Stories of the few people I have found that have seen George in person.
In Sept, 1997, just days after Princess Diana was killed, I was in Henley-On-Thames visiting a friend who happened to be late returning from London. I decided to take a walk up the hill from town to see what was on the other side of the hill. I really wasn't thinking I might see him, because I'd been to Henley-On-Thames several times without seeing him. But as I walked along the road I heard a car coming up behind me. It was blue and had a definite sports car sound. Sure enough, it was George! He wasn't driving fast, very slowly actually as he had just turned out of his driveway. So I got a good look. It was quite a thrill, particularly when I wasn't even thinking about the possibility of seeing him, but rather what I was going to do for the next two hours. My first inclination was to call home to tell my husband who I'd seen (he's a Beatles fan too) but when I realized what time it was at home, decided I'd better wait. Well, my sighting was brief, but none the less fulfilling for a Beatle trekker!Polly
I was fortunate in late 1997 to be present in the studio when Paul McCartney did "TFI Friday". I was thrilled to be invited and even more thrilled to find that it was taking place on the very same day that I was due to be in London to see Ravi Shankar at The Barbican. After a brilliant evening watching Macca perform at TFI I set off with my other Beatle friends to The Barbican and lo and behold when I get there who do I find sitting in the row in front of me, 4 seats to my right.........but George Harrison. Now I have to admit to going to see Ravi in the hope that George would turn up, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be sitting so close to him.As I had arrived too late to catch the first half of the show I was already in my seat when George appeared through the door from backstage to take his seat. As he passed along the row he nodded and said hello to people already seated, including me and my friends! During the show he was mesmerised by the sitar playing of Ravi's young daughter and she kept smiling at George from the stage. He looked just gorgeous, his hair was long, loose and very shiney. He was in a good mood and kept laughing and joking with Mrs. Shankar who was sat next to him.
George was a little nervous, or he appeared that way. At the end of the show he stood up to leave but before doing so he had a good look around behind him to see "who was in" and in doing so he made eye contact with me and said "Hi" to which I found myself saying something pretty sensible like "Hello" back. As he couldn't leave the row because others were still collecting their belongings from the floor he started to get twitchy. He then said to the lady in front of him who had an armful of coats, etc., "Are you staying the night?" She didn't reply. But then he also said "Move along the bus please" to the people in the row. Well me and my friends almost died laughing and I had to ask Debbie "Did he say what I think he said." "Yes, he did" she replied. It was said in a scouse accent too!
We later waited outside the area where Ravi and friends had gathered. After about 10 minutes the door opens and George sticks his head out, looks around the gathered crowd, indicates to two people to move forward, let's them into the dressing room, smiles at everyone and shuts the door. He is just too cute for words. We left soon after because we didn't want to appear to be bugging him.
Jean Catharell
I have 2 musical heroes, Eric Clapton and George Harrison, been a fan as long as I can remember and I am nearly 40. We (my wife and I) used to make our annual pilgrimage to the Royal Albert Hall in London every year to see EC so I had all the booking office numbers.At the time of George's 1992 concert for the Natural Law Party we were living within easy driving distance of London in Taunton, Somerset. I was doing some decorating and listening to Radio 1 and it was announced that they were doing an interview with Ringo live, the first question was along the lines of "will you be joining George on stage tonight at the Albert Hall". Got out my filofax and got the number for the booking office and managed to get 2 tickets. We had 3 hours to get to London but we made it OK through the traffic. After the preliminaries, the lights dimmed and there was Andy Fairwhether-Low doing a brilliant intro to "I want to tell you" and there he was and the great music just kept coming, Taxman, Old Brown Shoe, Piggies, My Sweet Lord, Give Me Love, Something, Dark Horse, Devils Radio, Cheer Down, Cloud 9, (and loads more) .... the concert climaxed in the appearance of Ringo who joined in while my guitar gently weeps. then we went home.
The funny thing is if anyone had said to me when I woke up that day that I would be in London that night watching George in concert I wouldn’t have believed them.
What a night......Thanks George, you really are one of the greats !
Jon Forse
Harrogate
England
I heard about the concert almost by accident. I was walking to walk, listening to my walkman when the DJ announced that George would be playing his first UK gig, in aid of the Natural Law Party, since the infamous Apple roof top gig 23 years earlier. I was sceptical to say the least, so I rang the Albert Hall when I got to work, and they confirmed what I had heard on the radio.The big night arrived. The lights dimmed, and to a huge applause (everyone thought it was George) Geoffrey Clements strode onto stage to give a plug for the Natural Law Party. To the crowds relief, he soon finished, and on ambles George. The audience gave him a standing ovation. He looked sharp. Black suit, white shirt, and moustache. He genuiely looked surprised at the reception, and no doubt pleased as well. Then he started to play. To see George playing Taxman, Something, Here Come's The Sun is something that I thought I would never be lucky enough to do. And it doesn't stop there. My Sweet Lord, Got My Mind Set On You.
After the set, the crowd went banana's, up on their feet, demanding and encore. George came back on stage to annouce an old friend in the auidence, Ringo Starr!. Ringo had been featured in the papers a few days previously, saying that he would be going to the gig, but under no circumstances would be be appearing. But Ringo joined George on stage, and took his rightful place on the skins. The finale was Roll Over Beethoven, and really rocking version of what must be one of George's favorite songs.
When the gig finished a few more representatives of the Natural Law Party appeared on stage, one of the them gave Ringo a bunch of flowers, which Ringo promptly threw to the ground in disgust!.
All in all, a sensational night, and one that will certainly live in the memory for a long time.
David Lynch
To my good fortune, we had two shows here in one day! I had tickets for the evening performance but was hovering around the Gardens before the afternoon show. As luck would have it, scalpers were not moving the tickets at the desired price and by show time were forced to GIVE them away. There I was with my hands out. Free tix for show #1. Needless to say, into the arena I went and found it hard to believe that I was in the same building as my hero. The last time I could say that was Aug.17/66 when I saw the Fabs in the very same place. It was quite a day for me. I remember watching George "slide" thru "Hari's on Tour" with binoculars and smiling the whole time.While the reviews of Georges' previous concerts were brutal, I certainly was impressed with the line-up of stars supporting him. At this point in the tour, Ravi had become ill and his portion of the show was canceled. However, between George, Billy Preston, Robben Ford, & the L.A. Express there was no disappointing me. What a band!!! I was thrilled to be there. Georges' presentation of well known tunes were a very interesting reflection of where he seemed to have "arrived" after the madness of being "Beatled" for so long. I felt great relief and was pleased for him as I watched him smile from the stage.He seemed happy to be standing in his own light. My heart was warm for him.
Unfortunately, many of the "fans" were expecting something of a Beatle concert and were not pleased. Having seen (& loved) the Beatles, I fully expected to witness George. Not the "quiet Beatle", but the current "Dark Horse", striking out on his own, finally free from the bonds that we placed upon him during the previous decade. Good for him. Bad for them that anticipated otherwise.
I attended both identical shows. It was a day in heaven for me. I'll never forget it.
Don Hulse
I'll never forget the excitement and anticipation of seeing George live in 1974. It would be my first Beatle concert, being too young to have seen the actual Fab Four when they toured in the sixties, this was a real thrill. Ravi Shankar opened the show with his special music and I recall feeling particularly sorry for him because the crowd regarded his music as something to get high to, so the marijuana clouds were thick!! Ravi even asked the crowd to "put out their reefer", but it only fell on deaf ears...poor Ravi.
Then George took the stage, and the band broke into "Hari's on Tour Express", and as soon as I heard that signature slide playing i knew i could die now and go to heaven having heard "the man" playing in the same room as me!! George was very serious, didn't smile much, his voice very coarse, but i didn't care, his presence was enough as he soared thru some beautiful classics such as "For You Blue" & "Something". Somewhere mid-set, he turned the stage over to Billy Preston and let him do a few of his hits such as "Will It Go Around In Circles", after all, this was the man who not only was playing with Ray Charles and Sam Cooke when he was 16 years old, this was also the same man who wrote the keyboard solo to "Get Back". Billy added a nice flavor to the band along with Tom Scott and his L.A. Express.
Then the show turned back to George who offered more classics such as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", changing "weeps" to "smiles" and even doing a rendition of "In my Life" where he sang, "In my life, I love GOD more." In conclusion, George finished off with a killer, rockin' version of "My Sweet Lord" that really brought the house to it's feet..... Yes, this was Beatle George giving us his best at the time, a little bitter, his voice shopworn, but truly his own man and a great and unique artist of our and anyone else's time, to say the least.
Steve Peterson
Wilmington, DE
It was December 22 I think...1974. I was a freshman at the U of DE and supposed to have been studying for 2 finals....but my priorities were elsewhere...George was comming to town!!!All Beatle fans have a favorite and George was always mine. I had stood out in the rain for hours to be one of the first in line when his tour was announced....I bought the most expensive tickets I could...gosh I think they were $10 or $12 dollars at the Spectrum in Philly.
By the night of the concrt I could barely contain myself....I was gonna see my hero...exchange the same carbon monoxide...kind of thing. I was disappointed in my seats...first level off the ground but directly opposite the stage at the other end...
Ravi opened for him and I enjoyed it. I snuck a cassette tape in and taped the show...I remember he opened with Hari's on Tour.....and did most of the Dark Horse Material....As I recall he sang John's In My Life and substituted " I love God More" instead of I love you more.....
The reveiws leading up to this appearanced weren't too generous. The Dark Hoarse tour they called it...but George was in great form and very frisky on stage....the crowd loved him....later it was reported in Rollng Stone that his Philadlephia performance went down real well and that George had gotten into it.
I went and bought a soft pretzel and beer and with full hands, walked up to the stage seating area (great trick if you can get away with it!!) I did and managed to get three rows away from the Man Himself...and of course I swear to this day he looked right at me with his intense brown eyes.
It was the experience of a lifetime....my first Beatle Live....and GEORGE HARRISON!!!!! Writing about it now....it brings back such great memories....I have all the clippings and stuff about the Dark Horse Tour in a scrapbook that I had been keeping since 1965...This has made me want to drag it out and look at all those memories.
I am glad that I got to be a part of a good part of that tour...and I think that some of my screams and cheering and boogying added to the great atmosphere all those years agoooooooooooo!!!
Yours in Maya Love,
Michele AKA LuvLear
I saw him 12/13/74 in Capitol Center, Landover, MD. 10:00 pm concert. Acoustics was awful. But he was still great. He changed the lyrics to Something from "I don't know" to "I hope so". Don't know why. I managed to get to a row of seats behind the stage. Near the end of the concert he turned around and realized there were people back there. Then, for some reason, he went all SPIRITUAL and and started chanting "Jesus, Krishna, Jesus, Krishna" and all sorts of spiritual things. It was NEAT. His singing was hoarse from tour, but the experience was great.
Forever a Georgefan,
Mari
Have you ever seen George in person? Been to a concert? Just happen to run into him on the street? Feel free to email me with your personal account and I'll add it to my page.
