‘Concert for George’ honors the birth of a Beatles legend

Claire Kudika
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 05:22:46 +0000
Arts & Life, Events, Movies, Music, News

Gateway Film Center will be showing “Concert for George” in honor of George Harrison’s 75th birthday.

The film is a recorded concert from November 2002 that featured many of Harrison’s close friends like Ringo Starr, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Paul McCartney. The concert itself was arranged one year after Harrison’s death to remember the fallen Beatle by Olivia Harrison, George’s wife, and Eric Clapton, his close friend who also performed at the concert.

Scott Vezdos, director of communications at Gateway Film Center, said Gateway is the only theater in Columbus showing the movie this Sunday.

Harrison was not only a guitarist for the Beatles but also a gifted songwriter. He wrote popular songs for the band such as “Here Comes the Sun” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

William Ballenger, director of the School of Music, said Harrison left behind an “amazing legacy.”

“Although George died in 2001, he lives on in the hearts and minds of an entire generation of people, and nearly worldwide,” Ballenger said in an email. ?

The movie isn’t the only homage being paid to Harrison’s legacy on Sunday. In addition to being completely restored in surround sound and in 2K resolution, the soundtrack to “Concert for George” is also being re-released at Gateway.

“Concert for George” is a part of Gateway’s Stage and Screen series, an effort to bring more performing art pieces to the film center. Screenings of ballets, opera and other concerts have all been shown as a part of Stage and Screen. ?

“Typically, our Stage and Screen series would have theater, or ballet, or opera … more of your traditional performing arts tropes,” Vezdos said. “Within the last six months, we’ve been adding more concert-type experiences to our Stage and Screen lineups. ‘Concert for George’ is just the latest example.”

“Concert for George” will be showing at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Gateway Film Center. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online.