The Year Without a BeatleFest

Listen. Do you hear that? Those are crickets. Crickets at the Marriott Suites O’Hare, abandoned site of Chicago’s Fest for Beatles Fans. Unfortunately, there are no humans at this year’s festival as it has been postponed to retool. #KitO’ReToole Some of the crickets are in ill-fitting Sgt Pepper costumes, others don obscure Beatles ephemera while wacking tambos to off-key “Yellow Submarine” singalongs, and a small number of lonely small-minded crickets are still wearing their pit-stained anti-Yoko t-shirts, repping for the original incels. Oh and look! There’s even an aphid who’s a Pete Best Look-A-Like and a corn weevil that’s dressed up like Freddy Krueger for reasons unknown. As all the bugs scramble for crumbs of pre-packaged microwaveable hoagies while waiting for “Termites from Midge Ure’s Tour Bus” to perform a medley of deep cuts from Press To Play, the Goys of Dum Dum Lame, joined by Producer Casey, are here to gab sad about this year’s absence of fab community celebration. Let’s take a few questions from the crickets: 🎤 Why does Mike Love lip sync live in concert to RFK’s rendition of “Kokomo”? 🥽 With regards to the future of the festival, will there be a VR helmet to unsee “Give My Regards To Broad Street”? 🎵 Angry Drunk Chicago Cricket: HOW KUM DA KAREEOKE KARENS WON’T LET ME SING “GIVE ANT FARMS BACK TO THE ANTISH"?? WHADDOO DEY GOT AGAINST ANTS?  MY GREAT GRAMPA WUZ HALF ANT!! Plus Producer Casey has the boys play a game and T.J. reveals how many BeatleFests he has attended in his half-century on earth. Wait. He doesn’t reveal this. Well, okay. The answer is also a number associated with a Ringo Starr #1 from “simpler times.”   EPISODE LINKS Check out UBP's videos on  TikTok/YouTube/Facebook/Instagram! Like and subscribe! Please support our scrappy show. Score some merch or find us on Patreon! Drop us a review on Apple Podcasts!