The Beatles, circa 1965. Credit: Iberia Airlines [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Beatles, circa 1965. Credit: Iberia Airlines [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

March 22 marked the 60th anniversary of The Beatles’ debut Please Please Me first hitting the shelves in the U.K.

Sir Paul and Sir Ringo won’t be present, but this weekend a plethora of locals will convene for a WMNF-conceived salute to the biggest band of all time. A press release said that 60 songs will be performed by 17 different bands, so it’s probably safe to assume that all—or at least, the vast majority—of Please Please Me will be tackled.

Macca’s old Wings bandmate Denny Laine—who has actually performed at Skipper’s—does live in Naples though, so if he’s up for a road trip, maybe he’ll check it out.

Tickets to WMNF’s The Beatles: A 60th Anniversary Tribute on Saturday, March 25 at Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa are still available and start at $20.

This article appears in Mar 23-29, 2023.

Josh Bradley is Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's calendar editor. He started as a freelance music writer in 2020 at the age of 18, and after spending years covering, announcing, and previewing concerts in...