{"id":10633,"date":"2026-04-30T16:07:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/power-to-the-people-john-lennon-yoko-ono-live-in-nyc-1972-154447\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:07:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:07:21","slug":"power-to-the-people-john-lennon-yoko-ono-live-in-nyc-1972-154447","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/power-to-the-people-john-lennon-yoko-ono-live-in-nyc-1972-154447\/","title":{"rendered":"Power To The People: John & Yoko Live In NYC \u2013 exuberant 1972 concert film reviewed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cThat Madison Square Garden gig was the best music I enjoyed playing since the Cavern or even Hamburg,\u201d John Lennon raved, shortly after his matinee and evening concerts with Yoko on August 30, 1972. Last year\u2019s Power To The People<\/em> boxset provided the tumultuous context to these benefit shows for the Willowbrook School for mentally impaired children. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThat Madison Square Garden gig was the best music I enjoyed playing since the Cavern or even Hamburg,\u201d John Lennon raved, shortly after his matinee and evening concerts with Yoko on August 30, 1972. Last year\u2019s Power To The People<\/em> boxset provided the tumultuous context to these benefit shows for the Willowbrook School for mentally impaired children. <\/p>\n

This parallel release concludes a 20-year project to restore and re-edit what would remain Lennon\u2019s sole full-length gigs since 1966, a fact made all the more tragically remarkable by his exuberant vocal and guitar attack, clearly relishing every second. <\/p>\n

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Director Simon Hilton has reimagined the footage in Woodstock-style multiscreen format and Atmos-ready sound. Far from being a hit-packed show, the setlist is torn instead from a career in rapid motion \u2013 \u201cTrying to shake our image\/Cycling through the Village,\u201d as Lennon sings in \u201cNew York City\u201d. Jim Keltner doubles up on drums with Elephant\u2019s Memory\u2019s Rick Frank, while Lennon slashes alongside guitarist Wayne Gabriel. \u201cBoogie, baby!\u201d Lennon yells, summoning the updated, primal rock\u2019n\u2019roll he\u2019s chasing. <\/p>\n

\u201cCold Turkey\u201d is sung through gritted teeth, his body jerking. In many ways, Lennon seems better attuned to New York\u2019s coming punk storm than to the softer, more settled work that followed later in the decade. Ono, meanwhile, is a formidable rock frontwoman \u2013 glamorous and ferociously controlled in the harrying ululations of \u201cDon\u2019t Worry Kyoko\u201d. <\/p>\n

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The sole visit Lennon permits \u201cback in the past\u201d, \u201cCome Together\u201d, gains extemporised lyrics as he forgets actual ones. \u201cI\u2019ll have to stop writing them daft words, man,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019m saying. Getting old\u2026\u201d The camera holds tight on his lean, aquiline face for the howls of \u201cMother\u201d and again for \u201cImagine\u201d. It sounds anything but saccharine here; we see the clarity in his eyes behind those blue Lennon specs, and the warmth with which he kisses Ono afterwards. It\u2019s hope, rather than nostalgia, that carries the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Power To The People: John & Yoko Live In NYC \u2013 exuberant 1972 concert film reviewed<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThat Madison Square Garden gig was the best music I enjoyed playing since the Cavern or even Hamburg,\u201d John Lennon raved, shortly after his matinee and evening concerts with Yoko…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,89,88,3333],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","category-john-lennon","category-reviews","category-yoko-ono"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}