You may not know this, but Beatles fandom rivals Trekkiedom and the more desperate sects of sports team obsession for sheer passion and investment.
There are, as a matter of fact, a few annual Beatles fan conventions across the United States. I know this because I have on occasion attended them. In addition to being a sci-fi geek, a comics geek, a movie geek, a music geek, and biting the head off the occasional chicken, I am a Beatles geek.
Beatles conventions aren't all that different from other fan gatherings. Everyone wears a costume (mostly "aging hippie," though you also catch plenty of "children of aging hippies who are rebelling against Mom & Dad with a nipple ring and a gigantic black mohawk"). You can spend lots of money on things you don't NEED, but that you WANT REALLY BAD.* Mostly, everyone spends hours sitting in a hotel convention room listening to anecdotes from aging quasi-celebrities.
More than anything else, watching the Magical Mystery Tour Memories DVD reminded me of afternoons spent at Beatlefest . It's a compilation of interviews with people tangentially involved in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film, which originally aired as a TV special in Britain. As one of the first projects attempted by the Fabs after the death of their manager Brian Epstein, the special was a disorganized mess, in which the Beatles and a coterie of friends, hangers-on, and oddball performers traveled the English countryside in a giant bus and filmed all the action.
You won't find any interviews here with the key players in the action, namely John, Paul, George, or Ringo. But much like Beatlefest, if you're interested in an extended chat with a guy who appeared in a photo on the back of the Magical Mystery Tour album sleeve, then you'll find yourself fascinated. Hosted and narrated by Victor Spinetti, who appeared himself in Magical Mystery Tour but is perhaps best known as the hypertense TV director from A Hard Day's Night, this is one for the die-hards. Casual fans need not apply.
Article comments