i:1793699371;s:17:\"session.timer.now\";i:1793699371;s:24:\"session.client.forwarded\";s:11:\"10.3.184.74\";s:22:\"session.client.browser\";s:103:\"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)\";s:8:\"registry\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:4:\"user\";O:5:\"JUser\":25:{s:9:\"\0*\0isRoot\";b:0;s:2:\"id\";i:0;s:4:\"name\";N;s:8:\"username\";N;s:5:\"email\";N;s:8:\"password\";N;s:14:\"password_clear\";s:0:\"\";s:8:\"usertype\";N;s:5:\"block\";N;s:9:\"sendEmail\";i:0;s:12:\"registerDate\";N;s:13:\"lastvisitDate\";N;s:10:\"activation\";N;s:6:\"params\";N;s:6:\"groups\";a:0:{}s:5:\"guest\";i:1;s:13:\"lastResetTime\";N;s:10:\"resetCount\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_params\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:14:\"\0*\0_authGroups\";a:1:{i:0;i:1;}s:14:\"\0*\0_authLevels\";a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:1;}s:15:\"\0*\0_authActions\";N;s:12:\"\0*\0_errorMsg\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_errors\";a:0:{}s:3:\"aid\";i:0;}s:20:\"com_rsfirewall.geoip\";s:0:\"\";}' , `time` = '1793699371'1 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_rsfirewall_logs1 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_assets1 × INSERT INTO `rabbul_session` (`session_id`, `client_id`, `time`)
VALUES ('185a1ac093ab22c9d21478fec44bd810', 0, '1793699371'1 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_sef_config1 × DELETE
FROM `rabbul_session`