Imagine listening to this John Lennon tribute and helping local non-profits. You can.
Imagine continuing a series of tribute concerts for famed song stylists in the middle of a pandemic.
Imagine adjusting the presentation of such performances without the benefit of interaction, energy or participation of an audience.
Imagine adjusting the scope of how funds raised by such a concert can benefit local non-profit organizations.
These were a few of the challenges facing the organizers of The John Lennon Virtual Tribute this weekend. In essence, it was a process of re-imagining the music of the Beatle whose solo career was defined by the 1971 peace anthem “Imagine.”
“We have a list of artists we try to revisit every year and John Lennon has been on the list for a couple of years,” said Marlon Hurst, director of music and arts for First Presbyterian Church on Market Street. The Lennon tribute is the fourth tribute concert undertaken as a joint venture between the church’s Music for Mission series and the Lexington-based Purple Carrots Productions. “This year marks two major anniversaries – Lennon’s 80th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his death. But this concert is also airing just a few days after our presidential election. In the midst of a country that is so polarized and divided, John Lennon’s vision - especially as expressed in ‘Imagine,’ where he imagines a world where all the things that divide us are non-existent - seemed like a pretty good message.”
Like previous tribute concerts to Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, the Lennon tribute brings together nearly two dozen local and regional artists performing works from the featured artist’s repertoire. It will include songs from Lennon’s ’60s tenure with the Beatles and ’70s years as a solo artist.
But there is a huge distinction to this year’s concert. With First Presbyterian closed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a major rethink of the performance’s presentation was in order. Instead of a single evening live performance with an audience, artists played their Lennon tributes at the church in bits and pieces without anyone other than Hurst and tech crews present. Performances were recorded individually between late September and early October. The resulting virtual concert will be streamed at www.fpclex.org.m4m at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6.
“For many of these artists, just being able to stand on a stage and bring all their equipment in was a joy,” Hurst said. “For instance, the Johnson Brothers (the long-running Lexington cover band) played “I Am the Walrus” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” and did them really true to form. After it was over, I went up to them and said, “I really appreciate you guys making all this effort, taking all this trouble to come down here and do this.’ They were so happy just to be able to play together.”
Also performing as part of the Lennon tribute will be Raleigh Dailey, Vanessa Davis, Jenny Drake, Michael Evces, Doc Feldman, Paulie Felice, Andrew Perkins, Mandy Ray, Marcus Wilkerson, The Kentucky Partisans and The Radical Departures.
That covers the music aspect of Music for Mission. But how does going virtual translate when it comes to raising funds for non-profits? In past years, donations were solicited at the concerts for a chosen organization. For the Lennon tribute, online donations will be requested.
As this may be the only performance presented in this year’s series, proceeds will be split between the four non-profit groups Music for Mission would have been helped during a full season. Benefiting will be Central Music Academy, GreenHouse 17, Glean Kentucky and KRM (Kentucky Refugee Ministries.)
“It would have been very easy to just take a pass on the entire season,” Hurst said. “We don’t make up a huge part of the budget for these non-profits, but we have been a regular source of funding for them these last few years. So we wanted to be able to honor that. We had to cancel the last concert of the spring semester and ended up donating what we would have spent on the artists that didn’t come to perform directly to the non-profit. So we wanted to figure out a creative way to keep the faith with the non-profits.
“Normally, at one of these concerts, you would donate and the money collected would go to one organization. In this case, we’re dividing everything equally among the four organizations we would have supported this concert season.”
Hurst feels the sentiments within Lennon’s music speak to the times, especially as the concert will be streamed three days after a hotly divisive presidential election.
“It’s possible by Friday we won’t even know the results of the election. And even when the election results are known, it’s going to take a lot to heal these divisions. There are going to be divisions that will never heal. I don’t want to get too theological about it, but that’s kind of the world I live in. When we come to the communion table every Sunday, there is a prayer called the Great Prayer. It gives thanks for the people who have come before us, the moment that we’re in and then looks forward to that time when all divisions are healed. So we live in the in-between time.
“In some ways, John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine,’ even though it cites religion as one of the things that divides people, because it does, he imagines a world where these things dividing us have ended. It may be a non-religious song, but I think ‘Imagine’ very much embodies the vision of what we’re espousing theologically at the table. I don’t mean to get too heavy about it. I’m not trying to grasp at straws, either. But for me, I see that connection as very meaningful.”
The John Lennon Virtual Tribute will be streamed at 7:30 pm Nov. 6 at www.fpclex.org/m4m.